The Red Kite Comeback

In 1992 farmer Chris Powell was shocked when a stunning forked tail raptor dropped down to feed on a dead rabbit he had left to distract the ravens from his lambs. Intrigued, Powell left out more meat for the birds, unintentionally starting one of the most dramatic species recoveries in British conservation history. 

The Red Kite was once a ubiquitous sight across the British countryside until hunting and persecution obliterated their numbers - just 3 pairs were counted in 1922. Powell’s kite feeding activities caught the attention of the RSPB and they asked him to become the first official Red Kite feeding centre. Since then, the feeding program has grown and been replicated across Wales and England. There are now 18,000 Red Kite pairs estimated to be breeding in the UK and the feeding stations have become a popular tourist attraction where visitors can watch hundreds of birds swoop down to enjoy their daily meal.

I covered the story of the red kites dramatic recovery for National Geographic UK.