Rare Montagu's Harrier raises six chicks in second successful breeding season
The UK's rarest bird of prey, the Montagu's Harrier, has nested successfully for a second year, with six chicks raised by two females and satellite tagging underway.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
The UK's rarest bird of prey, the Montagu's Harrier, has enjoyed a second consecutive successful breeding season, with six chicks raised by two different females. The RSPB, which monitors the species, has confirmed the news but is keeping the exact location secret to avoid attracting large numbers of birdwatchers.
This year there are just two nests in the UK, both served by the same male. The male is described as an incredibly special bird, having been ringed as a chick in Wiltshire in 2016. He spent ten days displaying at several thousand feet and attracted two females. Each nest has produced chicks, and the RSPB and local farmers have worked together to protect them, fencing off the nests and leaving crops standing until the young can fly.
The species is under threat from climate change, which is bringing harvests forward. This year's harvest was about a month earlier than in previous years, putting any ground-nesting Montagu's Harrier at risk of being inadvertently destroyed by farm machinery. The RSPB says the birds are on the brink, and climate change is not helping.
To learn more about their migration and survival, two chicks, one from each nest, have been fitted with satellite tags. Each tag weighs just five grams and includes a solar cell. Scientists hope to track where the juveniles go, how they disperse, and whether they return to the UK to breed. The adults migrate thousands of miles to West Africa, but little is known about the first journey of young birds. This tagging will provide crucial data for the first time.
The successful breeding season is a rare piece of good news for a species that had no breeding pairs in the UK for five years. The RSPB is celebrating the six new chicks and the efforts to protect them, while continuing to monitor the threats they face.
On screen
Stills are sampled automatically at 60-second intervals. Where shown, the still is the nearest available frame from the relevant broadcast segment and is included to show what was on screen during that part of the broadcast. A still may not correspond to the exact second of a quoted phrase.
Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | Channel 5 | BBC One |
|---|---|---|
| Montagu's Harrier nested successfully for the second consecutive year. | ||
| RSPB kept the nest location secret to deter birdwatchers. | ||
| Climate change is bringing harvests forward, posing a risk to ground-nesting Montagu's Harriers. | · | |
| Two chicks were fitted with satellite tags to track their migration. | · |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
The 5 News report is brief and focuses on the rarity of the bird and the secrecy around its location. It highlights the successful nesting for a second year and the RSPB's decision to keep the site hidden from twitchers, without going into detail about the tagging or climate change.
- “The UK's rarest bird of prey has successfully nested for the second year running, raring six chicks by two different females.”
- “The RSPB says it's keeping the location of the Montague Harriers nest a secret to avoid interest from twitchers.”
BBC ONE West provides an in-depth, exclusive report with climate editor Justin Rowlatt. It focuses on the male's remarkable story, the threat from earlier harvests due to climate change, and the satellite tagging of two chicks. The tone is celebratory but also highlights the species' precarious position.
- “The male here is an incredibly special bird. So this was ringed as a chick in Wiltshire in 2016”
- “We just don't know what happens to juvenile Montagues Harriers”
- “This is a species right on the brink and climate change is not helping that”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.