with black kites.[1 0] The English word "kite" is from the Old English cyta which is of unknown origin. A
kite is mentioned by Geoffrey Chaucer's in his Knight's Tale. The early fifteenth century Hengwrt
manuscript contains the lines: "Ther cam a kyte, whil þt they were so wrothe That bar awey the boon
bitwix hem bothe." The first recorded use of the word "kite" for a toy that is attached to a length of
string and flown in the air dates from the seventeenth century.[1 2]
Red kites are 60 to 70 cm (24 to 28 in) long[1 3] with a 1 75–1 79 cm (69–70 in) wingspan; males weigh
800–1 ,200 g (28–42 oz), and females 1 ,000–1 ,300 g (35–46 oz).[2] It is an elegant bird, soaring on
long wings held at a dihedral, and long forked tail, twisting as it changes direction. The body, upper tail
and wing coverts are rufous. The white primary flight feathers contrast with the black wing tips and
dark secondaries. Apart from the weight difference, the sexes are similar, but juveniles have a buff
breast and belly. Its call is a thin piping sound, similar to but less mewling than the common buzzard.
There is a rare white leucistic form accounting for approximately 1 % of hatchlings in the Welsh
population but is at a disadvantage in the survival stakes.[1 4]
Adults are overall more deeply rufous, compared with the more washed out colour of juveniles; Adults
have black breast-streaks whereas on juveniles these are pale; Juveniles have a less deeply forked
tail, with a dark subterminal band; Juveniles have pale tips to all of the greater-coverts (secondary and
primary) on both the upper- and under-wings, forming a long narrow pale line; adults have pale fringes
to upperwing secondary-coverts only. These differences hold throughout most of the first year of a bir-
d's life. Juveniles at nest, Berlin
Usually red kites first breed when
they are two years old, although
exceptionally
they
can
successfully breed when they are
only one year old.[1 5][1 6][1 7] They
are monogamous and the pair-
bond in resident populations is
probably maintained during the
winter, particularly when the pair
remain on their breeding territory.
For migrant populations the fidelity
to a particular nesting site means
that the pair-bond is likely to be
renewed
each
breeding
season.[1 8] The nest is normally
placed in a fork of a large
hardwood tree at a height of
between 1 2 and 1 5 m (39 and 49
ft) above the ground. A pair will
sometimes use a nest from the
previous
year
and
can
occasionally occupy an old nest of
the common buzzard.[1 9] The
nest is built by both sexes. The
male brings dead twigs 30–50 cm
(1 2–20 in) in length which are
placed by the female. The nest is
lined with grass and sometimes
also with sheep's wool. Unlike the
black kite, no greenery is added to
the nest. Both sexes continue to
add material to the nest during the
incubation and nestling periods.