After a successful call for hen harrier sightings last year, Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and the Heads Up for Harriers project are once more asking people to report sightings of this special bird. Hen harriers remain one of Scotland’s rarest and most spectacular birds of prey. The Heads Up for Harriers Project wants to hear […]

New RSPB report shows illegal killing of birds of prey is still unacceptably common with 196 reports of shooting and destruction of birds of prey and 50 reports of wildlife poisoning and pesticide related offences across the UK in 2015. The charity believes tougher legislation and enforcement is essential if birds of prey are to […]

He has dangled from helicopters and abseiled down cliffs in search of falcon eggs for wealthy Arab clients. Jeffrey Lendrum even tried to dupe customs officials at Birmingham airport into believing that his stolen contraband was hen eggs from a supermarket and that he had strapped them to his chest as a cure for back […]

A pensioner was fined £4,700 after being found with hundreds of protected bird eggs. William Beaton, 73, from Devon, admitted stealing eggs from across the country. He pleaded guilty to taking Barn owl eggs in Norfolk and the eggs of other protected birds in Orkney. Plymouth Magistrates’ Court heard he was found in possession of […]

A Royal Estate owned by the family of Prince William and Harry’s former nanny has suffered one of Britain’s worst ever wildlife poisonings. Mystery poisoners have been blamed for the “mass killing” of birds of prey on the land belonging to the parents of Tiggy Pettifer (formerly Legge-Bourke), who cared for the princes when they […]

A satellite tag fitted to a hen harrier has stopped transmitting in the same mountains where eight tagged eagles “vanished”, RSPB Scotland has said. The hen harrier fledged at a nest in Aberdeenshire in July. The hen harrier, known as Elwood, was being monitored under a scheme run by the Partnership for Action against Wildlife […]

On 7th June 2016, police in Inverness put out an appeal for information regarding the disturbance of bird of prey nests and the unexplained disappearance of adult Buzzards and Goshawks from nests in Moy Forest, Tomatin. Nest disturbance and disappearance of the adult birds suggests that the nests have been the subject of illegal activity. […]

A North Yorkshire Police spokesman said: “The persecution of birds of prey is a UK wildlife crime priority, and the successful conviction in this case demonstrates the tenacity and strong working relationship that exists between North Yorkshire Police, the RSPB and other rural partners. “The investigation led the suspect, a 23-year-old man from the Hawes […]

Three birds of prey have died in County Antrim after being poisoned, the police have said. A peregrine falcon and two buzzards were found dead in March and April. The falcon was found at a quarry on the Glenhead Road in Ballymena on 11 April. It was discovered to have been poisoned by a pesticide […]

20 bird of prey crimes were recorded in 2015 including six poisoning incidents, according to the latest bird of prey crime maps published today. The maps by the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime (PAW) Scotland show a slight increase from 2014 which saw 18 bird of prey crimes recorded. The birds involved in these […]