Where to settle a territory as a youngster

How a young male adult (SWIK46), born, raised and tagged in 2015, settled a territory.

Swik46 sitting on a fence post, while calling when black crows and other kites come close. This is the place with the most GPS points on the map. The couple of meadows around this fence must provide the kite with most of its food, probably voles and earthworms. Note the dark, contrasting bill which is typical for a younger bird. 29-10-2017, Switzerland FR.

 Of the 44 nestlings tagged in 2015, about 19 are still alive, of those, 5 birds settled a territory of which two (both females) build nests this year, of which one laid eggs but failed to breed successfully.

Although our Red Kites are (partial) migrants, settling and defending territories is a process that seems to continue in autumn and winter. The male on the picture above, now in its third calendar year, settled his territory, which is obvious when looking at his movement pattern of the last month (October).
The movement of Swik46 in October 2017, the red pin is the place where the bird was raised and tagged. 

 Seeing this movement pattern, made me curious for how long this bird was having it's eye on this area. So I checked his movement of the same month in 2015 and 2016:

The movements of Swik46 during October 2015 and 2016.

 So it knew the area already for a long time! Quite surprising that it found this 'free' area so close to its parents territory. Probably it is not the best area, and nesting possibilities are scarce because there are only a couple of small forests around, the bigger forests are likely to be occupied by older kites already. I can't wait to see this bird in spring when it has a partner and possibly building a nest!

To be continued..

Swik46 in flight, 29-10-2017. Most adults have finished their moult, this means that they mostly  renewed all their flight feathers since April/May, giving them a rather 'fresh' appearance now. This bird still has an old secondary in the left wing.




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