Have you seen any Kites in your area?

[bright rabbit 1]

As the title says have you seen any Kites flying around in your area? What do you think of them? How many did you see? Have you got small animals? (This is a serious question).

I saw three last week, they are so majestic.

Had to get Honey inside because they go after small animals. Then again the Kites are useful for dealing with rodents (my mum hates rodents).

Kites as in birds

[Loa]

Are we talking about a bird or a children's wind toy?

[bright rabbit 1]

Are we talking about a bird or a children's wind toy?

Birds

It’s very rare to see them around where I live, but you can hear them because of the sound they make. I rather watch a animal program about the rather than other bird programs or with other birds in them, I’m talking about that eagle in Benjamin the Hunted.

[Griffin]

Well that was an educational question - to me they're all just "hawks" and I'm really bad at telling apart the different species or even groups. Off to Wikipedia!

Apparently we have a small number of black kites in Finland (but not where I currently live) and an occasional red kite visitor. But we have buzzards, harriers, goshawks, sparrowhawks and falcons (+ white-tailed eagles and golden eagles).

There are some fields where I live and occasionally I spot a soaring raptor but I can't identify the species... Not too long ago I was lucky enough to spot a white-tailed eagle, I'd never seen an eagle in the wild before!

[Gator]

I'll have to check my bird book.  I can't remember if Georgia (USA) has any kites.  We have kestrels, close cousins similar in size.

[Mewtwofan1]

Maybe I’m just super unobservant of the world above since I tend to look at the bugs on the ground but...a bird called a kite is a thing? Looks like I have to consult the google on this.

[glitterball]

After they did a reintroduction project in Southern UK, oh, 20 years ago, my area is INFESTED with them! 

The breeding programme back-fired slightly as the offspring seem to stay close to their parents instead of finding new territories, resulting in "gangs".

We went out in Oxfordshire to a park and, no joke, there were at least 30 swirling above us. Eerie.

During the summer, they scavenge for leftover BBQ food and swoop down in our garden, they are HUGE close up. (No, we do not leave food out for them.) They enjoy a bit of roadkill too, I have seen them being mobbed by the magpies and blackbirds who live near our local lake.

They seem to leave humans alone so no fear of attack but wow, they do swoop close to you if something on the ground interests them. Unsure how owners of small pets feel about them, though.

[bright rabbit 1]

It makes me so angry and sad that people kill these magnificent creatures to eat. They’re protected species why can’t they leave them alone?

One swooped down after my mum once, I think it saw a bug hovering around her.

I noticed that we have not had any wasps in our garden. I know they eat worms but I don’t know about other insects.

Here’s some Kite species

Red Kite
Black Kite
Missippi Kite
Swallow-tailed Kite
Black Winged Kite
White-tailed Kite

Plus they’re others

[pinkkittywinks]

I haven't seen them where I live, but I have seen them and they are beautiful

We do get Buzzards very high up and either a Sparrow Hawk or Peregrine Falcon (I only saw it once)

Love pkw xxx