Urban birds at Hull. 40. Red Kite

There are few raptors as distinctive as a Red Kite. Their forked tails and narrow, strongly patterned wings and brick red back and chest, with contrasting pale head are very obvious even from long distances. Red Kites were an abundant species in the Middle Ages, when they were scavengers in cities. In the 16th century, they were regarded as vermin, and bounties paid for them, eventually resulting in their near extinction in the UK. The last historical Red Kites near Hull was seen in Market Weighton in 1850 probably a continental vagrant, the species having declined and become locally extinct since. In 1989 they were reintroduced to the Chilterns, with later releases in additional areas, including at the Harewood Estate in Yorkshire. The reintroduction attempt was highly successful and the species has gone from strength to strength. They were Green Listed in 2015, with many Red Kites being fed in private gardens.

Red Kites at Kiplingcoates YWT NR. 8/08/2015.

At the Warter Estate roost, 12/03/2017.

Status and Distribution in Hull

In the Birds of the Hull area, Richard Broughton tells the story of one of the reintroduced birds from the Harewood Estate in West Yorkshire. One of the released birds, tagged Orange/Black 4, moved east, and on the 3rd of November it was seen near Cottingham, at Risby Park, with an untagged bird. In early 2000, four Red Kites wandering the area between Hull and Beverley. These were the first modern records of Red Kites in East Yorkshire. Breeding was soon proven in the Wolds and a population is now well established there, with other pairs scattered around the Hull valley. Unlike other raptors, Red Kites roost socially. The main one in East Yorkshire is in the Warter estate, where several dozen individuals can be seen as they come to roost.

Most Red Kites seen in Hull are likely wanderers from the Wolds and Hull Valley breeding populations. I've got just nine records of Red Kites at Hull, the first one in April 2017, flying over Bricknell Avenue, and two with a Buzzard on August of the same year. Most records are from the first half of the year, with a peak in March and April (one of them, an individual over Princes Quay in 2023). They can be seen anywhere over Hull, and with established populations not far from Hull, it is likely that sightings will become more regular in coming years.

A Red Kite flying over Sculcoates Lane, 2/04/2021. Likely the same individual had been seen earlier over Cottingham and was later seen in N Lincolnshire.

Conservation

Illegal persecution is an issue in some Grouse Moor estates in Yorkshire. They can also become secondarily poisoned by feeding on rats killed with rodenticides.  

More information

BTO Bird Facts Red Kite.

Broughton, Richard K. Birds of the Hull Area.

Nelson, T.H. . 1907. The Birds of Yorkshire : Being a Historical Account of the Avi-Fauna of the County. Vol. 1. London: A. Brown.

Yorkshire Red Kite Reintroduction. A dedicated website with a lot of information.