De koningswouw, of: een succesvol broedgeval van de Rode Wouw Milvus milvus in Twente in 1988

In 1988, Red Kites nested successfully in undulating farmland near the streams of Dinkel and Vecht in Twente in the eastern Netherlands. The nest was situated in a Scots pine at a height of 18 m, and was built and had been used by Goshawks in the preceding 9 years. This nest was occupied by an incubating Red Kite on 3 April 1988. Three nestlings were ringed on 4 June, the first branchling was observed on 24 June, followed by two more on 1 July. All three nestlings had fledged by mid-July. Although frequently breeding just across the border near Bentheim in Germany, Red Kites are extremely rare breeding birds in The Netherlands: at least 10 breeding attempts since 1977, mainly in Twente and Limburg, with only a single case of nestbuilding in the 1990s.