Red Kite Rescue

A short while ago the USPCA veterinary team had an extremely rare patient in their care – Vivian the ‘White’ Red Kite. Vivian was found in a very weak and dazed state in the Ballyward area by a member of the public and was brought immediately to the USPCA for treatment. Up until 2008, Red Kites had been extinct in Ireland, but the species has been gradually reintroduced by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).

As part of the reintroduction, the species including Vivian here, are being tracked via satellite tagging. The White Red Kites have a condition called leucism which gives it the white plumage instead of the familiar red and are even rarer – in Northern Ireland there are approximately three. Vivian was transferred to the Northern Ireland Raptor Study Group for rehabilitation and has since been successfully released.