Milvus milvus
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~60%
The red kite (Milvus milvus) is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as eagles, buzzards, and harriers. The species currently breeds only in Europe, though it formerly also bred in West Asia and Northwest Africa. Historically, it was only resident in the milder parts of its range in Western Europe and Northwestern Africa, whereas all or most red kites in Northern mainland Europe wintered to the south and west, some also reaching western Asia, but an increasing number of northern birds now remain in that region year-round. Vagrants have reached north to Finland and south to Israel, Libya and the Gambia.
The English word "kite" is from the Old English cyta which is of unknown origin. A kite is mentioned by Geoffrey Chaucer in his Knight's Tale. The early 15th century Hengwrt manuscript contains the lines: "Ther cam a kyte, whil þt they were so wrothe That bar awey the boon bitwix hem bothe." The first recorded use of the word kite for the human-operated aerial device dates from the 17th century.
The red kite was described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of his Systema... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sierra de Guadarrama National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 2 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 3 | Monfragüe National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 4 | Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 5 | Doñana National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 6 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 7 | Snowdonia National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 8 | Aigüestortes National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 9 | Cairngorms National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 10 | Fertő-Hanság National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 11 | Camargue | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 12 | Biebrza National Park | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 13 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 14 | Kiskunság National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 15 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 16 | Picos de Europa National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Red Kite sighting in Cairngorms National Park on a given day, based on 506 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 56th most-seen of the 140 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February–April, September–October and December
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Red Kite in Cairngorms National Park on a given day, against about 10% in January, May–August and November, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Red Kite sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
9th of 16
Of the 16 parks where we can rate Red Kite sightings, Cairngorms National Park ranks 9th at about 10%. The best odds are in Sierra de Guadarrama National Park (Spain, about 50%), Pyrénées National Park (France, about 40%) and Monfragüe National Park (Spain, about 40%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Accipitridae
The closest relatives of the Red Kite that you can see in Cairngorms National Park (family Accipitridae, Hawks, Eagles, and Kites) are Common Buzzard (about 40%), Golden Eagle (about 10%) and Eurasian Sparrowhawk (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Red Kite is recorded against all the birds logged in Cairngorms National Park (506 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
