Illegal bird of prey killings fall to lowest level in decade, but ‘true figure may be far higher’

The RSPB warned that hen harriers continue to be ‘relentlessly’ targeted because of their perceived threat to red grouse shoots. Photograph: Nature Picture Library/Alamy

Confirmed incidents of the illegal persecution of birds of prey have fallen to their lowest levels for more than a decade, according to the latest RSPB Birdcrime report.

But the conservation charity warned that the reduction in incidents to 61 in 2022 is distorted by a failure to examine dead raptors caught in the avian flu outbreak for signs of illegal killing.