£1 Million government funding to explore re-establishment of Golden Eagles in England The UK Government has announced funding of £1 Million to explore the feasibility of re-establishing Golden Eagles in England. Golden Eagle (photo by Pete Walkden) Here is the Government’s pre…

£1 Million Government funding to explore re-establishment of Golden Eagles in England.

Govt press release and my commentary ⬇️

#RaptorResearch #Ornithology #BirdingLinks #BirdingEngland

raptorpersecutionuk.org/2026/04/12/1...

#raptorresearch #ornithology

The profile of a large eagle's head, with fluffed up light gray feathers and crest feathers angled down the back of its head.

National Harpy Eagle Day in Panama 🎉

The Harpy Eagle is Panama's national bird and one of the most iconic raptors on the planet. The Peregrine Fund has been working in the Darién to study and protect this magnificent species for over two decades. 

📷 Angel Muela

#Raptors #Birds #RaptorResearch 🪶

Still waiting, 19 months on, for Natural England's review of Hen Harrier Brood Meddling trial.

New blog ⬇️

#RaptorResearch #BirdlingLinks #Ornithology

raptorpersecutionuk.org/2026/04/09/s...

Raeshaw Estate loses appeal against 3-yr General Licence restriction in relation to Golden Eagle Merrick being ‘shot and killed’ Good news! Raeshaw Estate, in the Scottish Borders, has lost its appeal against its latest three-year General Licence restriction. The restriction was imposed by NatureScot on 10 February 2026 in r…

Good news! Raeshaw Estate in the Scottish Borders loses appeal against 3-yr General Licence restriction in relation to Golden Eagle 'Merrick' being shot & killed.

New blog ⬇️

#RaptorResearch #Wildlifecrime #BirdingLinks 🌍

raptorpersecutionuk.org/2026/04/07/r...

A small brownish-orange, grey-blue, and black falcon holds a cricket in its mouth while perched on a branch. A publication headlined titled, "American kestrel population trends and vital rates at the continental scale" is overlaid on the image.

New Publication 📰 American kestrel population trends and vital rates at the continental scale
https://bit.ly/4c19FjT

📷 Jim Shane
Figure 4 from Howell et al., 2026
#RaptorResearch #Ornithology 🪶

Government to consider licensing for all gamebird shooting & releases in England Somebody has finally switched the lights on at Defra. It’s been a very long time coming – too long in my opinion – but last week an announcement was made in the new Land Use Frame…

Government to consider licensing for all gamebird shooting & releases in England.

I don't think licensing is the answer but it's a good start. Now, about those 60 million non-native Pheasants & Red-legged Partridges released each year...

#RaptorResearch

raptorpersecutionuk.org/2026/03/27/g...

Loophole closed in grouse shooting licences via Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2026 Some good news! The giant loophole in Scotland’s grouse shooting licences has been closed, via an amendment in the Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2026. If you recall, grouse moor licensin…

Good news! Amended Scottish legislation provides for licence suspension/revocation where 'relevant offences' (wildlife crime & animal welfare) are committed outside the licensed area, if they're connected to grouse moor management.

#RaptorResearch

raptorpersecutionuk.org/2026/03/26/l...

#RaptorResearch

Game-shooting industry’s response to the recent conviction of Perthshire gamekeeper Russell Mason Further to last week’s news that Scottish gamekeeper and convicted sex offender Russell Mason had pleaded guilty to battering a trapped Goshawk to death on a shooting estate in Perthshire, in…

Game-shooting industry's response to the recent conviction of Perthshire gamekeeper Russell Mason ⚖️

#RaptorResearch #WildlifeCrime #BirdingScotland 🌍

raptorpersecutionuk.org/2026/03/23/g...

Road counts expose widespread declines in South African raptors underestimated by atlas data Checklist-based citizen science surveys are becoming increasingly popular, as they may provide a means to monitor species' distributions and populatio…

NEW PAPER: Using almost 400,000 km of road transects, conducted over 16 years, we reveal declines in 13 species of raptor and other large terrestrial bird species across central South Africa #ornithology #AfricanOrnithology #RaptorResearch
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Convicted Scottish gamekeeper Russell Mason – more disturbing details about this case Further to yesterday’s news that Scottish gamekeeper Russell Mason, 49, had pleaded guilty to battering a trapped Goshawk to death on a shooting estate in Perthshire (see here), the Daily Rec…

Convicted Scottish gamekeeper Russell Mason - more disturbing details about this case.

Crikey! How on earth was he ever considered suitable to hold shotgun/firearms certificates?

New blog ⬇️

#RaptorResearch #WildlifeCrime 🌍

raptorpersecutionuk.org/2026/03/18/c...

Scottish gamekeeper Russell Mason pleads guilty to battering a Goshawk to death on shooting estate in Perthshire A Scottish gamekeeper has pleaded guilty to killing a Goshawk after he battered it to death after it was caught inside a Crow cage trap on a shooting estate in Perthshire. At Perth Sheriff Court th…

Scottish gamekeeper Russell Mason pleads guilty to battering a Goshawk to death on a shooting estate in Perthshire ⚖️

Excellent partnership investigation & prosecution by Police Scotland, RSPB, SSPCA, & COPFS 👏

New blog ⬇️

#RaptorResearch #WildlifeCrime 🌍

raptorpersecutionuk.org/2026/03/17/s...

Trial due to begin tomorrow for Scottish gamekeeper accused of killing a Goshawk on a Perthshire shooting estate A trial is due to begin tomorrow (Tuesday 17 March 2026) at Perth Sheriff Court for a Scottish gamekeeper accused of killing a Goshawk on a Perthshire shooting estate. The alleged incident took pla…

Trial due to begin tomorrow for a Scottish gamekeeper accused of killing a Goshawk on a Perthshire shooting estate.

NB: Comments turned off as criminal proceedings are live ⚖️

#RaptorResearch #WildlifeCrime 🌍

raptorpersecutionuk.org/2026/03/16/t...

A new study from our Aplomado Falcon Recovery Program examines how sea level rise and development could impact habitat in South Texas: https://bit.ly/412LsEB

Aplomado Falcon 📷 Paul Juergens
📊 Figure 5, McCabe et al., 2025

#RaptorResearch #Ornithology

#RaptorResearch

What’s happened to the police investigation in to the poisoned Hen Harrier found dead on the edge of a grouse moor in North Yorkshire? In December 2025, I blogged about a Hen Harrier that had been found poisoned on a grouse moor somewhere in North Yorkshire, 11 months earlier in January 2025. Hen Harrier (photo by Pete Walkden) Th…

What's happened to the police investigation in to the poisoned Hen Harrier found dead on the edge of a grouse moor in North Yorkshire?

#RaptorResearch #WildlifeCrime 🌍

raptorpersecutionuk.org/2026/03/10/w...

#RaptorResearch

🚨🚨NEW PAPER🚨🚨

Check it out our last paper about golden eagles' broad diet in the Iberian peninsula. 🦅🐐🦌🐍🦎🐇🦡🦆
#RaptorResearch
zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Elevation, rather than land use, causes important dietary shifts in the Mediterranean golden eagle In an ever-changing landscape, golden eagles in the Iberian Peninsula demonstrate remarkable dietary adaptability. We monitored 50 distinct breeding events over 4 years using camera traps, collecting...

Lagomorphs dominated at lower elevations, while ungulates🦌🐐(specially roe deer) and reptiles🐍🦎 increased with elevation.

If you want to know more, check it out. It is Open Access!! 👇👇
#RaptorResearch
#GoldenEagle
#OpenAccess
#Aequilibrium

zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

We monitored 42 territories during 4 years.
We expected that their diet varied according with land use in their territory, but it didn't.
However, elevation was a powerful predictor of their diet.
#RaptorResearch
#OpenAccess
#Aequilibrium

🚨🚨NEW PAPER🚨🚨

Our last paper got published in @jzoology.bsky.social
Using camera traps in the nests we showed that Golden eagles changed their diet with elevation rather than land use. 🦅🦅🐐🐍🪶
#RaptorResearch
#Aequilibrium

Rise of the Eagle Owl population due to rat-rich refuse dump sites and fall when closing them: a large-scale long-term “supplementary feeding experiment” Food-supplementation experiments conducted on terrestrial vertebrates have usually shown the importance of food as an agent in increasing reproductive success. However, to date, the number of large-sc...

New article published in Ornis Fennica! Tornberg et al. Rise of the Eagle Owl population due to rat-rich refuse dump sites and fall when closing them: a large-scale long-term “supplementary feeding experiment” ornisfennica.journal.fi/article/view... #ornithology #OpenAccess #RaptorResearch

Acabamos de publicar uno de los artículos que mas bonitos nos han quedao analizando algunas causas y consecuencias de de la migración parcial de los juveniles de buitre leonado.... #RaptorResearch #Ornithology @bou.org.uk onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

From Fig. 1 of the article: camera trapping placed on perching sites (adults: female and male 5+ years old and 8 years old, respectively).

Fig. 2 from the article: Trend data for Bonelli's eagles marked as recruited as territorial birds in the study population. a) Proportion of recruited individuals per year in relation to the total population; b) average age of recruited individuals per year.

Fig. 4 from the article: Apparent survival of territorial Bonelli's eagles in the studied population in relation to the best-supported models that included individual experience and sex.

New paper: a 19-year photographic capture–recapture study shows Bonelli’s eagles have high survival, especially experienced females, with improved recruitment and earlier breeding over time

➡️ vist.ly/4u3f9

#ornithology #birds #RaptorResearch #longtermstudy 🪶

New Publication! 📰

Forest-dependent raptors have lost an average of 10% of their habitat since 2001, with only 52% of forest cover remaining, according to a new study: https://bit.ly/3OKiCWW

Puerto Rican Sharp-shinned Hawk 📷 Amanda Hancock 

#RaptorResearch #Ornithology
@ebuechley.bsky.social

UK Government confirms ban on sale & use of toxic lead ammunition for ‘live quarry shooting’ from 1st April 2029 Following the announcement from Defra in July 2025 that the Government aimed to introduce legislation by the summer of 2026 to ban the sale and use of toxic lead ammunition for ‘live quarry s…

UK Government confirms ban on sale and use of toxic lead ammunition for live quarry shooting from 1st April 2029.

Good news for the environment & wildlife (especially raptors!)

New blog ⬇️

#RaptorResearch

raptorpersecutionuk.org/2026/03/05/u...

RPUK blog reaches 16th birthday and passes 13 million views Today marks 16 years since this blog started and it has recently passed 13 million views. Thanks, as ever, to everyone who follows the blog and supports its aims. Particular thanks to the generous …

Raptor Persecution UK blog reaches 16th birthday and passes 13 million views.

Thanks to everyone who follows the blog & supports its aims 🙏

#RaptorResearch #WildlifeCrime 🌍

raptorpersecutionuk.org/2026/03/03/r...

NatureScot reinstates use of General Licences on Raeshaw Estate during appeal process On 10 February 2026, NatureScot imposed a three-year General Licence restriction on Raeshaw Estate in the Scottish Borders (and on neighbouring Watherston Wood, which is understood to be under sepa…

NatureScot reinstates use of General Licences on Raeshaw Estate during appeal process.

New blog ⬇️

#RaptorResearch #WildlifeCrime 🌍

raptorpersecutionuk.org/2026/03/03/n...

Photo of myself holding a hooded Golden Eagle that was just trapped.

Photo of the talons of a Golden Eagle

Headshot of an adult, male Golden Eagle before release

Photo of the adult, male Golden Eagle flying away with a newly backpacked transmitter on his back

Caught the 7th eagle yesterday & what a week we’ve had! This dude was almost 5 kg (tho he had 300g of food in his crop)

We’ll be getting another transmitter in the next days & after that one we’ll be done for the season!

#WomeninRaptorResearch #RaptorResearch #WomeninSTEM #GoldenEagle #Birds 🪶