Red Kite Milvus milvus

DISTRIBUTION AND ABUNDANCE

The breeding grounds of the Red Kite comprise the regions of Pomorze (Pomerania), Warmia, Mazury (Masuria), Wielkopolska, Ziemia Lubuska and Dolny Śląsk (Lower Silesia). In the remaining part of Poland the species is rare or absent.

The Red Kite is the most abundantly and extensively distributed in Pomorze Zachodnie. The largest concentration of pairs is noted in the lower Odra River valley, where in the early 90s the numbers of the species were estimated at 35-40 pairs. Red Kites are also relatively numerous around Zalew Szczeciński, e.g. in Puszcza Wkrzańska 28-30 pairs are recorded. The total population in this region is currently assessed at 300 pairs at least.

In Pomorze Środkowe and Pomorze Gdańskie the species is comparatively abundant, although more scattered. The distribution in Warmia and Mazury is patchy in character. The largest local population known, estimated at 12-15 pairs, inhabits Puszcza Napiwodzko-Romucka, smaller ones occurring in Lasy Iławskie - 8 pairs and in the Wigierski National Park - 3-5 pairs. Altogether in Warmia and Mazury, ca 35-40 sites are presently known, the abundance assessed at ca 40-50 pairs.

Within the region of Wielkopolska the most numerous population, numbering ca 30 pairs and attaining a density of 5.1 pairs/100 km2, inhabits Pojezierze Międzychodzko-Sierakowskie. Totally, the species abundance in the region is estimated at ca 150 pairs, which occur mainly in its western part; in the eastern section of Wielkopolska the Red Kite is conspicuously rarer, or even absent from some places. In Ziemia Lubuska, in the late 80s the species population was reported to reach the level of at least 30 pairs distributed fairly evenly over the entire area of Pojezierze Lubuskie and the Odra River valley. Compared with 1970-1982, a certain growth of the Red Kite numbers had taken place in this region, which trend went on still in the 90s.

The cautious mid-80s estimates for Śląsk (Silesia) stated 20-25 Red Kite pairs inhabiting mainly the Odra River valley. In the Barycz River valley up to three pairs of the species were observed then, but lately a certain increase to 5-6 pairs has been noted in this area. In the early 90s the Silesian population was assessed at as many as 35-40 pairs, the estimates for the second half of the 90s reaching 90-100 pairs. The species has recently started to occupy north Opole Province. Although yet in the 80s Red Kites were not found there, current reports mention 9 confirmed and 4 probable nest-sites of the species.

Unlike in the western part of the country, the Red Kite hardly occurs in the valleys of big rivers in central and eastern Poland. Within Podlasie Północne, 2-3 pairs nest exclusively in the Biebrza River valley, and some may sporadically breed in Puszcza Białowieska (Białowieża Primaeval Forest). There are no confirmed records of breeding from the region of Lublin. Within Małopolska the species has been observed in Puszcza Solska, Równina Tarnobrzeska and Płaskowyż Kolbuszowski, certain broods, however, being reported only from Pogórze Przemyskie. In the 50s and 60s there was another breeding population in the Bieszczady Mts and Beskid Niski, but it has ceased to exist.

In the first half of the 19th century the Red Kite occurred over the whole territory of Poland, representing one of the most numerous species of birds of prey. Then a rapid decline in its abundance took place and in the first half of the 20th century this raptor was regarded as exteremely rare in many regions of our country. Only in Pomorze and Mazury, and locally in the Zamość region, was the Red Kite more numerous. In Śląsk -after having got extinct at the end of the 19th century - the species was back in the Odra valley in the 1930s and 1940s, and in the Barycz River valley as late as the 1960s. In the early 80s the distribution of the Polish Red Kite population already resembled the present picture, the numbers then estimated at 300 pairs. The assessments for the first half of the 90s reach the level of 400-500 pairs. However, taking into account a marked increase in the species abundance noted in many regions of western Poland in the last dozen or so years, it is justifiable to raise the current numbers to at least 650-700 pairs.

The growth of the Polish population of the Red Kite may result, first of all, from the fact that the western territories of our country may get occupied by birds from the rapidly developing German population of the species, which accounts for about half of the global population.

Table 1. Estimated numbers of the Red Kite occurring in different regions of Poland in the second half of the 90s.

Region	Number of breeding pairs
Pomorze Zachodnie	300
Pomorze Środkowe i Gdańskie	40-50
Płn.-wsch. Polska	40-50
Nizina Północnopodlaska	2-3
Wielkopolska i Ziemia Lubuska	180-200
Śląsk	90-100
Małopolska	1-2 ?
Lubelszczyzna	1-2 ?
Estimated number	650-700

MONITORING

The results of the monitoring of the Red Kite in 2001 and 2002 are illustrated in table 2. The controls of 2001, which covered 83 nests of the species, did not reveal any case of breaking the law of zone protection. In 2002, the law was found violated at 12 (10.3 %) of the 116 nests under control.

Table 2. Results of controls to the Red Kite breeding sites in Poland in 1999 and 2000. (1) - total number of controlled sites, (2) - total number of controlled nests, (3) - number of sites where birds were recorded, (4) - number of nests at which zone protection regulations were found violated, (5) - number of nests newly found in the territories known from previous years, (6) - number of newly found territories with a nest, (7) - number of newly found territories without a nest

Region	Controlled sites (1) 2001 2002	Controlled nests (2) 2001 2002	Sites with birds (3) 2001 2002	Regulations violated (4) 2001 2002	New nests in territory (5) 2001 2002	New territory with nest (6) 2001 2002	New territory without nest (7) 2001 2002
Pomorze Środk.	4 33	6 18	4 31	- 1	- 1	- 3	- 2
Wielkopolska	88 99	83 84	48 65	- 11	5 15	6 11	- 5
Polska NE	10 24	9 22	8 11	- -	- 1	5 2	2 -
Nizina Północnopodlaska	1 1	1 1	1 1	- -	- -	- -	- -
Pomorze Zachodnie	- 33	- 25	- 21	- -	- 1	- -	- -
Razem	103 190	99 150	61 129	- 12	5 18	11 16	2 7

REPRODUCTIVE PARAMETERS

The Red Kites nesting in western Poland attain high reproductive parameters, which is an essential prerequisite of the population growth. For instance, in 1988-92 in the middle Vistula valley in Dolny Śląsk, the nest success amounted to an average of 65%, approximating to that of the most fertile German population.

The results of the Red Kite breeding in 1999, 2000 and 2001 are as follows:

*data concern only the region of Wielkopolska, where the number of fledglings was determined through entering the nests