Red Kite from my trip to Lower Austria

In Lower Austria I know some nice spots where a lot of birds of prey hunt and therefore I am always happy to go there and of course also because of the good food at the "Heurigen". Two species of these Birds of Prey that hunt there is the black kite and the red kite. The Black kite can usually be found around rivers and spots with a lot of water since it is mainly feeding on fish, the red kite usually needs open grasslands and crop fields where it hunts for mice and other rodents. Since both of these habitats can be found there in Lower Austria also both of these birds can be found there.

I like the Kites pretty much because they often come very close and are also interested in me, some times they are circling above me to give me some time to take some pictures. They can be very curious birds and are not so shy as some other bird species.

I noticed that these birds often fly right above tractors when they are harvesting the fields. They make it very simple, all the dead mice and other small animals that might have died or been killed by the tractor or harvesting machines they collect as food. Red Kites have a relatively long lifespan for a bird of prey, often reaching 20-25 years in the wild.

Unlike many birds of prey that actively hunt live prey, Red Kites are largely scavengers. While they will catch small live prey like voles, mice, and worms, a significant portion of their diet consists of carrion (animal carcasses), roadkill, and even food scraps. They are incredibly opportunistic feeders and are often seen circling over farmland, roads, or even urban areas looking for easy meals. This scavenging behavior actually plays an important ecological role in cleaning up the environment.

Red Kite inspecting me. Picture: Florina Glechner.