White Tailed Sea Eagles Released in Scotland

RSPB Scotland reports today that Scotland is well on the way to being fully re-populated with it's largest bird of prey, with 15 white tailed sea eagles being released this week in Fife. The 15 white tailed sea eagles are to be released from a secret location in Fife in a bid to reintroduce the species to the east of Scotland. The white tailed sea eagles were already resident in Wester parts of Scotland such as Mull, Rum and Wester Ross.

The white tailed sea eagle is a large bird of prey and is related to other raptors such as hawks, kites and harriers. The eagle is a large bird, 70-90 cm long with a 250-300 cm wingspan. This large eagle breeds in northern Europe and northern Asia. The largest population in Europe is found along the coast of Norway. A quote from the RSPB website:

East Scotland Sea eagles (ESSE) is a five year partnership project between RSPB Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) to reintroduce sea eagles to Eastern Scotland, building on successful reintroductions in the West Coast. This is the second year that chicks have been collected from nests in Norway, reared in specially constructed aviaries in Fife, and then released into the wild. In 2007, the first year of the project, 15 chicks were released and travelled widely all over the East of Scotland. Bird F, known as 'Fifer', even made it over to the sea eagle haven of Loch Frisa on Mull over the winter, before returning close to its 'birthplace' near Perth. This years chicks will also be radio tagged, so that their progress can be tracked over coming months and years, until the birds reach breeding age in 3-5 years time.

More information on this majestic bird is available on the RSPB Website