A total of 28 hen harriers have fledged from nests in the North East in what could be a lifeline year for a species threatened by extinction in England.
They are part of a breeding season which, for the first time in over 100 years, has seen more than 100 hen harriers added to the English population.
Nine nests in Northumberland produced 26 youngsters and another two fledged from three nests in County Durham. Nationally, there were 119 successful fledgings across uplands in County Durham, Cumbria, Lancashire, Northumberland and Yorkshire. Seven of the nests were in the North Pennines.
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This is the sixth successive year of increases, following a low in 2016 when only eight chicks fledged nationally. Last year 18 hen harriers fledged in Northumberland from five nests on Forestry England land and two private estates.
This year’s results have been welcomed by the Hen Harrier Protection Partnership, which is made up of Forestry England, RSPB, Northumberland National Park Authority, Natural England, Northumberland Wildlife Trust, Ministry of Defence, Northumbria Police and local raptor experts, who work together to find and monitor nests.
Hen harriers were once found across upland and lowland Britain including throughout many English counties. But after 1830 they became exceptionally rare breeding birds in England due to persecution, which was made illegal in 1954 but continues in some areas today. The hen harrier now is one of England’s rarest breeding birds of prey.
Natural England chairman Tony Juniper said: “It is very encouraging to see the progress made this year on the recovery of this majestic species. It is testament to the dedication of the volunteers, landowners and staff from all our partner organisations who work so hard to protect, support and monitor these vulnerable birds.
“Despite this year’s success, we clearly still have a long road to travel to see hen harrier numbers truly recover to where they would naturally be without illegal persecution – with many birds sadly still going missing. We are committed to continuing to work with our partners to drive down persecution rates and achieve a permanent long-term recovery.”
The total number of chicks includes 13 birds taken from four nests on grouse moors, and reared and released as part of the Brood Management Trial. This aims to test whether this technique can influence attitudes among the moorland community and reduce persecution, as well as contributing healthy adult birds to the population.
Brood-managed birds from previous years also bred successfully, with five birds producing 10 chicks between them in 2022.
Natural England is involved in several initiatives to help ensure hen harriers recover including through the Hen Harrier Action Plan, including satellite tracking, issuing licences to allow people to provide food to breeding birds and working with the National Wildlife Crime Unit to prevent, identify, and take effective enforcement action in relation to raptor persecution incidents.
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