I visited the Spanish Pirineos for the first time in 1993 and I was immediately struck by the abundance of scavengers like Griffon Vultures, Egyptian Vulture as well as Black and Red Kites. On the contrary to the most of its West European populations, Red Kite still seemed omnipresent and had to be about the most abundant bird of prey. Even untill my visit in 2009 in Puyarruego, they were still very common. In 2013, for the first time I noticed the lack of abundance of Red Kites in the same area, where Black Kites seemed to have taken over the bigger numbers. Park rangers told me that the more intensive use of rodenticides, was probably the cause for this decline. Under here, some extra information about the ecology and declines of the Red Kite, which is listed by IUCN as Near-threatened.

The species breeds in broadleaf woodlands and forests, mixed with farmland, pasture and heathland. In winter it also occupies wasteland, scrub and wetlands. Formerly an urban scavenger, it still visits the edges of towns and cities. It takes a wide range of food, but feeds mainly on carrion and small to medium-sized mammals and birds. Reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates are less important prey. Most birds in north-east Europe are migratory, wintering mainly in southern France and Iberia, but with some travelling as far as Africa.

A review of available data in 2009 concluded the population numbers 21,000-25,500 pairs.

The most pertinent threat to this species is illegal direct poisoning to kill predators of livestock and game animals (targetting foxes, wolves, corvids etc.) and indirect poisoning from pesticides and secondary poisoning from consumption of poisoned rodents by rodenticides spread on farmland to control vole plagues, particularly in the wintering ranges in France and Spain, where it is driving rapid population declines. There is a strong correlation between rapid declines and those populations that winter in Spain. The Spanish government released more than 1,500 tons of rodenticide-treated baits over about 500,000 ha to fight against a common vole plague in agricultural lands between August 2007 and April 2008. There are maye records of Red Kites dying by secondary poisoning in treated areas. Illegal poisoning is also a serious threat to the species in north Scotland, with 40% of birds found dead between 1989 and 2006 having been killed by poisoning. In France populations disappeared at the same rate as conversion from grasslands to cereal crops. The decline of grazing livestock and farming intensification leading to chemical pollution, homogenization of landscapes and ecological impoverishment also threatens the species. Another factor implicated in the declines in France and Spain is a decrease in the number of rubbish dumps.

Fortunately, the mentioned problems and declines,  have been partly offset by population increases in countries like the UK, Sweden, Poland and Switzerland.