From October 30th till November 1st the Spanish town of Binaced hosted the II Interntional Red Kite Symposium.
The Red Kite Milvus milvus is a european raptor species. Its distribution range covers almost exclusively the European continent. It is a migratory species and also the wintering grounds spread across Europe and its southern part. Majority of the popultion winters in northern and western Spain.
During the symposium the status of the species in various countries was presented. Emphasis was put on the negative trend in population during the last few years. One of the major problems for the wintering birds turns out to be indirect poisoning - in many countries poison is used to "fight" the problems of wild dogs and jackals.
The participants suggested further steps towards protection of the species. International cooperation was named as crutial in this respect. The symposium was accompanied by various events like raptor photo gallery or exhibition on research and marking of raptors in the adjascent feeding station.
The "Aquila" company held a presentation on their latest loggers.
More information can be found on the symposium's official page.