RARE red kites are believed to be breeding in the north Cotswolds for the first time in almost 200 years.

At least two pairs of the birds of prey are regularly feeding at sheep farmer David Gabb’s bird table in Ditchford, north of Moreton.

“I had one pair pass through a couple of years ago but in recent weeks I have regularly had two pairs visiting the farm,” said keen birdwatcher Mr Gabb.

“The first time I saw them was the Tuesday of Cheltenham race week.

Since then they have been coming every day to feed in the morning and late afternoon. I think they will say that 2011 was the year that red kites came back to the north Cotswolds,” said Mr Gabb.

Mr Gabb said he had been in contact with the North Cotswold Ornithological Society, who told him that red kites, which almost died out in the 1930s when there was only one female left in the whole of England, had probably not bred in the north Cotswolds since the early 1800s.

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds spokesman Graham Madge said it was feasible that red kites are breeding in the Cotswolds as the birds were spreading east from the native population in Wales and the re-introduced population in the Chilterns in the west. “The Cotswolds is a perfect area for them. They feed on carrion and are are not really predators,”

said Mr Madge.

Along with many other birds of prey, red kites were almost wiped out in the 1800s after persecution by gamekeepers, who wrongly feared they were a threat to game birds.