Populations winter within the western breeding range, and formerly in isolated patches south and east to eastern Turkey. 2020). It breeds from Spain and Portugal east through central Europe to Ukraine, north to southern Sweden, Latvia and the U.K. This species is endemic to the western Palearctic, with the European population of 32,200-37,700 pairs, which equates to 64,400-75,400 mature individuals from an area encompassing more than 95% of the breeding range (A. Small numbers continue to occur in winter (Radi et al. In addition, in Morocco it is believed to be extinct as a breeding species: 20 pairs were known in 1987 (Bergier 1987) but numbers declined with the last known nest located in 2004 (Radi et al. 2020). Only in Portugal was the species determined to be decreasing (BirdLife International in prep.). 2017) and Spain (Molina 2015: though declines continue in the south). Data collated from across the range and submitted to the European Commission (EC) under Article 12 of the EU Birds Directive in late 2019 indicates that the species is now stable or increasing in the majority of countries in which it occurs, including Germany (Grüneberg & Karthäuser 2019), France (David et al. A decline occurred within core breeding areas - Spain, France and Germany - between 1990 and at the early 2000s, but these were partly offset by rapid increases in the U.K., Sweden, Poland and Switzerland. Trend justification Although this species declined globally until the 1970s owing to persecution, many populations recovered or stabilised during 1970-1990 (Mionnet 2007) and its overall numbers were probably stable in Europe from 1970 to 1990 (Tucker and Heath 1994). This is a substantial increase from the numbers previously reported: 25,200-33,400 pairs for the European Red List of Birds (BirdLife International 2015), and 21,000-25,000 pairs in 2009. The global population is therefore estimated to be between 60,000-70,000 mature individuals. Population justification Recent data submitted to the European Commission for EU countries (which hold at least 90% of the global population) estimated a total of 29,746- 34,751 pairs breeding in 17 countries (BirdLife International in prep.), closely matching a new global estimate of c. However, overall the data indicate that the global population has increased by more than 30% over the last three generations and the species is assessed as Least Concern. Poisoning (both deliberate and accidental) remains the greatest threat to continued population growth and threatens the persistence of the species regionally, especially in southern Iberia. There are still declines in southern Spain, Portugal, and locally in Germany and perhaps France, and the species has recently been lost as a breeding species in Morocco. However, these declines have been more than compensated by increases in the majority of countries within its range, at a rate that means that declines over the past three generations have been overcome. Previously, Red Kite was listed as Near Threatened because of a suspected moderately rapid population decline, owing mostly to poisoning from pesticides and persecution, and changes in land-use amongst other threats. Justification of Red List Category This species is now listed as Least Concern, as the population has been increasing at a rate that itself has been increasing for a number of years.
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