We are seeing an increasing number of Red Kites in the local area, and as such, we must be prepared to help them should they get into difficulty.
This Red Kite was brought in to us with a wing injury. However, upon arrival the team were shocked to see that the beak was deformed, earning him the nickname of Bulldog. We were worried that the bird might be struggling to survive, so once we established that there were no breaks, the bird was put in one of our larger outdoor aviaries so we could monitor.
Surprisingly, he was in good condition and managed to eat the food we offered. To test his survival skills, after a week with us, the team presented him with a whole rabbit carcass. This is more like what Red Kites would typically eat in the wild, as they are predominantly scavengers and often scout the roads for roadkill. He devoured the rabbit, showing that his deformed beak was not a hinderance, and suggesting that is was likely an injury he’d had for a while.
We were still concerned about his chanced of surviving after release, so asked two independent vets, including avian specialist Dr Elliott Simpson-Brown MRCVS for their opinions. Both agreed that the beak was likely an injury sustained shortly after hatching, and that it wouldn’t have any impact on it’s long term survival.
With the wing injury now healed and given the go ahead for release, we arranged for Dr Hugh Hanmer from the BTO to ring this bird before he was released. By looking at the condition and pattern of the feathers, we discovered that this bird was at least 2 years old, but we suspect he was significantly older.
A few days later, Mat and Jade transported this bird back to near where he was found for release. As you can see, he was keen to go and flew off strongly.