The red kite, once nearly an extinct species, is to be reintroduced to Ireland later this year. The project will start with the release of up to 30 birds in Co Wicklow.
Known for their distinctive forked tail and striking chestnut red colour, with white patches under their wings and contrasting grey head, red kites are very agile birds.
A wingspan of nearly two metres and relatively low body weight of two to three pounds allow red kites to stay in the air for many hours with hardly a beat of their wings.
The announcement was made yesterday by Minister for the Environment Dick Roche, an outgoing TD for Wicklow.
The birds are to be transported under licence from Wales, which is a stronghold of the species, and released in selected locations in the east of Ireland. The project will start this year with the release of up to 30 kites in Wicklow. The project is being undertaken by the Wicklow Red Kite Project, a partnership between the Golden Eagle Trust and the National Parks and Wildlife Service of the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government.
They are working with the Welsh Kite Trust, following the success of golden eagle reintroduction in Donegal and several red kite reintroduction programmes in Britain.
Ireland lost many of its woodland birds, including red kites and capercaillie, because of the widespread deforestation which took place up until 1800.
Like many other birds of prey in Ireland, kites were persecuted for several centuries before their disappearance from the country about the late 18th century.
Red kites are natural scavengers which feed on earthworms, insects and small mammals such as rabbits. However, a spokesperson for the Department of the Environment said that "red kites do not present a threat to livestock and in parts of the UK have become major tourist attractions due to their spectacular aerial displays".
A team of experts from Wales visited Wicklow last year and judged it the best place in Ireland for the birds to be reintroduced because it provides very suitable farmland and woodland.
Red kites usually pair for life, although this is thought to be more because of a mutual attachment to the same territory and nest sites than to each other.
Bird Watch Ireland reported sightings of the bird in March 2003 around Dunany Point, just north of Clogherhead in Co Louth, suspecting that it was a "straggler" probably flown in from Wales.
Eagle-eyed bird watchers spotted the bird again in October 2006 near Carnsore Point, a headland in the southeast corner of Co Wexford.