I live in The Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire. The skies in this area are alive with these birds. Every body is saying that they live on carrion. Is there really enough carrion for so many birds? Why do they fly low over our gardens all the time?(surely if they are looking for food then they are looking in the wrong place?) would you consider it unsafe to let out a pet rabbit in a very small enclosed garden? And has any body actually seen a red kite take out live food?. Please do not get me wrong, I love these birds, I am just trying to learn more about them.
Answers:
Red Kites as with all Kite species are basically scavengers of carrion and will only attack live prey as a last resort they will take Rabbits and I would avoid letting your pet free run of the garden, a rabbit is prey no-matter whether it is wild or tame the Kite will not know the difference
Yes there will be enough carion, especially off the M40. I think your rabbit will be fine. Red Kites need a lot of space to land and take off.
Red Kites are neither particularly strong nor aggressive despite being large birds.
Primarily a scavenger and an opportunist; it profits from sheep carrion but is not capable of opening up sheep or lamb carcasses by itself and has to wait until more powerful birds such as ravens or buzzards have made the first inroads before it will attempt to feed. Red Kites are however predators and take a wide variety of live prey, ranging from earthworms to small mammals, amphibians and birds.
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