The birds we see in our gardens aren't always the same individuals, and it is known that a large percentage that call in, are simply passing through. It is thought that vole populations and climate change are factors affecting species such as kestrels and owls, and kites, which mainly scavenge their food, are unlikely to cause such population declines. People have commented on social media that they have seen fewer garden birds and other raptors such as kestrels and barn owls, since red kite numbers increased, but it isn't clear if the kites are to blame. The same problems have affected birds of prey, and worse, given our history of persecuting them (still ongoing, in certain areas, despite it being illegal now), yet people see these birds as not being entitled to the same treatment as perhaps that cheeky little robin seen each day in the garden. Therefore some of us put up bird nest-boxes or roosting sites, and put out feeders and additional sources of water for them, and we get great enjoyment from seeing wild birds take advantage of such acts. We have taken away their habitat for our homes and farming, removed their sources of food, and stopped them from nesting and/or roosting by changing the designs of buildings, for example. Perhaps at some point the farm will phase out the feeding, but then again, it serves not only as a means to help the kites, but also brings much needed tourism to the area, and generates money from helping nature - not something easily done these days.Īs for stopping helping wild birds? Putting out raw beef for these kites is seen to be a bad thing by some, yet how many of those people have feeders in their gardens? The birds taking seed and other types of food from our gardens are just as wild as these red kites, so where's the difference? The action of putting out the food is indeed unnatural, but is clearly helping the kites, and has seen their numbers grow from around half a dozen in 1993, to over 600 in 2013. The numbers here have grown over generations, from perhaps just one pair of red kites, and the feeding station has helped these birds find food when they struggle elsewhere. Reintroduction programmes using birds brought in from Sweden and Spain, for example, have helped establish these birds across various regions of the UK, and over time, the kites are spreading to new areas, to repopulate them once more.
Unlike now, surveys didn't detail how many of these birds were once living in this country before they were targeted, so it is perhaps difficult to determine how many we should have in the UK. We humans wiped these birds out years ago, until only tiny populations hung on in rural, safe areas.
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