Rubén Barone
 ·  5 April 2020  15:46

Very nice photo of Red Kite. This species was extirpated in the Canary Islands by the beginning of the 70s. From time to time there are scattered records of migrants in some islands.

Vincent van der Spek
 ·  5 April 2020  17:58, gewijzigd 5 April 2020  17:59

Oh wow, I never knew they used to occur as far out as the Canaries. On which islands did they breed? Thanks for the info you often provide, Rubén. 

The March record of a Black Kite also mentioned by Han is even more interesting! March records remain thin on the ground. 

Rubén Barone
 ·  5 April 2020  23:45, gewijzigd 6 April 2020  23:45

Hi again.

Thanks, Vincent. Red Kites were present as breeding birds at least in the central (Gran Canaria and Tenerife) and some western islands (La Gomera and El Hierro). In several of them was considered really abundant, but by the end of the 60s and the beginning of the 70s they dissapeared. After that decades there are very few reliable records in our archipelago. Unfortunately, the case of the Red Kite demonstrates that a locally common species can be extinct in a short period of time. But the present situation of the Egyptian Vulture in the Canaries is promising, after a deep reduction of its populations. There has been a hard work to improve the situation of the species and protect it...