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U.K. Fires Forcing Bird of Prey Extinction? |
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John Pickrell in England for National Geographic News |
| May 8, 2003 |
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Following centuries of persecution, England's hen harrier (Circus cyaneus) population had dwindled to only seven successful breeding pairs last year. Now, after three major fires at specially protected moorland breeding sites, one of the country's most spectacular birds of prey is at the brink of extinction. Hen harriers have been heavily persecuted by gamekeepers, due to their perceived effect on red grouse populations. Red grouse is a commonly shot, and lucrative, game species, and also a typical hen harrier prey item. "These fires will have a great impact on breeding success," said Julian Hughes head of species policy at the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, a conservation group based in Bedfordshire, England. "We've no doubt that illegal persecution is responsible for halting the recovery of hen harriers," he said. However, some gamekeepers advocates deny that fires are to blame for the decline. Mismanagement One uncontrollable wildfire in heather moorlands at Bowlands Fell in the county of Lancashire, has burned out 750 acres (250 hectares) of high quality moorland habitat in the most important hen harrier nesting area in the country. According to the U.K. government conservation body English Nature, the fire, which happened in the week before Easter, has wiped out at least two active nests, and potentially a third in the process of being settled. Farmers, carrying out legitimate moorland management, are thought to have started the blaze, said Hughes. Heather is burned off legally on private land, to induce the growth of fresh shoots, which are eaten by sheep and red grouse. However in this instance, due to unusually warm and dry spring weather, it got wildly out of control. "Fire is a natural part of heather management, that has been used for thousands of years," said Hughes. "You do actually need some kind of burning to keep vegetation litter levels down and limit uncontrolled fires," he said. Nevertheless, inappropriate burning, combined with heavy grazing, can lead to erosion and encourage the spread of bracken, resulting in the permanent loss of heather, and species that rely on it. The RSPB is calling on the government to change the law, so that the burning season ends before the nesting season begins. However, some dispute the importance of moorland fires in depressing hen harrier populations. "The reality is that as one patch of over-mature heather is burnt to regenerate the grazing, so other patches reach maturity and hen harriers will move their nesting sites accordingly," said Tim Baynes, moorland policy and information officer with the Countryside Alliance, a rural interests lobbying group based in North Yorkshire, England. "The RSPB call for a shorter heather burning season, but fail to appreciate that in the wetter parts of the country that would prevent any burning being done at all in some years." Vandalism However, accidental fire is not the only cause of damage in recent weeks. Two fires in the North Pennine Moors Special Protection Area may have been intentionally set, English Nature said. One of the fires burned out heather in a very limited area surrounding a known RSPB-owned nest site from last year. The Pennine moors protected area stretches across 147,000 hectares (363,000 acres) from Harrogate in North Yorkshire to Carlisle in Cumbria. In total, up to four of last year's seven breeding sites may have been destroyed, said Ian Carter, an ornithologist with English Nature in Peterborough, England. Breeding sites are restricted to moorlands in the U.K., where the birds make simple nests in mature, deep patches of heather. Hen harriers return to the same nesting site each year, said Carter. Though it's possible that the birds might resettle somewhere else, locating a suitable site and laying eggs all over again takes up a great deal of energy. In addition, "some areas have very little suitable mature heather left," he said. Targeted burning of breeding sites has been a problem in previous years too, said Carter, who noted records of birds being shot and poisoned as well. Hen harriers in Northumberland were killed in 1999, using a banned pesticide concealed in bait. Gamekeepers believe that hen harriers do serious damage to red grouse populations, said Hughes,"[but] it's unfeasible to imagine that half a dozen pairs of hen harriers can be responsible for the demise of grouse in England, that number hundreds of thousands each autumn," he said. There is no evidence that hen harriers are responsible for depressing breeding populations of red grouse, though it is plausible that they can depress the "shootable surplus" when grouse are at the low point in their natural cycle, he said. Once Common Despite their decline in England, the birds have had more success in Scotland. Even with persecution on grouse moors, breeding pairs there number 500 or more. Hen harriers are also found in other parts of Europe and the United States. The species was once common in much of the U.K., and breeding records exist for many counties from the early 19th century. However, by the turn of the 20th century, the only remaining populations were on the tip of western Scotland, and the Island of Orkney. Following the Second World War—and potentially due to the fact that many gamekeepers were conscripted to fight, and didn't return thereafter—the species made a partial comeback. Northern England was re-colonized in the 1960s, and by the 1980s there were as many as 25 successful breeding pairs resident. However, a combination of bad luck and intensifying persecution has meant that numbers have plummeted in England since the 1990s. "There is the very real danger, that the species will become extinct as a breeding bird [in England] in the next few years," said a statement from English Nature. More Bird Stories by National Geographic News: Tall As a Deer, Huge U.K. Bird Staging a Comeback Memory Aids Birds in Migration, Study Finds Crows Better at Tool Building Than Chimps, Study Says Extinction Near for Albatross, Experts Warn 51-Year-Old Albatross Breaks N. American Age Record Are Flashy Male Birds Threats to Their Own Species? 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