Tagging of Red Kites in Austria, Germany and Spain
In the last couple of weeks, the project Team and different Partners were busy with tagging juvenile Red Kites for the LIFE-EUROKITE project.
From 8th of June till 25th of June around 100 individuals were tagged in Germany and Austria and 12 in Spain.
The core idea for this action is to use telemetry technology to identify the spatial habitat use of this species and quantify the key reasons of mortality of bird of prey species in the EU. Until 2024, around 615 Red Kites and 80 other birds of prey (White-tailed Eagle, Imperial Eagle, Black Kite, Saker Falcon) in 39 tagging areas and 1 reinforcement area in 12 countries are to be tracked with GPS trackers to monitor their activity permanently. The tacked nestlings get used to the logger very fast and do not show any negative influences or changed behaviour. Due to tacking nestlings or juveniles the EUROKITE project will be able to follow birds during their whole lifespan, which gives not only inside in their spatial use but also in their feeding, resting and migration behaviour. Additionally, it will help us to track and prosecute illegal activities like poisoning and shooting.
Photo by M. Sommerhage