Look up and you will no doubt see the graceful Red kite gliding gracefully on the thermals in the blue skies. It has a unique call of a high-pitched mewing “weee-ooo ee oo ee oo ee oo”. It is unmistakable with its reddish-brown body, angled wings, and deeply forked tail.

After being hunted to near extinction in the 1930’s with the last two breeding pairs being left in Wales. The last 20 years has seen the most successful conservation project seeing the numbers rise across the UK.  A number were released into Fineshade Wood and the surrounding parts of Rockingham Forest.

Kites hunt on the wing soaring and circling over open ground. They are mainly carrion eaters but are capable of  killing small mammals and birds. They make their nests in high trees both birds will the nest 12-20m above the ground they will line it with sheep’s wool and scraps that they find such as paper and plastic.  Around the country some nests have even been found with toys and underwear in them.  They will add to the nest each breeding season with some nests being recorded of considerable size and age.  They have also been known to use old raven and buzzard nests.

We are very fortunate here at Rockingham Forest Park as many have chosen us as their abode and are visible all year round.  You can never get tired of watching these magical birds circling ahead, however if you have a small dog, please ensure you are with it at all times as they have been seen circling our guests lovable pets.

Females will begin to lay eggs around April and once the chicks tend to leave the nest tree from 45 to 70 days.  They are known to return once they are adults to the same nesting area around the age of 2 to begin their own family.

Kites can live and average of 10 years and the oldest recorded red kit was 26 years old.

Fun Facts

Did you know Red Kites were common in Shakespearean London, where they fed on scraps in the streets to feed on and stole nesting materials from washing lines.

Shakespeare referred to this in ‘The Winter’s Tale’ when he wrote ‘When the kite builds, look to lesser linen’.