By Will Hayward, RSPB Senior Investigations Officer, Scotland
Since 2014, the RSPB has been fitting satellite transmitters to juvenile birds of prey across the UK to gather information about these magnificent birds. Data gathered from sat-tags have resulted in a better understanding of the ecology of some species, and has unexpectedly shone a light on suspected incidents of persecution. Often, these incidents where protected birds of prey are intentionally shot, poisoned or trapped occur in areas where they are perceived by some individuals as a threat to gamebird stock.
The latest RSPB Birdcrime report featured the relentless persecution faced by Hen Harriers and revealed the depressing statistic that a total of 39 Hen Harriers are suspected or proven to have been persecuted across the UK between January 2022 and October 2023. The majority of these incidents involved the sudden disappearance of satellite-tagged birds, in circumstances where the highly reliable tags had previously been functioning perfectly. This is known as a ‘sudden stop, no malfunction’ which as numerous historical cases have shown, suggests that the bird has been killed.
Here we look at just one of the many satellite-tagged Hen Harriers that have ‘suspiciously disappeared’ over recent years across Scotland. Known as Inger, this female Hen Harrier is the latest Hen Harrier to have disappeared in the UK, with her last transmission being sent from the Angus Glens, in northeast Scotland.
An adult female Hen Harrier, one of the UK’s rarest breeding birds of prey. Despite being fully protected by law and a UK Red Listed species, Hen Harriers are being illegally persecuted on a relentless scale.
A substantial body of peer-reviewed scientific papers and Government commissioned reports based on conservation and research projects carried out during the last 20 years has demonstrated that these ‘sudden stop, no malfunctions’ represent illegal killing and are unequivocally linked to land intensively managed for driven grouse shooting. A study published in the journal Biological Conservation (Ewing et al., 2023) showed that illegal killing accounted for 27-41% of deaths in first year Hen Harriers and 75% in Hen Harriers between one and two years old. This built on a paper (Murgatroyd et al.) published in 2019 which showed that Hen Harriers are ten times more likely to die or disappear within areas predominantly covered by grouse moor compared to those that were not managed for grouse. Both studies demonstrate that the continued illegal killing of Hen Harriers is the main factor holding back the recovery of the species.
The recent coverage of Hen Harrier persecution in the latest Birdcrime report has focused on the shocking upsurge of incidents in Northern England but it is also worth exploring a recent incident in Scotland. This case demonstrates the continuing disappearance of satellite-tagged birds over managed moorland at a time when the licensing of grouse shooting is being debated by the Scottish Parliament as part of the Wildlife Management and Muirburn Bill. The incident is also an example of how illegal killing, perpetrated on some intensively managed driven grouse moors, undermines the great positive efforts of some landowners who have shown that raptors and walked-up shooting can coexist on their land.
Inger is the most recent satellite-tagged Hen Harrier to suffer a ‘sudden stop, no malfunction’ in Scotland, with her tag sending its final transmission on 7 September 2023. At this point she was just over a year old, having had her satellite-tag fitted by RSPB licensed satellite-taggers in summer 2022, shortly before she fledged from the nest with her two siblings.
To visit a Hen Harrier nest for this purpose is a great privilege and one we were afforded in this case by the landowner, who manages the land for shooting on a small and sustainable scale which has allowed wildlife to flourish. They are understandably very proud to have Hen Harriers on their land, along with several other species of breeding raptor. These are all monitored under licence thanks to a productive partnership with the Scottish Raptor Study Group.
A photo of Inger taken in 2022, after having her satellite-tag fitted. Her tag suddenly stopped transmitting data, with no indication of tag malfunction in September 2023. Inger is the 28th satellite-tagged Hen Harrier to have ‘suspiciously disappeared’ in Scotland since 2014.
Inger’s story is particularly special because her mother, named Bryony, is also satellite-tagged and is one of the oldest Hen Harriers monitored by the RSPB. Her tag has given us a fascinating insight into her behaviour over the years. Bryony’s tag data, combined with the efforts of dedicated raptor workers, has enabled monitoring of each of her nesting attempts. After several failures as a younger bird due to natural causes, it wasn’t until 2020 that her nest had a successful outcome with at least four chicks fledging. 2022 was only her second successful nest so it was a real thrill to have the chance to follow the story of one of her offspring.
Bryony, one of the oldest RSPB satellite-tagged Hen Harriers in the UK, and the mother of Inger who is suspected to have been illegally killed in September 2023
It was pleasing to see that Inger managed to pack a lot into her short life. Unlike her mother, she bred successfully in her first year, managing to take advantage of a plentiful food supply, and her tag also pinpointed the existence of several important communal roost sites.
Inger’s last location was in the Angus Glens – in an area of intensive gamebird management and a notorious hotspot for raptor persecution. As is routine in these cases, Inger’s satellite tag data was passed to Police Scotland and the National Wildlife Crime Unit for independent scrutiny once it was clear the tag had suffered a ‘sudden stop, no malfunction’ on 7 September. A police investigation and land search followed, but as expected there was no sign of Inger or her satellite-tag.
Since 2014, over the last 10 years, 28 satellite-tagged Hen Harriers have ‘suspiciously disappeared’ in Scotland with their tag showing a sudden stop, with no indication of tag malfunction. Sadly, what happened to Inger in the end is an all too familiar story. The number of Hen Harriers satellite-tagged as chicks in Scotland each year is only a small proportion of those that successfully fledge from nests. As such, we expect that the actual number of Hen Harriers illegally killed in Scotland will be far higher than the number of suspicious ‘sudden stop, no malfunctions’ of satellite-tagged birds recorded.
Our tracking work has shown us that Hen Harriers travel far and wide over open habitats across Scotland and beyond. Despite the existence of many safe havens, including both nature reserves and sympathetically managed private moors, it is a sad fact that raptors that roam widely remain at risk of entering estates where persecution is routine, where they will meet individuals intent on doing them harm. Only the enactment of legislation on the licensing of grouse shooting currently being considered by the Scottish Parliament is likely to act as a meaningful sanction to those criminals who continue to operate on some of Scotland’s grouse moors.