A review of the available information suggests that birds may be the most important predators of dung arthropods in some situations: e.g. Refuse tips and muladares (dumps for dead livestock) and their management during the winter are important for the conservation of the species. We suggest that the use of carrion is influenced not only by its abundance but by its availability to Red Kites. farmed Rabbits Oryctolagus cuniculus, poultry Gallus sp.) in the diet were correlated with a decrease in the trophic diversity which suggested an active choice of the food, at least in years with low vole densities. High frequencies of “small” carrion (e.g. Common Voles Microtus arvalis, despite being a very abundant prey on the northern plateau, did not appear in the diet in high numbers, but their frequency was related to the proportion of land occupied by nonirrigated (cereal) crops. Red Kites showed a clear difference in diet between the two plateaux, with a higher consumption of carrion on the northern plateau and of game species on the southern plateau. The diet composition and its relationship with food abundance and habitat characteristics were studied in two areas (northern and southern plateaux) with different food availability and habitat composition. This paper presents data on the winter diet of the Red Kite Milvus milvus in the Iberian Peninsula.
The Red Kite is generally very popular with local people, and is proving to be an extremely useful 'ambassador species' for raptor conservation at a time when some specialist-interest groups view increasing raptor populations as a problem. In particular, the Red Kite is vulnerable to the use of illegal poison baits, secondary rodenticide poisoning, and shooting. The Red Kite's generalist diet and lack of specialist habitat requirements should enable it to regain its former status in Britain as one of our most widespread and familiar birds, provided that certain threats resulting from human activity can be reduced. Intensive monitoring of released birds, and studies of the populations re-establishing themselves in England, have shown that the Red Kite is well adapted to our lowland landscapes and is able to thrive at high densities in the release areas. In 1989, a re-establishment programme began in England and Scotland, and breeding populations have already become established in southern England, the English Midlands and northern Scotland. The Red Kite Milvus milvus was formerly common and widespread throughout Britain, but by the end of the nineteenth century, as a direct result of human persecution, it had been reduced to a handful of pairs in mid Wales.