Skip to main content

Drop in numbers of nesting hen harriers in 2024 

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Hen Harriers, Natural England
A view of moorland landscape, which is breeding habitat for hen harriers

Hen harriers are very rare birds of prey found in moorland landscapes. They are rare because of illegal killing and disturbance, and Natural England monitors their numbers closely, tags individual birds to track their whereabouts, and supports efforts to tackle …

Progress in second year of the hen harrier southern reintroduction

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Biodiversity, Hen Harriers, Wildlife
A captive female hen harrier sits on her eggs at the International Centre for Birds of Prey, 2024

The hen harrier southern reintroduction aims to establish a wild, farmland nesting population of hen harriers in the south of England. Supported by a conservation breeding programme, the project plans to introduce up to 100 juvenile hen harriers to a protected …

A promising first year of the hen harrier conservation breeding programme and reintroduction

Close up shot of a female hen harrier bird

 A recap   In Autumn of 2022, ten captive  hen harriers were transported to the UK from a rescue centre  in France for Natural England’s conservation breeding programme (Hen harrier Reintroduction NE Blog). This forms an important step in the Southern …

Establishing a conservation breeding programme for hen harriers in southern England

Male hen harrier, part of the Southern Reintroduction project

By: John Holmes, NE Strategy Director Natural England, in partnership with the International Centre for Birds of Prey (ICBP), is establishing a conservation breeding programme for hen harriers as part of a pioneering project to reintroduce this iconic species to …

More than 100 hen harriers fledge in England for the first time in over 100 years.

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Biodiversity, Hen Harriers, Licensing, Protected sites and species, Wildlife
Satellite tagged hen harrier in flight

By: John Holmes, NE Strategy Director This year has seen another encouraging increase in the breeding population of one of our rarest birds of prey. Natural England and partners are pleased to report that a total of 49 hen harrier …

Licence issued for fifth year of hen harrier brood management trial

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Hen Harriers, Licensing, Wildlife
Hen harrier in flight

Regular readers of this blog will be aware that Natural England is involved in several initiatives under the Hen Harrier Action Plan, one of which is the brood management trial. Natural England is committed to protecting and conserving hen harriers, …

Licensing ‘diversionary feeding’ of Hen Harriers on and around grouse moors

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Hen Harriers, Natural England, Protected sites and species
Hen harrier

This is one of a series of blogs intended to share updates on our Hen Harrier recovery work. The last blog was on Hen harrier monitoring, and the actions taken when a tagged bird is lost, while this one covers …

Hen harrier monitoring, tagging and satellite tracking – latest data published

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Biodiversity, Wildlife

For many years Natural England has been involved with monitoring, tagging and satellite tracking hen harriers. To date, more than 60 individual birds have been tagged by Natural England, helping to determine their fortunes and inform our wider hen harrier …