Species Action Plan for the red kite Milvus milvus in the European Union Prepared by: On behalf of the European Commission Species action plan for the red kite Milvus milvus in the European Union The present action plan was commissioned by the European Commission and prepared by BirdLife International as subcontractor to the “N2K Group” in the frame of Service Contract N#070307/2007/488316/SER/B2 “Technical and scientific support in relation to the implementation of the 92/43 ‘Habitats’ and 79/409 ‘Birds’ Directives”. Compilers Jeff Knott, RSPB, [email protected] Peter Newbery, RSPB, [email protected] Boris Barov, BirdLife International, [email protected] List of Contributors Adrian Aebischer Switzerland MNH Fribourg, Switzerland Aña Inigo Spain SEO António Monteiro Portugal Aymeric Mionnet France LPO Boris Maderič Slovakia SOS David Horal Czech Republic CSO Domingos Leitaõ Portugal SPEA Duncan Orr-Ewing UK (Scotland) RSPB Gabor Wichmann Austria BirdLife Austria Gilles Biver Luxembourg LNVL Guido Ceccolini Italy WWF Italy Ian Carter UK (England) Natural England István Balázs Hungary MME Javier Vinuela Spain IIRC Maurizio Sara Italy LABZEA Nils Kjellen Sweden University of Lund Patric Lorgé Luxembourg LNVL Pedro Rocha Portugal Reto Spaar Switzerland Swiss Ornithological Institute Tess Murray UK (England) RSPB Tony Cross UK (Wales) WKT Ubbo Mammen Germany MEROS Ueli Rehsteiner Switzerland Birdlife Switzerland Milestones in the Production of the Plan Workshop: 25-26 March 2009, Gateshead, UK Draft 1: 30 June 2009, submitted to the European Commission International Red Kite symposium, Montbéliard, Franche-Comte: 17-18 October 2010 Draft 2: 30 October 2009, submitted to the European Commission Final version: 31 January 2010, submitted to the European Commission 2 International Species Working Group n/a Reviews This Action Plan should be reviewed and updated every ten years (first review in 2019). An emergency review should be undertaken if there is a sudden major change liable to affect the populations or subspecies. Photo Credits: © Sue Tranter (rspb-images.com) Recommended Citation Knott, J, P. Newbery, and B. Barov (2009). Action plan for the red kite Milvus milvus in the European Union, 55 p. ISSN (…) 3 Geographical scope This Action Plan covers primarily the regular breeding range states of the red kite Milvus milvus in the European Union (16 Member States shown in Table 1). Switzerland is also included because it lies within the core of the breeding range and has an important breeding population. Map 1: Distribution range of the red kite Milvus milvus (from Aebischer, 2009) Table 1: Range states for which this Action Plan is relevant, countries in bold having most important populations Regular breeding Occasional or former breeding Austria Latvia Belgium Netherlands Czech Republic Republic of Ireland Denmark Romania France Germany Hungary Italy Lithuania Luxembourg Poland Portugal Slovakia Spain Sweden Switzerland United Kingdom 4 Table of Contents 0 - EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................6 1 - BIOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT .........................................................................................8 Taxonomy and biogeographic populations.............................................................................8 Distribution throughout the annual cycle .............................................................................8 Habitat requirements .............................................................................................................9 Survival and productivity......................................................................................................9 Population size and trend ....................................................................................................10 2 - THREATS ...........................................................................................................................12 General overview of threats..................................................................................................12 List of critical and important threats ...................................................................................12 Problem tree .........................................................................................................................17 3 - POLICIES AND LEGISLATION RELEVANT FOR MANAGEMENT..................18 International conservation and legal status of the species ...................................................18 Relevant international policies.............................................................................................19 Recent conservation activities..............................................................................................21 4 - FRAMEWORK FOR ACTION .......................................................................................23 Goal ......................................................................................................................................23 Objectives.............................................................................................................................23 Results..................................................................................................................................23 Actions .................................................................................................................................23 5 – REFERENCES AND THE MOST RELEVANT LITERATURE ...............................29 ANNEX 1..................................................................................................................................32 Threats’ importance by country...........................................................................................32 ANNEX 2..................................................................................................................................34 Most important sites for the red kite in the EU and their SPA status ................................34 ANNEX 3..................................................................................................................................50 National legal status. ...........................................................................................................50 Table 3.1 National policies and legislation ..........................................................................50 Table 3.2 Ongoing monitoring schemes for the species .......................................................52 Table 3.3 Overview of the coverage of the species in networks of sites with legal protection status (information for breeding season only)...........................................................................53 5 0 - EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The biogeographical population of the partially migratory red kite Milvus milvus, which is the subject of this action plan, breeds across Europe from Portugal to Hungary, north to Denmark and southern Sweden. Successful reintroduction projects have resulted in newly established populations in a number of localities in England and Scotland, where it was previously extinct. Populations in Spain, in the south of France, in Italy, on the Mediterranean islands and the UK are largely resident, but elsewhere in the EU most of the populations move south and west to a varying extent, many of them wintering in Spain and Portugal. The most important breeding populations in Europe are found in Germany, with an estimated 10,500-13,000 breeding pairs, France (2,300-3,000 bp) and Spain (2,000- 2,200 bp). The red kite has been listed as Near Threatened in the IUCN Red List (2008), because it has experienced a moderately rapid population decline, owing mostly to poisoning by pesticides, persecution and land-use intensification, among other threats. Despite increases in some populations, core range states have experienced significant declines. Evidence that the population is undergoing a rapid decline would probably qualify it for a higher threat category (BirdLife International 2008). The species is included in Annex I of the EU Wild Birds Directive, in Appendix II of the Bern, Bonn and CITES Conventions, and Annex A to the EU Wildlife Trade Regulations. Based on the most up-to-date information on the biology, habitat requirements and conservation of the red kite, this Action Plan presents the prioritized threats, sets objectives and proposes conservation measures that should halt the decline of this species from large parts of its European range, with a view to facilitating population recoveries. Experience from countries across Europe suggest that the greatest threat to red kite populations (assessed as Critical) is illegal poisoning from feeding on illegally poisoned carcases laid in order to control predators such as foxes and wolves. A second important threat (assessed as High) is accidental poisoning from ingesting rodents (mainly voles and rats), which have themselves been, primarily legally, poisoned by anti-coagulant rodenticides laid in order to reduce rodent outbreaks. Other threats are much less serious at a population level, though they may be important in a local context. These include electrocution by powerlines, habitat intensification and food availability. Collisions at windfarms are growing threat with potential to become significant in the future. The overall Goal of this EU Species Action Plan is to improve the conservation status of the red kite in Europe, leading to its down listing