Project to reintroduce Red Kites into the wild hailed as most successful of its kind

A Red Kite bird of prey in flight RSPB
Red kite in flight Credit: Red kite in flight

A thirty year project to reintroduce Red Kites into the wild has been hailed as the most successful of its kind.

Natural England says the bird of prey is now thriving in the Chiltern Hills across Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, as they mark the thirty year anniversary of the start of the project.

Red Kites were facing extinction in the 1990s because of a mixture of cruelty and increasing numbers of poachers stealing eggs.

The persecution of the bird dates back 200 years.

Red Kites are now thriving in the Chiltern Hills. Credit: Ian Carter, Natural England

The project to re-introduce the bird 30 years ago was such a success that it led to further introductions and the eventual re-establishment of red kites across the UK.

Red Kite being released Credit: Ian Carter, Natural England

Red kites first breed at two years old and produce a single clutch of around three eggs, returning to the same nests each season. 

Now a common sight in the Chiltern Hills, they can also be seen across South East England, Yorkshire and the East Midlands, and in Wales and Scotland.

  • Dr Jennifer Smart, Head of Species for RSPB England says the Chilterns is the perfect location.