Ornithologist and conservationist who dedicated much of his working life to saving the red kite

Peter Davis was the driving force behind saving the red kite, one of Britain’s most charismatic birds of prey. Today, following a hugely successful reintroduction scheme, kites are found not only in their original mid-Wales stronghold, but also across large swathes of Scotland and England. Yet, without his commitment, and that of his fellow enthusiasts, the red kite might have disappeared from our countryside long ago.

Davis, who has died aged 91, spent his entire career putting a lifelong passion for birds to practical use as a conservationist, mostly in his adopted Wales. Earlier in his career, while warden at three of Britain’s best known bird observatories, he gained a deserved reputation as a finder of rare birds. These included three “firsts” for Britain – species never before seen in the country that had wandered off course during their annual migrations.

Davis was a proud Yorkshireman, born in the Bradford suburb of Idle. His father, Eric Davis, was a wool salesman; his mother, Lorna (nee Lister), was a shop assistant. When Peter was 12, his father left his mother, who had two sons and a third on the way. Later, it was discovered that Eric already had a second family.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A red kite flying over the Chiltern Hills in England. Peter Davis reversed the bird’s decline and allowed it to be reintroduced to large swathes of Britain. Photograph: Eddie Keogh/Reuters

Peter was educated at Woodhouse Grove school, Apperley Bridge, and then did two years’ national service with the RAF. He then attended the University of Leeds, graduating with a BA in geography in 1951, following which he accepted the post of warden of Lundy Island bird observatory, off the north Devon coast.

Lundy was then, as now, a magnet for rare birds, and the following autumn Davis found what he described as “a strange thrush” feeding on blackberries in a coastal gully. It turned out to be the first British record of the American robin, a discovery that launched his career as a finder of rare birds.

During his time on Lundy, while he was descending a steep cliff on a rope to count seabirds, his fiancee, Wendy, one of a group holding the rope at the top of the cliff, slipped and fell to her death.

In 1954 he moved to Skokholm island, off the Pembrokeshire coast, as warden of Britain’s oldest bird observatory. There he met his future wife, Angela Tame, a zoology graduate from Reading University who was visiting the island. After she returned to the mainland, they met only a few more times before getting married the following year.

In 1957 the couple moved north to Britain’s best known observatory, Fair Isle (between Orkney and Shetland). Fair Isle is a prime hotspot for rare birds, and during his six-year tenure Davis found two more “firsts”: a song sparrow from North America and a river warbler from eastern Europe.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Fair Isle bird observatory. Peter Davis and his wife, Angela, moved there in 1957. It is a prime hotspot for rare birds

After a spell working at the British Trust for Ornithology in Tring, Hertfordshire, Davis realised that he was unsuited to a desk job, so in 1966 he, Angela and their three young children moved to Ceredigion in west Wales, where he would spend the rest of his life.

At the time, red kites were confined to a small area of mid-Wales and were critically endangered as a result of persecution and inbreeding, with just 23 breeding pairs. Davis dedicated the rest of his working life to reversing their decline, first as the official kite recorder for Wales (a Nature Conservancy Council post that he held for over 30 years) and later as a founder and trustee of the Welsh Kite Trust.

He ended his long and distinguished career as the Nature Conservancy Council regional officer for south and mid-Wales. Although he retired in 1988, he was still recording, writing and advising on kites and other issues until well into his 70s.

By the early 1990s the red kite population had more than quadrupled to over 100 breeding pairs, following which it was decided to reintroduce the species elsewhere in the UK. The fact that red kites are now a common sight across much of Britain, floating over motorway verges like their flying toy namesakes, is due in no small part to Davis’s dedicated efforts.

A gentle, kind man with a sharp intellect and keen sense of humour, he also inspired several generations of birders, naturalists and conservationists. He took a keen interest in Welsh topography and local history, doing valuable research on both subjects.

Davis wrote or co-authored several books and more than 150 scientific papers, including A List of the Birds of Lundy (1954), The Red Kites of Wales (2005) and The Birds of Ceredigion (2010). He also edited the Dyfed (later Ceredigion) Bird Report, the journal of the West Wales Naturalist Trust, from 1967 until 1988.

In 2007, he was appointed MBE.

He is survived by Angela, their children, Jeremy, Jillian and Paul, his brothers, William and Christopher, half-sister Veronica, nine grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Another half-sister predeceased him.

• Peter Edward Davis, ornithologist and conservationist, born 8 October 1928; died 28 October 2019

• This article was amended on 27 January 2020 because an earlier version referred to Woodhouse Woodhouse Grove school being at Appleby Bridge. This has been corrected to Apperley Bridge.