Red Kite

Milvus milvus

Locally common residents boosted by reintroduction of 1,150 pairs in Wales, England & Scotland.

Also rare Winter Visitors.

They breed in Iberia, France & Spain.

The body, upper tail and wing coverts are rufous.

The white primary flight feathers contrast with the black wing tips and dark secondaries. Apart from the weight difference, the sexes are similar, but Juveniles have a buff breast and belly.

Its call is a thin piping sound, similar to but less mewling than the Common Buzzard. 

There is a rare white leucistic form accounting for approximately 1% of hatchlings in the Welsh population, but this variation confers a disadvantage in the survival stakes.