Some readers might be aware that 2025 was a very poor year for cavity-nesting birds of prey such as Barn Owl, Tawny Owl, and Kestrels. Only 132 young birds were ringed from project boxes in 2025, which is considerably lower than in previous years. 2013 was the last time we recorded as few in the nest boxes. A lack of small mammal prey is one of the likely reasons for the poor season, along with unfavourable weather conditions. The Small Mammal Project, a project within the British Raptor Programme, focuses on monitoring abundance and diversity of small mammal species in […]
We are delighted to embark on a new conservation partnership between the Hawk Conservancy Trust and Kynren – The Storied Lands. The partnership will support the development of conservation and research work focused on birds of prey across the North East of England, expanding knowledge about bird of prey populations in the region and contributing to wider national research efforts. The same methodologies used for the Trust’s Raptor Nest Box Project (RNBP) and Raptor Survey Project will be applied to the project in the North East. Field surveys, habitat analysis and a variety of other conservation monitoring approaches will be […]
Africa update for July 2026 At the end of May and into June, our Conservation and Research Coordinator, Dr Jamie McKaughan, spent several weeks visiting two of our field sites in South Africa. Once he got back to the Trust later in June, we caught up with him to find out all about his trip. “It was so great to be back in South Africa! I only realised as I was getting on the plane at Heathrow, that I was returning six years to the day that I had last left South Africa (after living and working there for several […]
It is always an exciting moment when a new bird arrives to live with us here at the Trust. Very often, a bird will arrive here as a partner for another bird as part of conservation breeding programmes or, at the very least, they are a species that we’ve cared for here before. From time to time though, we get the opportunity to work with not only a brand new individual but a completely new species to us. At the end of June, the Bird Team excitedly welcomed a young Greyish Eagle-Owl who it is hoped will become a part […]
Our Striated Caracara: Sirius and our Crested Caracara: Flo, have both moved aviaries recently. They are now near to our Savannah Arena so as Head of Lower Section of the Trust, means that I now get the pleasure of looking after them on a day-to-day basis. It’s been very exciting to get my own little Caracara corner of the Trust; I adore working with both species, getting to see their amazing intelligence and abundance of character. With both of these species being big problem solvers in the wild, it’s very important that we provide them plenty of enrichment opportunities. Enrichment […]
Our 2025 Marion Paviour Award winner, Samik Bista, has been making some great progress with his project. Samik’s project seeks to address critical knowledge gaps about Steppe Eagles in Nepal. Steppe Eagles are listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. They are a wide-ranging migratory species and face a high risk of decline, primarily driven by the loss of steppe habitat, compounded by poisoning, persecution and power line collisions. Despite regular winter sightings in Hetauda, Nepal, very little is known about what habitat they are using and what local threats they face. By undertaking field surveys […]
Ryan Stephens, Senior member of the Bird Team at the Hawk Conservancy Trust, has been the lucky chap working most closely with Mamba recently, one of our very impressive White-headed Vultures. Ryan reflects on how things have been going lately, as she reaches a poignant stage in her life. Mamba celebrated her 8th birthday with us this year, which means that she arrived at the point in her life where we would like to explore potential breeding opportunities for her. Listed as a Critically Endangered species under the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), the preservation of this species […]
Last year was a tough one for the species in our Raptor Nest Box Project – Barn Owls, Tawny Owls, Little Owls and Kestrels. The nesting and fledgling numbers were some of the lowest we have recorded since 2013. A mix of factors contributed to this, including a lack of prey – something we also saw reflected in our small mammal surveys last year. All in all, it left us with some very low fledging numbers, with last year’s minimum numbers of fledglings compared to 2024’s minimum numbers below for comparison… quite stark! Species 2025 2024 Barn Owl 12 340 […]
CITES CoP20 took place towards the end of 2025. One of the proposals discussed was whether to lower Peregrine Falcons from CITES Appendix 1 to Appendix 2, and ultimately the discussion resulted in them staying on Appendix 1. But where did this proposal come from and what would it have meant for Peregrines? Let’s start with what CITES and these appendices are… CITES is the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora – a bit of a mouthful, hence the widespread use of CITES! Fundamentally, it is an international agreement between governments to regulate the […]
Bird Team member Jennie Marshall has one of the most enviable jobs here at the Hawk Conservancy Trust – she has the privilege of saying good morning to our young Secretary Bird Sherbie every day! While living on her section at the Trust, Sherbie has been getting to know Jennie very well, and the duo are forming a really close bond. We chatted to Jennie to hear what it’s been like working with our newest arrival so far: “After Sherbie arrived in October, he moved into my section of the park after about one month. This section is off-show to […]
