Hen Harrier

Only one word can describe watching a Hen Harrier hunting or displaying in the spring - breathtaking. The slow, graceful mastery of the air it displays as it quarters the ground or the tumbling, roller-coaster ride it undertakes in its ‘skydancing’ display flight, are a joy to watch.

Despite decades of intense effort by the RSPB and others, the Hen Harrier remains one of the UK’s most threatened birds of prey. The United Utilities’ Bowland estate is the single most important site for breeding hen harriers in England, and the RSPB has worked with United Utilities since the early 1980s to maintain this important population. The estate now regularly holds between six and ten pairs every year, which can be anywhere between 50 and 90 percent of the English breeding population.

Since 2002 English Nature has also been working, through its Hen Harrier Recovery Project, to preserve the Hen Harrier in Bowland, and across the uplands of northern England. This work has resulted in two very good years for the hen harrier on the UU Bowland estate, according to the RSPB’s Bowland Project Officer, Pete Wilson.

2005 saw 15 nesting attempts by hen harriers in Bowland, representing nearly 80% of the English breeding population.

The RSPB continues to work with United Utilities to monitor the fortunes of this special bird every year, through a programme of intensive fieldwork carried out by staff and volunteers.

You can download a leaflet describing Hen Harrier ‘Wing Tag’ information in PDF format (109kb)

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