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The UK Bird Atlas

Red Kite (Milvus milvus)Where and when to see it in the UK

Resident · reporting peaks February to April · Kites, Old World Vultures, Eagles, and Hawks · BOU category AC3E*F

Records to 2026-08-16 · build 2026-08-31

Red Kite (Milvus milvus)
Michael Graf, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Peak months
Red Kite: relative reporting rate by 10 km square, September

Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (grid squares, place names from OS Open Names). Northern Ireland place names: OSNI Open Data, OGL v3.0. County and country boundaries: Office for National Statistics, Open Government Licence v3.0. Coastline: Natural Earth. Bird records from the data partners listed here.

Red Kite has been recorded in 2,089 of the 2,971 10 km squares covering UK land (70%) in records to 2026. Resident in the UK. Its strongest squares are in England, Scotland and Wales. Reporting peaks in February to April.

Conservation status: Least Concern (IUCN Red List, LC)
View on the IUCN Red List
Relative to this species' best squares (how classes are calculated)
Very high
58% or more of visits
High
19% to 58%
Moderate
5% to 19%
Low
under 5%
Surveyed, not recorded
at least 20 qualifying visits, no record
Insufficient records
too few visits to say
Lighter fill
Few visits, lower confidence
Small dot
Occasional: a single record, or out of season

Seasonality

Reporting rate by month, relative to the peak month
MonthRelative to peakShare of visitsTypical class
January 80%10%Very high
February 87%11%Very high
March 100%13%Very high
April 93%12%Very high
May 84%11%Moderate
June 83%11%Very high
July 73%9%Very high
August 60%8%Very high
September 59%8%Very high
October 68%9%Very high
November 73%9%Very high
December 79%10%Very high

Squares with the highest reporting rate in February

SquareWhereShare of visitsClass
J14Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon, Northern Ireland100%Very high
J16Lisburn and Castlereagh, Northern Ireland100%Very high
J33Newry, Mourne and Down, Northern Ireland100%Very high
J46Ards and North Down, Northern Ireland100%Very high
J55Newry, Mourne and Down, Northern Ireland100%Very high
NC84Highland, Scotland100%Very high
NH41Highland, Scotland100%Very high
NH44Highland, Scotland100%Very high
NH46Highland, Scotland100%Very high
NH63Highland, Scotland100%Very high

Spotted an error in a square? Report it and it goes into the review queue. Read the methodology for how classes, flags and sensitive-species rules work. Data to 2026.