Meet the Montagu’s Harriers

Montagu’s Harriers are migratory raptors that return from Africa each spring to breed. The UK is at the north-western edge of the bird’s range and our breeding population has always been relatively small with a recent peak of nine successful nests in 2011, since then the population has declined with sadly no pairs between 2020 and 2023. However, they then bred successfully in 2025 and 2026 due to direct collaboration between farmers, birdwatchers and the RSPB. We now hope to continue to nurture their steady return.

Working so closely with such a small population of birds means that individual birds are known to the fieldworkers and most of these have been colour-ringed to aid field identification. In ideal conditions, Montagu’s Harriers nest in small colonies and there is much interaction between individuals. It is hoped that the small UK population will increase from the success over the past two years. 

AU is an adult male bird with a colour-ring inscribed AU. He hatched from a nest of three chicks in Wiltshire in 2016 and his father was a partly melanistic bird named Mel. He has raised at least 16 juveniles since he first bred in 2018. In 2026, he bred with two females and raised six juveniles. He is the only adult male Montagu’s Harrier known to be breeding in the UK currently.

CV is an adult female Montagu’s Harrier and raised three chicks with AU in 2026. She was colour-ringed in July 2026. 

FH is a juvenile female which hatched in 2026, she is the offspring of AU and CV and was fitted with a satelite-tag in July 2026, a few days before she made her first flight. She is the sister to FZ and FU.

FZ is a juvenile female which hatched in 2026, she is the offspring of AU and CV. She is the sister to FH and FU.

FU is a juvenile female which hatched in 2026, she is the offspring of AU and CV. She was the smallest chick of the brood of three and at times it wasn’t known if she was going to make it, but she did. She is affectionately known as Dave as she was originally thought to be male! She is the sister to FH and FZ. 

This bird bred with AU in 2026 and raised three juveniles HV, HH and HK. It is thought she is a three year old adult and she is unringed. She was named ‘bronze’ by the fieldworkers.

HV is a juvenile female which hatched in 2026, she is the offspring of AU and an unmarked female. She was fitted with a satellite-tag in July 2026, a few days before she made her first flight. She is in memory of ornithologist Harry Vilkaitis who died in 2025. She is the sister to HH and HK.

HH is a juvenile male which hatched in 2026, he is the offspring of AU and an unmarked female. He is the brother to HV and HK.

HK is a juvenile male which hatched in 2026, he is the offspring of AU and an unmarked female. He is the brother to HV and HH.

JP is a juvenile male bird hatched in 2025 with his parents being AU and the French female. Remarkably, in May 2026 he was seen back at his hatching site for a number of days. It is hoped he will return as a potential breeding bird in 2027.

JJ is a male Montagu’s Harrier which hatched in 2025 and the offspring of AU and a French ringed female. Remarkably he was seen and photographed in Oxfordshire in July 2026 and may well return to breed in the UK in 2027.

JO is a female Montagu’s Harrier which hatched in 2025 and the offspring of AU and a French ringed female. Remarkably she was seen and photographed back at her nest site in July 2026 and may well return to breed in the UK in 2027.

In July we satellite-tagged two juvenile Montagu's Harriers in the UK. One of the harriers has remained around the secret nest area but the other has already undertaken an amazing and unexpected journey...

On the night of Sunday 30 August, 'HV' roosted at the RSPB nature reserve at Frampton Marsh in Lincolnshire. The next morning she flew directly south-east, into Norfolk, continued south of Norwich and onto the Suffolk Coast near Covehithe, we then expected her to head south, but she didn't.

She only went and crossed the North Sea! This was a direct flight for thee hours to the Netherlands! And she was travelling at around 33mph. She made landfall near Rotterdam and then continued south-east, roosting near Eindhoven last night.

We are amazed! There is more to come we are sure!

Good news and sadly some very bad news.

HV continues to make great progress and has now passed through Luxembourg and is just inside France! Will she continue south and avoid the Alps?

However, we also have some terrible news from FH. We were initially worried by a cold tag temperature, as this indicated that she was probably dead. But the data also suggested that she was rapidly moving between two locations around 30 miles part. Looking into it showed that these locations match those of a west to east railway line and, with the help of the staff, we have now located her body.

Sadly, FH had been struck by a train and carried along the route. The tag was still in perfect working order enabling us to locate and recover her body. This is a terrible shock for the team and just highlights the unpredictability of working with this species.

Amazingly, over the weekend a juvenile Montagu's Harrier seen and photographed at RSPB Wallasea Island reserve turned out to be FU (aka Dave). This is the first sighting since she left the nesting area. Although ‘Dave’ was the smallest of the chicks, she certainly looks incredible now!

An epic few days!

HV successfully crossed the Pyrenees Mountains and then really put on speed through Spain, heading for the Mediterranean coast.

We thought she might stop and rest but no!

Yesterday afternoon, she headed out across the Mediterranean 40 miles east of Malaga, Spain, with a strong wind pushing her in a westerly direction. HV made landfall 4.5 hours later near Tagha in Northern Morocco as night was falling, and then roosted nearby in the hills. She has now changed continents! 

Our work on this species is kindly sponsored by Mark and Mo Constantine.