Huge Red Kite swoops for cat's leftovers (not for the squeamish)

[@will16320]

Beautiful Bird

[@DaveJMcGarry]

Red Kites are stunning. I work in Herts and i see at least 7 to 13 fly over a council rubbish site looking for vermin some days. Could watch them all day. Also, great job Pixie! Living your best Cat life.

[@hertswatfordnascot]

Excellent video quality and story telling, thanks. Pixie is a darling 🖤

[@banana9106]

Had one swoop down in front of me on the A49, but it failed to pick up the road kill it was after. Had a good view of its stunning plumage though

[@mickkirton7943]

Great video of my favourite falcon, i have been watching these magnificent birds for decades and its great to see their numbers increasing. However, sorry to be a pedant but if you freeze frame the bird with its wings outstretched it is possible to estimate its wingspan by counting the paving blocks length ways (8) and multiplying by 200mm which equals 1.6 metres (5ft 3in). The RSPB records the larger birds as having a wingspan of up to 1.95 M (6ft 4in). Still, a fantastic video.

[@kayberry6292]

:-) Good sleuthing Mick but slightly flawed. The wing nearest the ground actually measures 9 bricks wide and it's not even fully extended. Each brick is 200mm wide plus a 10mm joint so total wing width = 9 x 210 = 1890mm. The bird's body is at least a further brick (210mm) wide so total wingspan = 1890 + 1890 + 210 = 3990mm = 13 feet.

[@LinkTheFusky]

there's a nesting pair that flies over my town, they found a huge tree to nest in you can see for miles, they look like flies on a regular sized tree compared to it, this tree is ginormous, locals have stopped complaining that their cats brought in mice and shrews and theres just two of them and a nest i reckon has hatchlings in because they no longer have one parent staying in the tree they both move back and forth between the tree edit: the male (I believe) is roughly the same size as the red kite in this video, It's not the same bird though I live in east Hertfordshire, I don't think they'll want to fly over a city with not many fields for prey to live in

[@kayberry6292]

I have 3 or 4 circling overhead most days and I'm sure they are very local.

[@LinkTheFusky]

@@kayberry6292 i think they might be attracted to what your cat brings them

[@strummer6642]

Great video, really good quality shows up the plumage etc, especially in slo mo on 0.25 speed. Round our way farmers are putting it about that kites take lambs, sadly I suspect, an excuse to win public sympathy when/if they are poisoned or shot for taking pheasant etc.

[@intercity_trainspotting]

I went to wales yesterday and for the past 5 days and I saw thousands

[@kayberry6292]

It's great that they're doing so well there. If you stood still with a piece of meat in your hand you would have seen them at close quarters.

[@RalfWildlife]

It's not hawk

[@LewisZilla]

It’s Red Kite

[@pobinr]

Why the music? 🤔

[@kayberry6292]

Because I like it.

[@pobinr]

@@kayberry6292 I love bach too. But not in this context

[@kayberry6292]

@@pobinr Maybe it's the video you object to more than the music?

[@pobinr]

@@kayberry6292 no I prefer raw sound so it's more realistic. I don't need someone trying to be romantic or whatever it's meant to be. Not that Bach's regarded as a romantic composer, regardless

[@kayberry6292]

@@pobinr - these are CCTV cameras, not a film production. The only raw sound is a 2-second flapping of wings.