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Kites 2014


Red Kites (milvus milvus) and black kites (Milvus migrans) in years with mild winters can already be observed in the sky in early February. Distinctive features of the large birds of prey include the silhouettes. Differentiation is possible with few features and some training.
Fully Cleared landscapes and intensive land use now threatens their existence, the use of pesticides, overhead cables, the increasing scale wind turbines and not least the road-traffic is endangering the existence. The Kite has a wide food spectrum, it is composed of small mammals, birds, fish and carrion together. The Red-kite is also known as predator. Their big clumps the kites build on coniferous and deciduous trees, often in more than 20 m of height, rarely new any year. In fall, the birds fly into their winter quarters in France, Spain and North Africa. But there are also some staying at the breeding area during winter.
We were lucky to observe several Red Kites and Black Kites during the hot and dry summer of 2014, who apparently also had formed breeding communities, in a typical area at our neighboring community (wheat fields, meadows, forest, water).