Last chance to have your say in White-tailed Eagle survey

White-tailed Eagles are very loyal to where they have grown up and are only likely to breed within 50km of their nest site. So we now hope to reinforce the establishing southern population with a small-scale release of juvenile White-tailed Eagles on Exmoor. The Exmoor coast with its large areas of woodland provides perfect breeding habitat for the birds, which prefer to breed close to areas where they can catch fish, which is their favoured food.

The project, if it were to go ahead, would involve the release of up to 20 birds over a three-year period which may result in around 2 pairs eventually settling on Exmoor. All released White-tailed Eagles are fitted with satellite tags so it is possible to track their daily movements in detail. The diet of the White-tailed Eagles released on the Isle of Wight has been monitored very closely since the first birds were released in 2019. This has showed that fish such as grey mullet is their favoured food, and there have been no cases of predation of livestock.

Since the first White-tailed Eagle visited Exmoor three and a half years ago in June 2021, we have been doing 1:1 visits with landowners and shoots across the National Park particularly focussing on the areas where the eagles have chosen to spend time.

We have found that these face-to-face visits have been very helpful in terms of explaining more about the birds and allaying any concerns, particularly important during even more challenging times for the farming community. Many of the people we have visited, including sheep farmers, are now supportive of the project, and have enjoyed seeing the birds. As part of our wider engagement work, we have also run drop-in events across Exmoor with staff from the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation and Forestry England.

You can find more information on White-tailed Eagle reintroduction in southern England and plans for the South West:

https://www.roydennis.org/white-tailed-eagle-reintroduction-in-southern-england/

We would love to hear what you think about the propsed project. Have your say in our short White-tailed Eagles survey https://forms.office.com/e/faPyJW3C96

Deadline 31 January.