Tagging wings of Red Kites

[Polecat]

Does anybody know why the wings of this kite are tagged please?

The re-size has meant that the definition has been lost from an already distant subject but I think you can still make out the red tag and the green taf on the knucle of the wings of this Kite.

........I thought that the usual practice is to tag the legs.

Thanks
Andy

[PhilBriggs]

Andy.
Due to the fact that the kites have only recently been re-introduced they have to be closely monitored. They also travel vast distance and move into different release sites. The tags are used for id purposes and the colour changes each year. Ringing would not suffice as you would have to recapture the bird to id. They may not look too good but until the birds are at a sustainable level i.e. When there numbers are well up and they are not being poisoned, then the tagging may stop.
Some of the birds also have radio tracking as well.
And these birds are lucky, you should see the size of the tags on the sea eagle, there massive.

Phil

[Fredi]

The reason that they have such large wing tags is so that they can be identified from a long distance. This reduces the disturbance factor.
Each wing tag is unique its like a car registration. If you are lucky enough to find any kind of wing tagged bird it is worth reporting, they usually send you information back about that particular bird. ie where it was tagged, how old it is, what sex it is etc etc
I hope that explains enough for you

[wildone]

I think the colour of the right hand tag is for the locality and that of the left for the year in which the bird hatched. The tags also have numbers so that individual birds can be identified at a distance.

[Polecat]

Thanks for all your informative replies

I can quite understand why they are there now........can't wait to see the sea Eagles .

Are Ospreys also tagged like this? ( I should get a few migrate past here very soon )

If I do manage to see the tags clearer, who would I report it to please (rspb? ) ?

[Fredi]

Originally Posted by Polecat

Thanks for all your informative replies

I can quite understand why they are there now........can't wait to see the sea Eagles .

Are Ospreys also tagged like this? ( I should get a few migrate past here very soon )

If I do manage to see the tags clearer, who would I report it to please (rspb? ) ?

Yes the all the released Ospreys are all tagged

[PhilBriggs]

Andy
The ospreys are tagged but not with wing tags, they are ringed in the usuall manner. There getting more and more common now, espically throughout Scotland. The threat to the ospreys has declined slightly so they don't require as much monitoring and protection, although we are still quite guarded with the nest site locations. They are still occastionally radio tagged for tracing once back in Africa.

You can contact the BTO direct to report sightings via their web site or you can phone your local RSPB office. They have access to the same data base.

Phil

[John]

You think those wing tags are large. Look at the one on this Kite I took at Gigrin Farm a few years ago.

http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/ga...mage-4063.html

John

[PhilBriggs]

Horrible tags, there the same as the sea eagles get. Unfortunately there a necessity in the current climate.

Phil

[Polecat]

Thanks Phil. That particular bird has been hanging about here for a bit now with a partner. I might be able to get a better view of it. I can't believe that there is the need to tag the Kites in Wales still, but if its to do with their re-introduction elsewhere in the UK and they are flying back it wouldn't suprise me!!

[Alan]

When they started reintroductions a few years ago, didn't they bring a lot in from Spain?

[Imaginos]

Originally Posted by Alan

When they started reintroductions a few years ago, didn't they bring a lot in from Spain?

And Sweden I think, or was that Capercaillies?

The thinking at the time was that the population in Wales was in too perilous a state to start removing birds for relocation programmes and so Kites from abroad were used. I'm not sure, but I don't think that there were any issues with subspecies with Red Kite (unlike the aforementioned Capercaillie).

[Helen]

Originally Posted by Imaginos

And Sweden I think, or was that Capercaillies?

The thinking at the time was that the population in Wales was in too perilous a state to start removing birds for relocation programmes and so Kites from abroad were used. I'm not sure, but I don't think that there were any issues with subspecies with Red Kite (unlike the aforementioned Capercaillie).

Just over 90 kites were brought over from Spain to here in the Chilterns between 1989 and 1994.

Many of the Chilterns chicks have been taken elsewhere as part of other reintroduction programmes; the latest being the North East.

Reintroduction programmes have to fulful certain criteria set out by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) before being approved:

Historical evidence of former natural occurrence
Suitable habitat
Suitable source of birds

We now have over 300 breeding pairs in the Chilterns, and even though tagging still continues, it is becoming less so over time, because of the sheer numbers and the complete success of the programme, the kites are self sustaining, and now spreading over a wide area.

Regarding tagging, the tags fall off naturally after a period of 3-4 years. They do, however, provide valuable information on kite behaviour (dispersal, etc) during the first few years of their life.

The birds are also ringed as well as tagged. The tags tell us which area and nest the bird is from.

[kreed]

I'm a very keen Red Kite watcher, & as mentioned by some others here, the tags drop off after a while. As i photograph them a lot, it's useful to know if i've already shot one. I guess i have 8 or 9 tagged ones now, in a small area in Rockingham Forest.
Derek