蜜芽传媒

There are now over 300 red kites in Rockingham Forest, so they have become a familiar sight in Northamptonshire. But identifying individuals can be tricky. Sanjida O'Connell goes to meet Carl Ivans, who tags every single chick. Older birds stay faithful to their previous nest sites, so those are easy to find. But new birds make new nests, and you have to watch birds displaying and check each tree. There are two chicks about five years old in the nest he checks today. They are brought down to be tagged and ringed. Carl has ringed over 100 chicks this year. The colourful tags mean the bird can be identified at a distance. These chicks will start flying at about eight weeks old. In 1905 there were only five breeding pairs of red kites in Britain, and now there are 3,000, with 10% of the population in Northamptonshire.