THE ISSUE: Should people stop feeding Red Kites?

YES says Cathy Rose, activities and learning officer at the Chilterns Conservation Board

Red Kites are now a familiar and much-loved sight over the Chilterns, with many residents gaining great pleasure from seeing them.

However, recently, these birds have received local and national media attention for all the wrong reasons.

Television, radio and newspaper reports of Red Kites stealing school children’s lunches, raiding summer barbecues and picnics and swooping over domestic pets have led to concerned calls to the Chilterns Conservation Board about the birds’ overly-bold behaviour.

People claim to have been scratched by kites trying to take food from them and neighbours of properties where kites are fed are complaining of their cars and washing being soiled by kite droppings, raw meat scraps being dropped in their gardens and an increase in rats.

We believe that Red Kites are clustering over our villages and coming worryingly close to people and pets because they have become accustomed to being fed.

They are not aggressive birds, but are merely capitalising on feeding opportunities.

They have learnt over several years that an easy source food can be found close to human habitation, so they are now seeking it out.

We are being asked whether anything can be done to prevent this unwelcome behaviour.

The answer is yes, but it involves changing our own behaviour.

The only way to stop them swooping into schools and gardens is to remove the source of food. Soon, they will realise there is nothing for them in that locality and will search elsewhere.

Reintroducing Red Kites to the Chilterns has been an incredible success, with the population increasing year-on-year.

However, it is important that the increasing numbers of kites can be sustained by the natural food sources available to them in the wider countryside, which will mainly be carrion, but will also include live prey such as rats, mice and voles.

While we appreciate that people who feed Red Kites get great enjoyment from seeing the birds close-up, such feeding may be discouraging the birds from spreading out and finding their food naturally, and may ultimately lead to an unsustainably high population of the birds, clustering around supplementary food sources, and becoming reliant on human handouts.

It’s not illegal to feed kites, but we hope that people who currently do so will take heed of their neighbours’ concerns and the issues of over-population, and consider stopping or at least reducing their feeding.

So, to feed or not to feed? When applied to Red Kites in the Chilterns, the answer from the Chilterns Conservation Board is, “no thank you”.

NO says George Reszeter, wildlife photographer

Red Kites. I have spent countless hours watching them, photographing and just admiring their grace and beauty.

I personally think they are beautiful birds. I absolutely love them, they are amazing creatures.

As a species, they are certainly doing very, very well.

Red Kites are scavengers, not hunters like other hawks and raptors. They soar and glide over our heads cleaning up the dead carrion hit by vehicles on our increasingly busy roads.

Over at Appleton landfill site when they are emptying the rubbish onto the heap you will see 10 or 15 kites circling overhead.

They will try to mob the gulls to get them to regurgitate what they have just eaten.

I knew the issue that people should stop feeding them would start rearing its head.

I see no reason not to feed them scraps of meat and chicken and so on. If you have a garden large enough to accommodate them, why not?

Red Kites are no threat to humans and never have been, but humans are again becoming a threat to them.

On August 1, 1989, in a quiet valley in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, five Red Kites were brought in from Sweden and released into the wild.

Since then they have thrived so strongly there are more than 1,000 breeding pairs. Nearly 300 birds have been taken from the area to start similar breeding schemes in other parts of the UK.

Everyone was so depressed when they were nearly extinct and everyone was so delighted when they were reintroduced But in true British tradition, we all love and support the underdog, but when the underdog becomes top dog our loyalties begin to change.With the latest buzzword now being ‘cull’ I am beginning to dread for the future of these magnificent birds. Examples of badgers and grey squirrels spring to mind.

Why can we not introduce a regulated feeding stations in the Chilterns, along with a secure hiding spot?

That way they can be fed and watched in a controlled environment, similar to a scheme in Wales.

This would mean that people would be able to enjoy these amazing birds without posing any risk to their natural habits.

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