The feeding station at Talsarn has been run on a private basis by several consecutive owners since at least the early 1990s. It has sustained upwards of 250 birds during periods of cold weather and slightly fewer at other times of the year. It has been run on an entirely non-commercial basis. The current licensed operator has decided she can no longer undertake the commitment and has been in discussions with the Welsh Kite Trust about winding down the feeding. We advised a gradual decrease in the amount and frequency of feeding which has been carried out. Hopefully the birds will have redistributed themselves as is it perfectly natural to do so with decreasing food supplies. We doubt there will be any significant decline in survival rates as many other individuals in the area now put scraps out for the kites. It is anticipated that in the long term the population will settle at a level that the local area can sustain without supplementary feeding.
Mike Hayward - Chairman; Tony Cross - Consultant Ornithologist, Welsh Kite Trust