Tuesday Tweet - Red Kite

Tuesday’s Tweet - Red Kite

The Red Kite is the unofficial bird of Wales and Red Kites were last spotted by our guests at the end of June and were seen this week 1st Aug 2024 @reddings_retreat_tintern gliding in the skies above Reddings Retreat in the lower Wye Valley. Birds & other wildlife spotted at Reddings Retreat can be viewed on our website: https://reddings-retreat-tintern.webador.co.uk/

Red Kite 

Photos by James Kennerley, @ #pexels

Description: Distinctive large, graceful raptor with a fairly long, forked, rusty-orange tail. Flies with easy languid wingbeats and lazy glides, circling gracefully over fields and roadsides. Can be confused with Black Kite; note overall more reddish coloration, paler face, larger white patches on the underwings, and more deeply forked tail. Inhabits varied semiopen habitats, from woodland to farmland and moorland with hedges and wooded patches; locally in urban areas. Often scavenges with crows.

Speed: In level flight, red kites typically cruise at 15-25 mph (24-40 km/h). But through skillful manipulation of air currents and thermals, they can swiftly gain altitude and momentum to achieve stoop speeds of over 70 mph (112 km/h) while diving.

Source: https://www.birdful.org/how-fast-is-a-red-kite/

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ReddingsRetreatTintern/