In the early 2012 I was working for Ramblers Holidays in an office on the edge of the Brocket Hall Estate in Hertfordshire. The office’s site manager at the time, Barry Trevis, was and indeed still is, one of the top ornithologists in the country. Out wandering close to the office one day, Barry spotted a red kite nest high in a larch tree on the estate. It was a rare site – the bird had only been reintroduced to Hertfordshire in 2009. Many of us in the office were subsequently excited by the infrequent sightings of red kites soaring overhead. In the intervening years we have witnessed a conservation success story, so that now the bird’s mewing call and forked tail are heard and seen every time anyone puts on their boots and go for a walk in the Chilterns.

The reintroduction of red kites in England followed a period of roughly 150 years where the bird teetered on the brink of extinction. Whilst in the Middle Ages the bird was protected in cities like London because they scavenged on rubbish and helped keep the streets clean, intense persecution by gamekeepers and farmers, egg collection and habitat loss meant that by the early 20^th century only the tiny remaining population survived was confined to remote valleys in Wales.

In 1989, the RSPB and Natural England selected the Chiltern Hills as the first site for reintroduction; the first chicks hatched in 1992. The Chilterns were chosen for several key reasons: the area offered ideal habitat with a mix of woodland and open countryside, a good supply of food, and relatively low levels of human disturbance. Red kites are scavengers, feeding mainly on carrion, roadkill and occasionally small mammals or birds. This makes them ecologically important as natural waste disposers.  After harvest time when the fields are ploughed up, they can be seen following the following the plough, looking for worms.

The 90 chicks which formed the basis of the revival came from Spain where red kites are more plentiful and generally robust. In fact the red kite is one of few bird species endemic to Europe; it exists nowhere else in the world. Releasing them into the Chilterns also allowed for close monitoring. With this in mind, my former colleague Barry Trevis started ringing the birds on the Brocket Estate as the population slowly grew.

Today, it is estimated that over 1,800 breeding pairs live in southern England, with the Chilterns population acting as a stronghold. The success in the Chilterns served as a model for further reintroduction efforts across the UK, including in the Midlands, Yorkshire, and Scotland.

A few more interesting facts:

• Red kites are highly social birds. Unlike many raptors, they often roost communally and can be seen flying in groups
• Adult red kites have a wingspan of about 175–195 cm (nearly 6 feet), making them one of the UK’s largest birds of prey
• They are the only bird of prey in the UK to have a forked tail, which they use like a rudder to navigate.
• Red kites can live up to 25 years in the wild, though most live between 8 and 12 years
• They normally lay between 1 and 3 eggs and the gestation period is about 30 days
• Their Latin name is milvus milvus
• Red kites communicate through high-pitched whistles and mewing calls, often heard during courtship or while defending territory
• They can grab food in mid-air, and have become something of a menace, occasionally snatching food from picnics