Red Kites Milvus milvus have always been considered to be very unlikely vagrants to Iceland but in mid December 1997, a colour-ringed (wing-tagged) individual was found at Hörgslandskot, Síđa (S-Iceland). It had been ringed as a chick in a nest near Inverness, Scotland in the summer of 1997. This bird stayed at Síđa until September 1999 when found unable to fly (being covered with Fulmar oil). It was kept in captivity until November 1999, then it was transported back to its native country - Scotland. This represents the unique accepted record for Iceland.

Explanations:
Figure 1 shows the distribution in Iceland, the circles showing the number of birds. Figure 2 shows the distribution of records throughout the year. The red columns stand for the finding dates (weeks), while the yellow columns show elongated stays. R=number of records & F=number of birds. Finally, figure 3 shows the annual distribution of records in the period mentioned.

© Gunnlaugur Pétursson