{"id":635364,"date":"2026-06-12T19:08:07","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T19:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/635364\/"},"modified":"2026-06-12T19:08:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T19:08:07","slug":"aylesbury-town-council-warns-do-not-feed-red-kites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/635364\/","title":{"rendered":"Aylesbury Town Council warns &#8216;do not feed red kites&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n  Aylesbury Town Council has warned that feeding the birds not only risks harming them but could also cause wider problems for wildlife and communities.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Red kites are a common sight across Buckinghamshire, especially in the Chilterns.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  However, while their presence is popular with the public, the council said the birds are fully capable of finding their own food and do not need human help.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Neil Harris, countryside manager for the National Trust Chilterns, said: &#8220;There&#8217;s no question \u2013 people should not feed red kites.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  &#8220;Doing so puts both people and the birds at risk.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  &#8220;When red kites are fed, they begin to associate humans with food, encouraging them to approach more closely.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  &#8220;Given their large size, this can be unsettling and may lead to negative encounters.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  READ MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bucksfreepress.co.uk\/news\/26188572.angler-sets-record-huge-68lb-8oz-carp-bucks-fishery\/?ref=ed_recent\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Angler sets record with huge 68lb 8oz carp at Bucks fishery<\/a>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Mr Harris warned that feeding red kites can lead to changes in human attitudes toward the birds, referencing their fragile conservation past.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  He said: &#8220;As a result, people can become wary or even antagonistic towards them.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  &#8220;Red kites have a long history of persecution and were driven to near extinction in the UK in the last century \u2013 something we must not allow to happen again.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  &#8220;The good news is that red kites are highly adaptable and have plenty of natural food available, so there is no need to feed them.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Aylesbury Town Council echoed the advice, reminding residents that feeding the birds can encourage them to stay in one area and increase the risk of accidents involving roads and overhead power lines.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  It can also lead to nuisance behaviour in residential areas as red kites grow less wary of people.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  A spokesperson for Aylesbury Town Council said: &#8220;The best way to help Red Kites thrive is to enjoy watching them from a distance and let them behave naturally.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  &#8220;Let\u2019s help keep these remarkable birds wild.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Aylesbury Town Council has warned that feeding the birds not only risks harming them but could also cause&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":635365,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[90,56,54,55,4407],"class_list":["post-635364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/635364","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=635364"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/635364\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/635365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=635364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=635364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=635364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}