Hotline for hen harrier sightings

People are asked to report any hen harrier sightings this year by the ‘Heads Up for Harriers’ project group.

Run by the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime (PAW Scotland), this is one part of the effort to help rare hen harriers.

Hen harriers frequent many Scottish moors, where their acrobatic aerial courtship displays are a tell-tale sign of breeding activity. But their distribution and numbers are still restricted in some areas.

A number of causes, including illegal persecution, land use changes and predation, have resulted in a reduction in hen harrier numbers, to the point that the hen harrier is now one of Britain’s rarest birds of prey.

Male hen harriers are distinctive, with a pale, ash-grey colour, black wing tips and a wingspan of just less than a metre.

Female hen harriers are slightly larger, with an owl-like ‘face’ and mottled brown plumage, which helps to camouflage them when they nest on the ground. They have a very obvious white patch at the base of the tail on the upper side. They could be confused with buzzards but hen harriers are much more agile in flight, with narrower wings which are held inclined upwards in a ‘V’ shape.

The Heads Up for Harriers Project has a dedicated sightings hotline number and e-mail address. E-mail sightings to HenHarrier@snh.gov.uk or call 07767 671973.

Please provide details of places where birds are seen (a six-figure grid reference is best), the time and date of sighting and any notes on behaviour (for example hunting low, flying high up, calling/chittering or skydancing) when possible. More information is available at http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Environment/Wildlife-Habitats/paw-scotland/what-you-can-do/hen-harriers

Hotline for hen harrier sightings

29 April 2016