The Birdcrime report

Produced annually, Birdcrime is the UK’s only report summarising known offences against birds of prey (also known as raptors). This report covers confirmed incidents of raptor persecution from 2017 as collated by the RSPB’s Investigations team. This data can be viewed in the appendices, and for the first time in our new Raptor Persecution Map Hub. 

This latest report reveals that shooting has become the main detected method of targeting these birds. In 2017, there were 68 confirmed incidents of raptor persecution, but only four prosecutions relating to raptor crime. Of those, only one resulted in a conviction. We think you’ll agree that this isn’t right.

For the rare and beautiful hen harrier, persecution – particularly on land managed for driven grouse shooting – is a major threat to its survival as a species in England. 

Please read this report, which explores some of the stories which emerged during 2017, explains the issues which threaten many raptor species on a conservation level, and reveals the “blackspot” areas where persecution is rife.

Since our data only reflects known incidents, this report only scratches the surface. We know, from independent studies on raptor populations, that more incidents will have taken place undetected or unreported and that the true extent of the problem, sadly, goes far deeper.

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How are raptors persecuted? Here are four case studies illustrating the most common methods of persecution.

Detecting raptor crimes is hard, as many occur in remote places. Successful prosecutions are rarer still. 

In April 2016, the RSPB installed a covert camera on a peregrine nest on a driven grouse moor in Bowland, Lancashire. This nest had a history of poor productivity and the previous year it was found abandoned containing two eggs. 

The footage showed an incubating peregrine fly off a nest, followed by what sounds like four gunshots. She is never seen again. Minutes later, a figure appears and is seen hammering and attending to the ground at the nest site, before leaving. It is believed that two spring traps were illegally set beside the nest.

Early next morning, the male peregrine approaches the nest. Then suddenly he becomes caught in a trap. He struggles but is unable to break free, and remains trapped by his leg for over 10 hours. 

Late that night, a figure approaches with a torch and appears to put the bird into a bag. The male bird is never seen again.

Unfortunately, this footage was later deemed inadmissible at court. What is clear here, however, is that a crime was committed and no-one has been brought to justice for it.

In 2017, there were 68 confirmed incidents of raptor persecution, but only four prosecutions relating to raptor crime. Of those, only one resulted in a conviction.

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The suspicious disappearance of satellite-tagged raptors

To learn more about the risks facing our raptors, conservationists have fitted several hen harriers, Montagu’s harriers, golden eagles and white-tailed eagles with lightweight satellite tags.

A number of these birds have inexplicably vanished.

Early in 2018, a video fronted by Chris Packham told the story of a golden eagle named Fred, who disappeared in suspicious circumstances near Edinburgh. This young eagle hatched in 2017, the only chick from the only golden eagle nest in the Scottish Borders, and was fitted with a satellite tag. 

Fred fledged, and in January 2018 transmissions from his tag showed him exploring the Pentland Hills. But on 21 January, his tag – which had been working reliably up until then – suddenly stopped transmitting. The last fix had shown Fred skirting the edge of a moor on the northern Pentlands. 

After three days, the tag unexpectedly sent a transmission from far out to sea, off the coast of Fife Ness. This was extremely unusual, and highly indicative of foul play.

Several hen harriers, tagged as part of the EU Hen Harrier LIFE+ Project, have also gone missing in similar circumstances. Hen harriers are one of the UK’s rarest raptors, with just a handful of breeding pairs in England despite abundant habitat and prey. Calluna’s transmissions stopped abruptly on 12 August 2017 on a grouse moor in the Cairngorms National Park. Then brothers Manu and Marc met with similar fates.

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The Peak District National Park attracts over 10 million visitors per year but has become renowned as a black hole for birds of prey.

In May 2018, a scientific paper published in the journal British Birds cemented the link between raptor persecution and land managed for driven grouse shooting in this National Park.

The report, produced by RSPB staff and a raptor worker, mapped confirmed raptor persecution incidents against the location of burnt heather taken from aerial photographs, used as a proxy for driven grouse shooting. The results demonstrated strong associations between intensive grouse-moor management, the persecution of raptors and declining populations of both goshawks and peregrines in the northern Dark Peak, where the majority of driven grouse moors are located. 

The paper found that, while populations of both iconic raptors had declined significantly between 1995 and 2015 in the Dark Peak, numbers had increased dramatically in the rest of the National Park which is free of grouse shooting.

Mark Thomas, one of the authors of the paper, said: “The entire Peak District should be a stronghold for goshawks and peregrines, but persecution has led to almost local extinction of these species. The only solution here is licensing. Self-regulation of driven grouse shooting has failed these birds and the public, who are being robbed of the wonderful experience of seeing them.”

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Read the full report here

As well as the persecution of birds of prey on driven grouse moors, the RSPB is concerned with how the increasingly intensive management of these moors affects other wildlife and the wider environment.

Burning

In areas managed for red grouse, gamekeepers burn the vegetation to produce a mix of young heather (for red grouse to feed on) and old heather (for them to nest in). The repeated burning has dried out internationally important peatland habitats and, as a result, only 14% of UK upland peatland habitats are in favourable condition. Heather-dominated and largely treeless moors also result in a less diverse mix of upland flora and fauna. Plus, the act of burning releases worrying amounts of carbon dioxide – fuelling climate change.

Mountain hare culls

The unregulated practice of hare culling as a form of disease control, ostensibly to benefit red grouse, has become part of the management of many estates since the 1990s. However there is no evidence that culling mountain hares increases grouse densities. Mountain hares in Scotland are now in severe decline, at less than one per cent of their original levels. Read the full report here.

Danger to other wildlife

Illegal traps and poison are not only a danger to birds of prey but other non-target moorland species. This ring ouzel (pictured) was caught in a spring trap on a moor used for driven grouse shooting in the Yorkshire Dales National Park in 2009. A Merlin was also found crushed in a similar trap in Notherumberland - read the blog post here.

Raptor persecution is a national disgrace. There is no space for the illegal killing of birds of prey in the 21st century. 

License driven grouse shooting

The RSPB is urging the UK government to tackle raptor persecution head-on. We believe this must involve the licensing of driven grouse shooting. Self-regulation has failed, and therefore we propose introducing a fair set of rules in the form of a licensing system and code of practice, underpinned by law, to ensure shoots are operating legally and sustainably. This would also provide an effective deterrent to criminal activity, including loss of a licence to shoot in the most serious cases.

Vicarious liability

Making estate owners responsible for the actions of their gamekeepers could help take birds of prey out of the firing line. Vicarious liability has been introduced in Scotland, and the RSPB is asking the UK government to extend this to the rest of the UK.

Of those convicted of raptor persecution-related offences since 1990, nearly 70% have been gamekeepers.

Any progress?

In May 2017, Roseanna Cunningham MSP commissioned an independent enquiry to look at managing grouse moors sustainably and within the law and to recommend options for regulation including licensing and other measures which could be put in place without new primary legislation. The RSPB welcomed the Scottish government taking action in this way - but there is still a long way to go.

At the end of 2017, Ed Hutchings petitioned for the licensing of driven grouse shooting – it received nearly 17,000 signatures.

Birdcrime 2017 reveals a continuation of the low number of detected poisoning incidents in Scotland, which we believe is a direct result of the introduction of vicarious liability legislation in 2012 and increased use of satellite tagging to monitor birds of prey remotely.

We know that you care. Last year, thousands of you read and responded to our Birdcrime report, voicing your shock and outrage on social media. Please keep speaking up for birds of prey. 

Many of you also attended Hen Harrier Day events in August 2018, sharing your passion for these magnificent birds and calling for the illegal killing to stop.

Here are some other ways you can help: