In the 1970 the population of the aerial predator dropped to only 30 but a sustained conservation project has been a massive success.
Wild red kites are fed at Gigrin Farm in Wales every day of the year. With breathtaking feats of aerial piracy red kites compete with buzzards and ravens for choice pickings.
Feeding takes place at 2pm (this changes to 3pm when the clocks change at the end of March, and reverts to 2pm at the end of October when the clocks revert to GMT). No-one tells the kites that the clocks change twice a year.
VIDEO: Amazing moment 500 wild – and hungry – red kites come for their dinner