‘though she be but little, she is fierce’

The rise and rise of raptor species has been a major success of the past half century, but it may well have been the downfall of the common kestrel

Unhurried in flight and with a sideline in stolen goods, the handsome red kite is the gentleman thief of the raptor world

Threatened with extinction in the 1960s, the mighty peregrine–with its astonishing speed and super strength–has staged such a remarkable comeback that its now more successful than it was in the Middle Ages

PHOTOS, LETTERS, TWEETS, QUESTIONS – HAVE YOUR SAY

In the British countryside, it’s common to hear gruff caw-caw-cawing and see large black birds flapping overhead. That’ll be a corvid – but which have you spotted, asks Clare Hunt

From a heroic long-distance swimmer to a producer of spectacularly eerie sound effects, the seabirds seen swooping and diving over British waters have all manner of singular skills, says John Lewis-Stempel