Red Kites during the breeding season

Depending partly on the weather, most kites return to their breeding areas between January to early March to begin the task of selecting a nest site, and it is at this time that they are most conspicuous as they circle above suitable woodlands.

Immature kites may also form pairs at this time and may even start to build a nest, but no eggs are laid and they usually split up and abandon the nest area during April.

Breeding pairs build flat and rather untidy nests in trees (usually oak, beech or larch) normally in broad-leaved woodlands, although conifer plantations and isolated or hedgerow trees may sometimes be used. Nests are built of sticks with an inner lining of dry grass and wool. The outside of the nest and the branches of the tree may be festooned with bits of wool or twine. Kites nests vary in size since, although quite capable of building a nest from new, they will often occupy and repair old nests of ravens, buzzards or crows. One to three, and occasionally four, eggs are laid at three-day intervals in late March or early April, though newly formed pairs or young females will tend to lay later, occasionally up to the end of April, or even early May.

The female does most of the incubating with the male in close attendance perching in a nearby tree, unless he is away hunting; occasionally a third bird may associate with a breeding pair. After being incubated for 31-32 days the first egg hatches, to be followed by the rest at 2 or 3 day intervals; this results in nestlings of different ages and sizes which is an evolutionary adaptation to ensure that during periods of food shortage the largest (i.e. dominant) chick stands the best chance of getting enough food to survive; if all chicks were the same size and had an equal share of what little food was available, all would starve.

In Wales most successful pairs produce only a single chick but some will raise two, and occasionally three. The newly hatched young are brooded by the female for 2-3 weeks, after which time both parents may be absent from the nest, hunting for live food. Live prey is preferred at this time (especially young crows, rooks, magpies, voles and rabbits). As the young develop the adults spend more time on foraging excursions, sometimes over a distance of up to 7 miles from the nest.

Some 8-10 weeks after hatching the fully-grown chicks leave the nest, perching on nearby branches at first, but soon embarking on hunting forays. Most of these young birds will remain in Wales for their entire life- span.