The Spanish government released more than 1,500 tons of rodenticide-treated baits over about 500,000 ha to fight against a common vole plague in agricultural lands between August 2007 and April 2008 records of Red Kites dying by secondary poisoning in treated areas resulted (Vinuela in litt. 2009) there is a strong correlation between rapid declines and those populations that winter in Spain (Carter 2007). The most pertinent threat to this species is illegal direct poisoning to kill predators of livestock and game animals (targetting foxes, wolves, corvids etc.) and indirect poisoning from pesticides and secondary poisoning from consumption of poisoned rodents by rodenticides spread on farmland to control vole plagues, particularly in the wintering ranges in France and Spain, where it is driving rapid population declines (Aebischer in litt. National species action plans are in place in Germany (Hesse), France, the Balearic Islands and Denmark, and a draft national action plan is in place in Portugal. An EU species action plan for the Red Kite was published in 2009 (Knott et al. The winter population trend in the EU27 is Decreasing in the short term and Decreasing in the long term. The breeding population trend in the EU27 is Stable in the short term and Decreasing in the long term. In the latest "IUCN red list", the red kite is classified as not endangered (LC-Least Concern) worldwide (BirdLife International 2021). The status of the red kite in the Article 12 Report and the IUCN Red List from 2015 was "near threatened (NT)" (BirdLife International 2015). It is estimated that by 2012, the European population had decreased by almost 30% in the previous 34.5 years (three generations). Migrants travel south from their breeding grounds between August and November, returning between February and April (Snow and Perrins 1998). Most birds in north-east Europe are migratory, wintering mainly in southern France and Iberia, but with some travelling as far as Africa (del Hoyo et al. The Red Kite is endemic to the western Palearctic, with the European population encompassing 95% of its global breeding range. The worldwide population is thus estimated at 60,000 to 70,000 mature individuals (BirdLife International.
A new global estimate of the red kite population shows a population of 33,500 to 39,000 breeding pairs, of which only 0 to 5 breeding pairs are not in Europe but in Morocco (Africa) (Aebischer & Scherler, 2021). The European (EU27) breeding population is estimated at 29.746 to 34.751 pairs in 17 countries. Reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates are less important prey. It takes a wide range of food, but feeds mainly on carrion and small to medium-sized mammals and birds. Formerly an urban scavenger, it still visits the edges of towns and cities.
In winter it also occupies wasteland, scrub and wetlands.
The species breeds in broadleaf woodlands and forests, mixed with farmland, pasture and heathland, to 2,500 m in Morocco (del Hoyo et al. Its call is a thin piping sound, similar to but less mewling than the common buzzard.
Apart from the weight difference, the sexes are similar, but juveniles have a buff breast and belly. The white primary flight feathers contrast with the black wing tips and dark secondaries. The body, upper tail and wing coverts are rufous. The Red Kite ( Milvus milvus) is a medium-sized raptor (L 60 cm), bigger and paler than Black Kite ( Milvus migrans) with deeply forked tail.
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