RSPB: Protecting the UK's sea eagles
- Published
This is a white-tailed eagle, also known as a sea eagle. These eagles are the largest in the UK and the fourth-largest in the world, with up to an eight-foot wingspan - that's longer than your bed!
Sea eagles usually live most of the year near open water and need plenty of food and big trees or cliffs for nesting. They are a close cousin of the American bald eagle.
At the moment a tagging effort is being carried out on the Isle of Mull by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). When possible birds are tagged and ringed in their nest to make it as gentle as possible.
The project aims to record the population of breeding pairs of white-tailed eagles across Scotland. They were hunted to extinction in the UK in the early 19th century, with the last bird been shot in the Hebrides in 1918.
There are currently around 22 pairs of white-tailed eagles on the Isle of Mull, with the first success of the breeding program happening in 1985.
The tagging and measuring of these predators are part of a project run by the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation in partnership with the UK Forestry England. They hope to release around 60 birds on the Isle of Wight in summer 2019.
Not everyone is happy about the plan, as some farmers are worried that the giant birds may take lambs, but the programme's experts say there is so much food around, they don't believe it will be a problem.
- Published13 February 2018
- Published21 May 2019
