Birds of prey roam for food in suburban British gardens

Chicken leftovers are taking the place of bird seed and nuts to attract a majestic visitor to suburban gardens, researchers have found.

chicken leftovers are taking the place of bird seed and nuts to attract a majestic visitor, the Red Kite, to suburban gardens, University of Reading researchers have found Image by University of Reading/PA

An estimated one in 20 households in the Berkshire town of Reading regularly put out food for red kites, a large bird of prey that was once virtually extinct in the UK.

With a wingspan of nearly 6ft (1.8m), the raptor might have a job perching on a bird table. But scientists say around 300 of the birds now “commute” into Reading from the surrounding countryside each day, drawn by the promise of easy meals.

Red kites have also been known to steal food from garden picnics and barbecues. And three years ago a warning went out to dog owners after one of the birds tried to make off with a fashion model’s handbag-sized Pomeranian.

The red kite, chiefly a scavenger that feeds on carrion, has made a big come back since a hugely successful reintroduction programme which started in the Chiltern Hills in 1989.

Previously the species was persecuted to the brink of extinction, with just one or two pairs remaining in Wales by the 1930s. There are now thought to be about 2,700 breeding pairs across the UK.

Red kites have also been known to steal food from garden picnics and barbecues. Image by University of Reading/PA Wire

Almost half of UK households regularly feed wild birds such as blue tits and robins, attracting them to their gardens with seeds and nuts.

But the researchers found that in Reading many people put out pieces of meat, especially chicken, to tempt red kites.

Ecologist Professor Mark Fellowes, from the University of Reading, said: “There are very few nesting or natural feeding sites in suburban areas, but we know that hundreds of red kites visit Reading every day.

“People had assumed waste food and road kill attracted them, but very little of this is actually available as our modern towns are remarkably clean.

“What we found was that people in Reading are providing enough food to provide the daily food needs for hundreds of red kites. The birds seem to be ‘commuting’ into the town each day from the surrounding countryside for a meal.”

He added that feeding red kites may have helped to boost the birds’ breeding success and increased their chances of surviving food-scarce periods of cold or wet winter weather.

But some conservation groups have urged people not to feed the birds.

Receptionist Brenda King, from Earley, Reading, explained why she sometimes put out raw or leftover meat for the kites.

“They are beautiful birds and to be able to see them up close is just marvellous,” she told the scientists, whose findings appear in the journal Ibis.

“We don’t feed them every day or give them too much, because they are wild birds. We never had them here until a few years ago. Now they will come in six at a time.”

Three years ago fashion model Kate Hillman recalled being stunned when a red kite swooped on her Pomeranian dog Vinnie as they walked in fields near her home in Maidenhead, Berkshire.

She told The Telegraph: “It was about to sink its talons into Vinnie when I ran forward, shouting and waving my arms and stamping on the ground to frighten it off.”

(Press Association)