Red Kites head for Ireland

The row of young kites pictured above are playing dead - something they seem to believe is a good method of self preservation when perceiving a threat..
They were in fact extremely lively when they belived humans were no longer in their vacinity.

The Welsh Kite Trust collected these red kite chicks, varying from 4 - 6 weeks old, from wild nests in and around Mid-Wales. The birds were then brought back to Gigrin whereupon they were transfered into one of the rehabilitation aviaries (Gigrin Farm Red Kite Feeding & Rehabilitation Centre is licensed to hold these wild chicks and to be the premises from which they were to be exported). Here they stayed with numbers slowly growing until the target number was reached.

They were then inspected and certified healthy, before being transported under licence, in large cages to County Wicklow, Republic of Ireland

The Wicklow Red Kite Project is a partnership between the Golden Eagle Trust Ltd, the National Parks and Wildlife Service of the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government (DEHLG) and the Welsh Kite Trust.
It is funded by grants from DEHLG and the Heritage Council.

This is to be a 4 year project so next spring the aviary will likely again see red kite chicks within its walls.

A partner project on the release of kites in Northern Ireland is proposed to begin in 2008.

Red Kites were once common and widespread in Ireland, but became extinct in the eighteenth century due to persecution, poisoning and woodland clearance

The Welsh Kite Trust press release at: 17:00 hours JULY 19th 2007. This is Linked to from here.