Short Description
Red kites can be easily identified by their long, deeply forked tails. A red kite is reddish-brown with contrast banding and has a grey-whitish head. Its wings are particularly long.
Features
Red kite
Milvus milvus
forked tail
Langrufe
Tembrock, CC BY-SA 3.0
In the city
Red kites can be found in open landscapes. The occasional bird may be seen in town close to rubbish dumps or along motorways.
Fun Facts
The distribution of red kites is largely limited to Europe. A very great number of them have their homes in Germany.
In the breeding season, both parents build a nest of dead branches and clay high in the canopies of trees.
Red kites feed on smaller mammals such as rabbits, squirrels, more rarely also on rats or martens. In addition, they also go for carrion such as animal roadkill. Smaller birds and corvids are also hunted.
Red kites are migratory birds and fly to southwestern Europe or northern Africa from the middle of September. From early April, they can again be observed in Germany.
- Endangerment level Germany: Warning list
Sources
Habitus, Hans Hillewaert, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Milvus_milvus_(portrait).jpg
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im Flug, Jens N. Roved, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JNR_5246Wiki.jpg
im Flug, Thomas Kraft, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Milvus_milvus_R(ThKraft).jpg
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Witt, K. & Steiof, K. (2013) Rote Liste und Liste der Brutvögel von Berlin, 3. version, 15.11.2013. : Berliner Ornithologische Arbeitsgemeinschaft e.V. (eds.) Berliner Ornithologischer Bericht, volume 23, Berlin: Berliner Ornithologische Arbeitsgemeinschaft e.V., 1-23.
Page „Rotmilan“. : Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Date of last revision: 24.01.2016, 08:45 UTC. URL: https://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rotmilan&oldid=150625579 (Accessed: 17.02.2016).
NABU Landesverband Berlin (2015) Deutschlands heimlicher Wappenvogel in Not. Rotmilan mit Flügelbruch in Wildvogelstation, URL: https://berlin.nabu.de/news/newsarchiv/2015/mai/18911.html (Accessed: 21.04.2016).