RSPB annual bird crime survey reveals Scottish raptor death toll

At least a dozen different types of bird of prey fell victim to illegal persecution in Scotland last year according to a "damning" new report.

The RSPB's 2020 Birdcrime Report reveals there were 26 confirmed, detected incidents of illegal shooting, trapping and poisoning of birds of prey north of the Border last year.

The victims included six buzzards, one white-tailed eagle, one golden eagle, two peregrine falcons, two red kites, two hen harriers, and at least three different owl species, among other protected birds of prey including sparrowhawk and merlin.

The Scottish 2020 tally is among the highest on record. Although two fewer cases than 2019, last year saw more than twice the 2018 total of 12 and over five times the 2017 total of just five cases.

Hen Harrier Fingal was fitted with a satellite tag, which stopped transmitting in May last year.

The RSPB said the figures were only "the tip of the iceberg" as many illegal killings went undetected or unreported. These are likely to include tagged raptors that disappeared in suspicious circumstances but were never recovered.

Suspicion as tagged hen harrier disappears in southern Scotland

Ian Thomson, RSPB Scotland's head of investigations, said: "Every year we are dealing very much with the tip of the iceberg because these crimes are happening in remote areas where witnesses are few and far between and where it is very easy for the perpetrators to hide evidence of the crime.

"We are seeing, all too regularly, disappearances of satellite tagged golden eagles and hen harriers and these are occurring in areas where there is a history of other persecution cases, and 2020 is no exception.

White-tailed or sea eagles have been targeted ruthlessly since their reintroduction to Scotland.

"There is a criminal underbelly that is deliberately targeting some of our most iconic species."

All birds of prey are protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. To intentionally kill or injure one is a criminal offence and could result in an unlimited fine or up to six months in jail. In 2020, there were only two prosecutions.

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The report reveals at least five of the confirmed Scottish incidents occurred in the Highlands; four in Dumfries and Galloway; four in Perth and Kinross; three in South Lanarkshire; three in the Scottish Borders, two in Aberdeenshire and at least one in each of Argyll and Bute; Fife, Midlothian and Renfrewshire.

Merlins are also targeted.

Among the significant cases was a white-tailed eagle found poisoned on a grouse moor in Strathdon, Aberdeenshire in April.

The same month, just a few miles away, a satellite-tagged hen harrier named Marlin sent its final transmission - one of four tagged that disappeared on grouse moors in spring 2020.

In what the RSPB describes as "perhaps the most damning episode", a satellite tag was discovered which had been dumped in a river after being removed from a golden eagle that disappeared on a grouse moor in 2016.

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Protected - but golden eagles are preyed upon by criminals.

Last November, in response to the "Werritty review" of grouse moor management, the Scottish Government committed, if re-elected, to introducing a number of measures including the licensing of grouse shooting businesses; the licensing of all muirburn and the banning of burning on peatlands; and to stopping raptor persecution.A spokesperson for Scottish Land & Estates, the membership organisation for landowners, rural businesses and rural professionals, said: "We condemn all forms of wildlife crime, including raptor persecution.

“For many years we have supported the introduction of tougher penalties for those who are found guilty.”

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