The mysterious disappearance of a fourth hen harrier from a nest in the Pennines this spring has renewed fears that England’s most endangered breeding bird of prey is being persecuted towards extinction.



The RSPB and Cumbria Police have launched an appeal for information after the male bird vanished on 23 May from the RSPB’s Geltsdale reserve, where it had established a nest with a female. Without the male providing food for the incubating female, her clutch of five eggs was abandoned.

Wildlife campaigner Mark Avery called for driven grouse shooting to be banned after the latest spate of disappearances, which many conservationists fear are linked to the management of moors for grouse, a prey species for the hen harrier.

“Nobody knows what’s happened to these four birds but these disappearances just don’t happen in a normal hen harrier family,” said Avery, former conservation director at the RSPB . “We know it’s the most persecuted bird in Britain. There should be about 2,600 pairs in the UK and there are 600-800 pairs. The reason that there are so few is because of persecution and the only people interested in persecuting hen harriers are people who run grouse moors.”

Last year, just four pairs of hen harriers nested successfully in England and several of the fledged young immediately vanished, despite being fitted with satellite tags. With nests still being discovered this spring, some conservationists are hopeful that as many as eight pairs could be nesting on English uplands but the RSPB was downbeat after the latest loss.

“It’s a very exciting and worrying time of year because it can change on a day-to-day basis in terms of how many nesting attempts there are,” said Jeff Knott, head of nature policy at the RSPB. “We are down to the last small handful of nesting attempts in England. It’s certainly not shaping up to be a good year.”

The RSPB is currently embroiled in a high-profile row with former cricketer Sir Ian Botham, who owns a grouse moor on the North York Moors and fronts You Forgot the Birds, a campaign accusing the RSPB of obsessing over birds of prey to the detriment of other species. After public comments by the RSPB following the disappearance of three hen harriers from the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire in April, Botham’s lawyers sent the RSPB a letter threatening possible legal action against the charity.

You Forgot the Birds and other organisations representing grouse moor owners want the government to introduce a system of “brood management” whereby eggs are removed from some hen harrier nests on grouse moors, chicks are reared in captivity and then released into lowland areas, reducing hen harriers’ predation of grouse. But the RSPB is blocking attempts to introduce such a system, arguing that the grouse industry must first prove it is not breaking the law and persecuting the birds.

One source told the Guardian that, behind the scenes, conservationists and gamekeepers are working together more closely in parts of northern England this year and predicted that a hen harrier may yet nest successfully on a grouse moor in England, which would be valuable positive publicity for the grouse-shooting industry.

Since 2000, 20 gamekeepers have been found guilty of “raptor persecution” or poisoning offences on grouse moorland, including one who killed a hen harrier in Scotland.

No hen harriers have nested successfully on the RSPB’s Geltsdale reserve for eight years. By the time RSPB staff were certain that the female had abandoned her nest after the male’s disappearance, her eggs had already gone cold and it was not possible to incubate them.

Steve Garnett, upland warden at RSPB Geltsdale, said: “All of the staff and volunteers who were watching the nest around the clock over the past few weeks are absolutely gutted about the disappearance of the male and the failure of the eggs.”

Sarah Rolland, wildlife crime officer for Cumbria Police said: “There is no criminal investigation surrounding the disappearance of the male bird at the current time. However, we appeal to anyone with information to come forward by calling Police on 101, as we are keen to trace the whereabouts of the bird.”