What bird of prey did I see near Leicester yesterday?
Discussion
I visited a supplier up near Loughborough yesterday, and on my way back I saw a large bird of prey whilst on the Leicester bypass. I initially thought it was a red kite, but then wasn’t so sure, so excuse all the references to red kites that follow!
This was a large bird, ~25% bigger than a red kite in size and more bulky. Uniform brown colouring on the top and bottom of wings and less light colouring on the underside than a red kite. Wing span to size of bird was bigger than a red kite or buzzard, and it flew less elegantly/effortlessly. There was an pronounced change change of angle on the front edge of the wing, and more motion between the 2 wing parts than expected. It had a slightly forked tail.
Did I see large red kite putting in more effort than unusual, or something less common?
This was a large bird, ~25% bigger than a red kite in size and more bulky. Uniform brown colouring on the top and bottom of wings and less light colouring on the underside than a red kite. Wing span to size of bird was bigger than a red kite or buzzard, and it flew less elegantly/effortlessly. There was an pronounced change change of angle on the front edge of the wing, and more motion between the 2 wing parts than expected. It had a slightly forked tail.
Did I see large red kite putting in more effort than unusual, or something less common?
Very hard to ID without a picture but to me sounds more like a dark phase Buzzard, some of them can look very dark brown and trick you
into thinking it's something else. Looking on the latest UK sightings page there is nothing of note for your area from the last 2 days other
than Hen Harrier, which is smaller than a RK.
Sea eagle immatures are all dark underneath and without a white tail and one has been spotted near Norfolk yesterday, that however
is huge in comparison to a RK though, if you saw that you would have been thinking why is that barn door in flight.
Another option could be an escaped falconry bird of a non UK species like Harris Hawk or similar, only speculation without a photo though.
into thinking it's something else. Looking on the latest UK sightings page there is nothing of note for your area from the last 2 days other
than Hen Harrier, which is smaller than a RK.
Sea eagle immatures are all dark underneath and without a white tail and one has been spotted near Norfolk yesterday, that however
is huge in comparison to a RK though, if you saw that you would have been thinking why is that barn door in flight.
Another option could be an escaped falconry bird of a non UK species like Harris Hawk or similar, only speculation without a photo though.
In the UK, to get bigger than a red kite you’ve got a few choices…
1. Golden or sea eagle. Both super rare and a LOT bigger than a red kite. And have rounded tails. There was a great photo of the golden eagle that visited one of the zoos next to some red kits recently which really showed the size but I can’t find it. But this gives an idea:
2. Random escapee/flying practise for a captive bird - which could then be anything really!
There isn’t anything else native that fits above the red kite / buzzard tho (osprey about the same but usually v different colour). And buzzards have super rounded tails so it wasn’t that.
My guess would be a very large red kite - the adult size variation is quite impressive to be fair.
1. Golden or sea eagle. Both super rare and a LOT bigger than a red kite. And have rounded tails. There was a great photo of the golden eagle that visited one of the zoos next to some red kits recently which really showed the size but I can’t find it. But this gives an idea:
2. Random escapee/flying practise for a captive bird - which could then be anything really!
There isn’t anything else native that fits above the red kite / buzzard tho (osprey about the same but usually v different colour). And buzzards have super rounded tails so it wasn’t that.
My guess would be a very large red kite - the adult size variation is quite impressive to be fair.
We went past the Brush Works on our way out of Loughborough earlier…& saw what must surely be the same bird!
It was very low: a massive Red Kite: beautiful!
MrsMikeIOW fumbled the phone to try to get a pic, but with cars behind we failed!
I only read your post a couple of hours before we left home in Leicester!
It was very low: a massive Red Kite: beautiful!
MrsMikeIOW fumbled the phone to try to get a pic, but with cars behind we failed!
I only read your post a couple of hours before we left home in Leicester!
mikeiow said:
We went past the Brush Works on our way out of Loughborough earlier…& saw what must surely be the same bird!
It was very low: a massive Red Kite: beautiful!
MrsMikeIOW fumbled the phone to try to get a pic, but with cars behind we failed!
I only read your post a couple of hours before we left home in Leicester!
Thanks to all who’ve replied for satisfying my curiosity and especially to Mike. It sounds like the same bird, far bigger than any red kite I’ve seen before. It was very low: a massive Red Kite: beautiful!
MrsMikeIOW fumbled the phone to try to get a pic, but with cars behind we failed!
I only read your post a couple of hours before we left home in Leicester!
I’ll keep an eye out for the wing motion on other RKs I see and try to work out why it looks different/unusual.
HughG said:
Nightmare said:
That’s a great photo. Colouring of the bird I saw was far less vivid/contrasty than the RK there, the weather was very grey and raining at the time so the lighter colours wouldn’t have stood out so much. It's possible it isn't the same bird.....but sounds very likely to be
There is another possibility, you mentioned it had a shallow forked tail and was darker brown, this sounds very like the description of
a Black Kite (they aren't actually black), consider that there is no other UK bird of prey with a forked tail then the chances are it was
a Kite of one species or another. The other interesting point is that although the BK is a rare visitor to the UK there has been several
sightings over the past few days on the birding websites ranging from Gloucester / Lincoln / Kent, quite feasible for one to have passed through
your area seeing they are a very mobile species.
Black Kite...
a Black Kite (they aren't actually black), consider that there is no other UK bird of prey with a forked tail then the chances are it was
a Kite of one species or another. The other interesting point is that although the BK is a rare visitor to the UK there has been several
sightings over the past few days on the birding websites ranging from Gloucester / Lincoln / Kent, quite feasible for one to have passed through
your area seeing they are a very mobile species.
Black Kite...
Black kite is a great shout - I’ve even seen one in the UK, can’t believe I forgot them
You did mention slightly forked tail in your OP as well which is really the easiest identifier between the two…and same as red kite the adult size variation is quite wide, so really wouldn’t rely on size as a guide alone
Large red kite still seems best bet just on numbers, especially given Mikes post, but def could be a black
You did mention slightly forked tail in your OP as well which is really the easiest identifier between the two…and same as red kite the adult size variation is quite wide, so really wouldn’t rely on size as a guide alone
Large red kite still seems best bet just on numbers, especially given Mikes post, but def could be a black
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