Final stage in red kite project

Red kite numbers have soared in recent years

The final missing jigsaw piece in Scotland's 20-year effort to reintroduce the red kite is set to be put in place.

A total of 36 of the birds are to be released on the outskirts of Aberdeen.

The release will mark the final year of the Aberdeen red kite project, which it is hoped will allow the species to be self-sustaining across Scotland.

Red kites have already been released on the Black Isle and in Dumfries and Galloway and Central Scotland.

Seven birds will be released on Thursday, with the remaining 29 reintroduced to the wild over the course of the next month.

Red kites were once a common sight across Scotland, but were hunted to near extinction in Victorian times.

The RSPB Scotland reintroduction programme began in 1989, and by last year there were 122 breeding pairs in the country.