An update to this story has been added at the end, following the release of the findings of the brood management trial in July 2026.
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The RSPB is relieved to learn that Natural England has decided not to approve a licence for brood management for 2025, following their detailed assessment of a specific licence application. This follows Natural England’s recent announcement of the conclusion of the seven-year Hen Harrier Brood Management Trial, with the key results released so far reinforcing the RSPB’s view that brood management should have no place in the future of Hen Harrier conservation.
Hen Harriers are medium-sized birds of prey that breed on upland moorlands. However, illegal persecution in the UK continues to devastate populations and they are on the Red List of highest conservation concern.
The RSPB Birdcrime Report 2023 found that the majority of illegal bird of prey persecution incidents are associated with land managed for gamebird shooting. Some individuals deliberately target birds of prey to try to maximise the number of gamebirds available to shoot for sport and profit.
Brood management involves removing eggs or chicks under licence from Hen Harrier nests on grouse moors, with the chicks reared in captivity and the fledged young returned to the wild. The principle of brood management is that by controlling the density of nesting Hen Harriers on grouse moors, the predation pressure on grouse will decrease. In turn this will lead to an attitude change in grouse moor owners and managers who will become more tolerant of the birds, and as a result the illegal killing of harriers should decrease.
We have consistently maintained our opposition to brood management and remain steadfast in our view that the only way to see meaningful Hen Harrier recovery is the ending of illegal persecution. Fundamentally, brood management is about forcing Hen Harriers to fit in with driven grouse shooting, instead of driven grouse shooting adapting to support the recovery of Hen Harriers. It also often involves the removal of harrier nests from within Special Protection Areas (SPAs) that have been purposely designated for their protection.
The RSPB previously called for a transparent, robust and independent evaluation of the trial. Natural England have now released the initial results and conclusions of their review, though only the BTO population modelling report has been published to date. The findings show that, despite a rise in nesting Hen Harriers, the illegal killing of the birds has continued.
England’s Hen Harrier breeding population increased following the start of the brood management trial in 2018, with a peak of 54 breeding attempts in 2023, before a drop to 34 breeding attempts in 2024. The BTO’s population modelling work shows it is likely that brood management has contributed to this increase.
Significantly, however, record numbers of Hen Harriers have been suspected or confirmed to have been killed illegally during the trial. In 2023 alone, a shocking 31 Hen Harriers were confirmed to have been killed or disappeared under suspicious circumstances. This is just the tip of iceberg, with many more birds suspected to have been killed. In addition, many of the 58 young subsequently released into the wild from the brood management nests are thought to have been killed or disappeared under suspicious circumstances.
Satellite tagging is a crucial tool for tackling illegal persecution. A recent RSPB paper (Ewing et al., 2023) used satellite tagging data to show that annual survival of Hen Harriers in the UK is unusually low and mortality – due to illegal persecution – is higher in areas managed for grouse shooting. Illegal killing accounted for the deaths of 27-41% of birds under one year of age, and 75% of Hen Harriers aged between one and two years of age.
The issue was vividly brought home by a Channel 4 News broadcast in October last year, which used RSPB footage to detail the shooting of a Hen Harrier on a grouse moor in northern England. We welcome the recent decision by North Yorkshire Police to charge an individual in connection with this shocking incident.
Although Natural England’s decision not to approve the recent licence application is good news for Hen Harriers, the long-term future of brood management remains unclear. Natural England states that decisions on whether to issue future licences for Hen Harrier brood management will be based on evidence collected by the review.
The continuing illegal persecution of Hen Harriers, despite seven years of brood management, demonstrates that it is time for change. Rather than continuing to spend time and resource on brood management and other costly distractions, the RSPB believes that the only solution to seeing meaningful recovery of Hen Harriers is the licencing of driven grouse shooting.
We are urging the UK Government to introduce a system of licensing for all gamebird shooting, whereby this licence to operate could be revoked if crimes against birds of prey are detected on an estate. This would set a better precedent and act as a greater deterrent to those tempted to harm or kill birds such as Hen Harriers.
In March 2024, the Scottish Parliament passed The Wildlife Management and Muirburn Act. This aims to put a stop to the illegal persecution of birds of prey, such as Golden Eagles and Hen Harriers, through the stronger regulation of grouse shooting. The legislation follows decades of campaigning by ourselves and many other organisations, and it is hoped that this could herald the end of bird of prey persecution in Scotland. The onus is now on the UK Government to follow suit so that birds of prey can be similarly protected in England.
Natural England published the final reports on the Brood Management Trial on 22 July 2026. These findings do not present evidence that would alter the RSPB’s established view – that brood management should have no place in the future of Hen Harrier conservation.
Whilst there was an increase in Hen Harrier breeding numbers under the initial years of the trial, illegal persecution has continued regardless. Indeed, in 2023 alone, 31 Hen Harriers, including 28 satellite-tagged birds, were confirmed or suspected to have been illegally killed – the highest annual number on record, with most incidents recorded on or near land managed for grouse shooting. The survival of both brood-managed and wild-reared young was below the levels that would be expected if illegal killing were absent. This means that being reared from a brood-managed nest does not confer protection from subsequently being illegally killed.
Despite decades of legal protection, Hen Harriers and other birds of prey in the UK still face relentless persecution. As current laws are failing to protect them, legislative change is urgently needed. The RSPB is calling for the licensing of all gamebird shooting in the UK. This proportionate, cost-effective and measured approach will help prevent wildlife crime and protect birds of prey for future generations. The scale of bird of prey persecution over the last decade, and the case for urgent legislative change, is discussed in the RSPB’s recent Patterns of Persecution report.
