Trapped bird of prey discovered in waste skip

The red kite was originally mistaken for a gull or sparrowhawk

A bird of prey is being cared for by a wildlife charity after it was trapped inside a food waste skip that had travelled more than 40 miles.

The red kite, whose population has risen in the UK after a reintroduction programme in the 1990s, was discovered in the skip that had come from Calne in Wiltshire to a waste site at Avonmouth docks in Bristol.

Workers called Secret World Wildlife Rescue, based in Somerset, to help the bird but they had mistaken its identity for a gull or sparrowhawk.

George Bethell, from the charity, told BBC Radio Somerset that rare red kites are scavengers, adding: "It's obviously flown in there thinking it's got some food and ended up with a net over the top."

The bird will be released back into the wild once it is back to health

The bird of prey is now recovering in an open air aviary after being given a good clean and fluids.

Head of education at Secret World Mr Bethall said: "Luckily it didn't have any breakages, no muscle damage or anything like that, just a bit stinky."

The charity hope to release the bird back into the wild later this month once it has made a full recovery.

But it said these kind of stories help raise awareness of species which are often either endangered or used to be, which is the case with kites.

The RSPB said that by the end of the 19th Century, they were extinct in Scotland, England and Ireland with just a few pairs left in Wales.

Following a reintroduction programme the UK accounts for around 17% of Kite populations.