Hen harrier's helping hand

TWENTY-FOUR hen-harrier chicks have been reared and released as part of a ‘pioneering’ project to help rebuild the population of the endangered bird, it has been announced.

- 

The project, titled the Brood Management Scheme Trial, is run in conjunction with the GWCT, the Moorland Association, the Hawk and Owl Trust and the International Centre for Birds of Prey; it is overseen by Natural England and is partfunded by the Wildlife Habitat Charitable Trust. The trial has been running since 2018 and has seen 82 chicks from 36 broods take to the wing— this year’s brood of 24 chicks is almost double last year’s record high of 13.