Their feather patterns are also easy to distinguish, with ruddy, white and black feathers. They have distinctive fan-shaped tails that, in adults, end in two points. They're pretty much the largest bird in the London sky, and glide around without much flapping, as birds of prey generally do. How to spot a red kite Image: Synaptic Refuge under creative commons licence Now, their numbers are so great that they're a daily sight for many Londoners. Breeding pairs were reintroduced to the Chilterns in 1990s, and they've made a steady recovery ever since. The distinctive birds all-but-died-out in the UK in Victorian times, thanks to habitat loss, hunting and improvements in waste disposal (they are scavengers), though a few pairs clung on in Wales. If you'd like to add to the map, please leave a comment below or respond on our Facebook or Twitter threads. We asked readers only for sightings in the south east, and that's what we've mapped. Red kites can be found further afield, with populations all over the country. Elsewhere, Caterham, Ware and Harlow get frequent mentions. These major roads connect London to the Chilterns, and it's likely the birds gradually moved east from the hills, following the roadkill. From Reading to Yeading, the M4 corridor is particularly replete, ditto the M40. Clapham Common, Stepney and Greenwich are as central as we've heard so far. Sightings in inner London are rare, however. The deepest clusters are to the west, closer to the Chilterns where they were originally reintroduced. As you can see, the birds are reasonably widespread around the south east.
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