A Hotly Debated Topic

This is no easy conversation that can see opposing sides spouting facts and figures from ‘independent’ studies at one another, often aggressively. In one corner you have environmental organizations such as the RSPB, British Trust of Ornithology and BirdWatch Ireland as well as environmental scientists and conservationists. On the opposing side are those who race pigeons, gamekeepers and some farmers who see birds of prey as a threat to their own animals. Sensationalist newspapers draw from both to fan the flames and aid the spread of stigmas and outdated notions but hopefully here, in the next few passages, we can look at both arguments and the science, to end damaging ideas and think of how we can move forward together.

What Birds of Prey are there in Ireland and the UK?

Ireland is home to 11 species of raptor and the UK 15. Some of the most visible include the common buzzard, sparrow hawks, kestrels and peregrine falcons (the fastest moving animal on earth). Merlin’s and Goshawks too can occasionally be seen but can be difficult to identify to the untrained eye. Hen Harriers as well as Red Kites also share the skies with the occasional visit of Montagu’s harrier. Have I also mentioned EAGLES? ? Golden eagles, and White-Tailed Eagles, the latter being the 4th largest bird of prey in the world. Both once had a wide range across these islands, however, they are now only found in isolated locations and are exceedingly rare BUT they are here, and that fact in itself I think, is a little bit marvelous.

This is not the conclusive list, (we haven’t mentioned owls, but you better believe we will) though perhaps we can appreciate that there are far more big birds soaring above us than once thought.

Masters of their prey

Buzzards

Even though they are a big bird, males between 550g-1kg mainly eat carrion, which is normally only for the worms, and speaking of worms, they make up a surprisingly large part of the buzzard’s diet, you can see them walking in field hunting them. Buzzards hunt worms… Amazing.

Peregrine falcons

Peregrine falcons on the other hand catch all their prey on the wing (except some they may steal from other raptors, devils!), deploying hunting tactics that can see them plummeting towards the earth at 200kms an hour to snatch an unsuspecting starling right out of the air. The females are larger (as is often the case with bops) and can therefore catch bigger prey however, both specialize in catching birds like waders, gulls and ducks.

Vultures

Vultures have a devilish penchant for eating carrion, they’re mad for it. This plays marvelously into the hands of the ecosystem, as we all know how terrible food wastage is, let alone the disease that rotting animals can create but instead it’s giving all the nutrients back into the food cycle.

Merlins

Named after a famous fantastical wizard, these birds are ferocious creatures who have been observed attacking trains despite their small size. However, when train hunts are unsuccessful (one figure suggests 98% of the time) their diet can range from sandpipers, bats and insects but it depends on their location. One study in Ireland showed the Merlin’s diet comprised of 24 bird species which accounted for 65.9% of its total diet. The rest of its protein came from moths at 33.1% and dragonflies at 1%.

Effects of removing Birds of Prey from the Food Chain

In Ireland and the UK, we can observe this all around us and it is referred to as meso-predator release which is essentially when you remove the top dog (or bird in this case) from the food chain, it affects not only their direct prey but a range of other species. As we have learned before, it’s all connected. What we can see in Ireland and the UK is an ecological anomaly of sorts, where we have a sheer overabundance of members of the corvid family. Hooded crows, magpies, rooks and jackdaws all commonly referred to as crows. In addition to all our “crows”, we also have a huge amount of foxes that can devastate ground-nesting bird colonies. Due to the absence of our birds of prey, as well as how wily crows and foxes are for learning how to cohabitate with us humans, they have both seen exponential growth without seeing any predators.

Oh, you didn’t know that birds of prey ate foxes? Well, they absolutely do, and badgers. Eagles and owls are the top predators of foxes (predominantly their young, called kits) and it’s just another example of how important these birds are for the ecosystem, keeping that mystical balance of nature in check.

Now, the hard stuff, the division of mindsets, the real contention in the issue of birds of prey, why they are killed illegally.

Barbaric Persecution Practices

So just how do they do it, man’s cruel ingenuity couldn’t possibly surprise us could it?  Well, it just might, in a gross example of humans thinking they’re smart, sees the exploitation of a bird of prey’s natural behavior. In one practice, a metal claw-like trap is set on a wooden post. Birds of prey often use these posts to get a lay of the land and also to feed on their juicy bounty. When a bird lands on it, it springs closed, trapping the bird with the metal claws and here it could stay, slowly dying for days, which is often the case. You know what’s really messed up, this practice has been illegal, that’s right illegal, since 1904. People in 1904 thought it was too barbaric but it’s not uncommon these days to hear of these traps being set. Another, equally twisted form of “predator control” is where a live pigeon is covered in poison, tied to a string and left out as bait for birds of prey which will then be poisoned.

These practices come in conjunction with decades of poisoning from organochlorides (eventually banned in 1982) that were once used widely as pesticides as well as people who go out shooting them at random. 200 buzzards poisoned here, an eagle shot there, there is a continuous outpouring of figures showing birds of prey being killed. It only takes a small minority of people to wreak ecological havoc, however, there is so little accountability or prosecution, and far more often than not. Nothing. Is. Done.

Current Problems - Game Bird Keeping

In Ireland and the UK as well to a much lesser extent across Europe, the keeping of game fowl is one big plump business with many game bird keepers who invest a huge amount of time, money and land in the rearing of wildfowl. Many of these birds that are reared are then released either into the wild or onto large estates for hunters to come and shoot them for sport. The UK sees up to 57 million non-native gamebirds released every year for this recreational sport. These releases occur annually on a small, medium, or large scale which can see anywhere from under 3,000 birds to over 10,000 birds being liberated into a wilderness they were actually never meant to live in. Hunters with either friends or as part of groups will join in on these releases to hunt the released birds with people also paying money to stay at lodges or on estates to hunt the birds. It’s people’s livelihoods and can bring in a lot of much-needed money to isolated rural economies.

Although this sport brings with it quite a few negatives for native animals and the environment, the problem it poses for raptors is that they are blamed for the reduction of gamebird populations. It’s astronomical the number of birds that aren’t actually killed and instead make off into the woods, beating their little underdeveloped wings. A study made in the European Journal of Wildlife states that as many as 60% of gamebirds released, do not end up being killed. On top of this as much as 70% of the gamebirds lost to predation, actually comes from foxes. On top of this, the RSPB says that one-third of gamebirds released become fox food. So many are actually just lost to the environment. A big issue with gamebird keeping is that since it began, gamekeepers have been pretty much been left to their own devices, with little to zero regulation or monitoring so getting accurate data is difficult. Ill-practices not only do serious environmental damage but, negatively affect birds of prey.