Red Kite sanctuary

[htcdude]

Hi all,

Not sure if there is already a topic on this...but Red Kite sanctuary (the one in mid-Wales) what's people's views on this?

Is it good for the Kite's to be relying on human's for food? What if the business goes under??

I'm just intrigued as I know a few people who visited it last week and said how great it was.

Thanks!

[ChrisKten]

Hi all,

Not sure if there is already a topic on this...but Red Kite sanctuary (the one in mid-Wales) what's people's views on this?

Is it good for the Kite's to be relying on human's for food? What if the business goes under??

I'm just intrigued as I know a few people who visited it last week and said how great it was.

Thanks!

It would seem that the Kites are not totally dependent on the food:


Red kites, being hungry when they awake, will hunt for food during the morning and early afternoon, so Gigrin is here as a top up or emergency ration.

The kites you see visiting are unlikely to have been here the day before as there is a rolling population of red kites during the week. [...]


So I would guess if the business went under, and the RSPB didn't step in, the Kites would survive.

In a way it's not much different from putting up feeders in the garden. (obviously feeding Red Kites isn't the same as feeding Sparrows, but it's still "feeding the birds")

[Boom]

Presumably if the business went under, the population would find it`s own level.

I suppose it`s possible that there is a larger population in the area than the natural food supplies could ordinarily sustain but it would be vitually impossible to say for sure unless the business collapsed.

cheers

[htcdude]

Kool thanks for your info :-)

[Marmot]

Well the Northern Red Kites have never had the feeding areas done for them and they have flourished so I think that if Gigrin Farm was not doing the feeding the Red Kites would be able to survive.

In fact we had "Superchick" this year who managed to fall out of the nest, his parents contined bringing food to him and it had the sense to walk along a path where it was rescued by some walkers who got in touch with the Northern RK team, they managed to get him fit and well and he became the last realease of the project.

[Gaz Shilton]

Well the Northern Red Kites have never had the feeding areas done for them and they have flourished so I think that if Gigrin Farm was not doing the feeding the Red Kites would be able to survive.

In fact we had "Superchick" this year who managed to fall out of the nest, his parents contined bringing food to him and it had the sense to walk along a path where it was rescued by some walkers who got in touch with the Northern RK team, they managed to get him fit and well and he became the last realease of the project.

Why would they do that if it was still being fed by its parents?

[Marmot]

Why would they do that if it was still being fed by its parents?


My guess is as good as yours, maybe it had some damage to it, anyway here is June Atkinson who is the lady that keeps us updated with the Red Kites piece that she wrote
"In full view of the media, Northern Kites Staff, Volunteers and members of FoRK, C6 was released on Kitewatch Hill, in the Derwent Country Park.

C6 nearly didn't make it - as a nestling, he fell out of the tree. Indomitable parents Red Philip and Flag, of Viaduct fame, kept feeding their chick. Happily walkers discovered him and after a period of rehab in the pens, C6 had his moment of glory. The sequence of images, taken by David Jones, the Treasurer of FoRK, tells its own story."

From http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=146481

[Mouldy]

Why would they do that if it was still being fed by its parents?

Because it was nowhere near fledging age and would more than likely have perished if left out overnight in the cold and wet at the mercy of foxes, taking it in like they did ensured it's survival.