\n The birds, which live across Europe, as well as in western Asia and Northwest Africa, are commonly seen across the county following their introduction to the Thames Valley between 1989 and 1994.\n<\/p>\n
\n However, Princes Risborough Town Council, through the Chilterns Conservation Board, has urged those residing in the area not to feed the birds.\n<\/p>\n
\n Despite their huge wingspan and soaring skills, Red Kites are scavengers who rely on roadkill and carrion as their main source of food.\n<\/p>\n
\n In recent weeks, it has come to the council’s attention that some Risborough residents have left items such as meat and poultry out for them to eat, which could increase the chances of rat infestations.\n<\/p>\n
\n In a lengthy post, the council outlined several key points of advice for residents regarding bird feeding. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n They said: \u201cSome people like to feed Red Kites meat in their gardens to attract large numbers \u2013 the birds make dramatic swoops when they feed.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cWhile this is an impressive spectacle, the Chilterns Conservation Board discourages feeding red kites.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cFeeding encourages Red Kites to become bolder than they naturally would be and to fly too close for comfort.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cThey have sharp claws and a wingspan of around six feet, so if the birds become a nuisance, this could change public support for the welfare of these birds.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cPerhaps leading us back down the road towards the persecution of red kites \u2013 part of the worrying history of these birds.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n They continued: \u201cFeeding encourages concentrated numbers of kites in one area.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cThis discourages songbirds and ground-nesting birds from feeding and successfully bringing up their young.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cRed Kites can drop scraps of meat onto neighbouring gardens and properties, which is a health risk and attracts rats and vermin (the Conservation Board has even received complaints about scraps of meat dropping directly onto people\u2019s heads).\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cFeeding discourages Red Kites from expanding their range and looking for new breeding territories and sources of food – this disrupts their natural population spread.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cRed kites can feed and thrive in their natural habitat without our assistance.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cPeople were encouraged to feed them during their reintroduction in the 1990s, but now that this species is doing well, feeding is no longer necessary.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n The council also suggested that scraps of uncooked and cooked meat \u2018do not present a balanced diet\u2019 for the birds, and instead of feeding them, residents should \u2018enjoy them soaring high above\u2019 their respective gardens or in the Chiltern Hills.\n<\/p>\n
\n According to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), there are around 4,400 breeding pairs of Red Kites in the UK.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The birds, which live across Europe, as well as in western Asia and Northwest Africa, are commonly seen…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":228554,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[90,56,54,55,4407],"class_list":{"0":"post-228553","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-science","9":"tag-uk","10":"tag-united-kingdom","11":"tag-unitedkingdom","12":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228553"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228553\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}