far inland at lakes and along river valleys,
nesting in nearby forest. In behaviour, these
are generalist raptors, Tim says – “they
tend to catch fish if they can, but also take
wildfowl, shorebirds, small mammals and
carrion.” This makes them more like North
America’s bald eagles than golden eagles –
upland specialists that roam vast territories.
“Conservationists in Denmark tell us their
white-tailed eagles target sick and injured
water birds,” says Tim, “and carrion can
make up 30 per cent of the eagles’ diet in
Germany. Our own released juveniles have
been scavenging for a living, a lot like red
kites. It’s what we hoped would happen.”Change of scenery
As of mid-February, three eagles from the
initial cohort are still on the Isle of Wight,
while one, unexpectedly, has moved to
Oxfordshire (one bird perished in October
soon after release; another is missing,
presumed dead). Steve Egerton-Read,
the reintroduction project officer, has theThey tend to catch fish but
also take small mammals and
carrion, making them more like
bald eagles than golden eagles.
Above,leftto
right:Steve
Egerton-Read,
TimMackrill,Ian
PerkandRoy
Dennis– the
reintroduction
team.Right:being
releasedfroma
holdingpen.April 2020ENGLAND’S
EAGLES
Your questions
answered.
Where can white-tailed
eagles be found?
Following reintroduction, these
eagles breed in Scotland’s western
Highlands and islands, and along parts
of the east coast. As well as to the Isle
of Wight, the species has also been
reintroduced to south-west Ireland.
Its global range extends through
Europe to eastern Asia and Japan.Surveying new
surroundings on
the Isle of Wight.human contact, then set free in August
wearing £1,200 satellite tags.
The team adopted tried-and-tested
techniques used with both red kites
and ospreys – and indeed with white-
tailed eagles, which were reintroduced
to Scotland’s west coast in 1975–85 after
dying out in the Highlands in the early
20th century. All three species had been
hammered by persecution.
Tim learned his trade managing
Rutland Water’s famous osprey
reintroduction project, and with
his new boss, the legendary Scottish
conservationist Roy Dennis, is also
behind the ongoing translocation
of ospreys to Dorset’s Poole Harbour
(where, Tim says, this summer might
see the first successful breeding attempt).
The EU Habitats Directive (1992)
requires governments to consider
bringing back extinct animals, but
reintroductions are a complex,
bureaucratic business. They take
years of planning and endless
public meetings to win critics
over. A key test is whether a
species occurred naturally in
the past. The white-tailed
eagle flew
over this hurdle,
says Tim, pointing out that its alternative
name ‘sea eagle’ is misleading. “This is not
just a bird of cliff and coast. That’s only half
the story.”
But was it really ever English? Absolutely,
going by the archaeological evidence, which
suggests that in Roman, Anglo-Saxon and
possibly medieval times, the species was
widespread in the lowlands. Further support
comes from the many English place names
that derive from the Old English ‘erne’ or
‘earn’, meaning large eagle.
Across northern, central and eastern
Europe today, white-tailed eagles thrive