VAN RIJN S. (2018) Nesting of Red Kites Milvus milvus in the Netherlands in 1976-2017. LIMOSA 91 (1): 3-15.

Red Kites have bred incidentally in the Netherlands during the 1970s and 1980s. After a period of absence, annual breeding was reported again since 2010, with up to 12 breeding pairs in 2017. The re-establishment is probably related to recent increases in parts of Germany and Belgium, where populations doubled in the last decade. Moreover, breeding birds in Eastern Belgium have a high reproductive output of up to 2.7 nestlings per successful breeding pair, facilitating dispersion of juveniles to new areas, like the Netherlands. In the Netherlands Red Kites have often been found poisoned. The present breeding success of only 1.0 nestlings per pair is caused by a high proportion of failed breeding attempts in 2008-2017. Several breeding birds were found dead and may have been killed by deliberate poisoning or by indirect poisoning of agricultural use of rodenticides. The future of breeding Red Kites in the Netherlands will largely be affected by the use of poison and by developments in agriculture.

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