Hen Harrier (Circus cyaneus)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Vertebrate > bird > Bird |
| Red List Status: | Endangered (Breeding) [EN(br)] |
| D5 Status: | Included in the baseline Red List Index for England (Wilkins, Wilson & Brown, 2022) |
| Section 41 Status: | (not listed) |
| Taxa Included Synonym: | (none) |
| UKSI Recommended Name: | Circus cyaneus |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (Linnaeus, 1766) |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | Stanbury et al., 2021 |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | (none) |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Illegal persecution preventing expansion of range and arresting species recovery. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Legislation and enforcement required to stop illegal raptor persecution - although has not worked to date. Nest and roost monitoring and protection. DEFRA Hen Harrier Plan including Brood Management trial. |
| Question 3: | At a landscape scale, would the species benefit from untargeted habitat management to increase habitat mosaics, structural diversity, or particular successional stages? |
| Response: | No |
| Justification: | There is already enough habitat to support 300+ pairs in England. |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 6. Recovery solutions trialled |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Medium-high |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - sufficient |
| Species Comments: | Ongoing nest and roost monitoring required for species protection. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Develop and implement a project that seeks to establish, through reintroduction, a self-sustaining breeding population of Hen Harriers in lowland southern England.
Action targets: 6. Recovery solutions trialled
Action type: (Re-)introduction
Duration: 6-10 years
Scale of Implementation: Unknown
High priority sites:
Comments:
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Reduce levels of illegal persecution through stakeholder liaison, enforcement, monitoring, and implementing appropriate measures to reduce conflict with grouse management interests, and use radio/satellite tagging to improve evidence of survival rates, post fledging movements, natal dispersal and the scale of illegal persecution.
Action targets: 7. Best approach adopted at appropriate scales
Action type: Legal protection
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 50 sites
High priority sites:
Comments: Stakeholder views on the range of mechanisms and tools in the action vary.
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Consider and as appropriate implement the recommendations of SPA Reviews for this species. This should include both outstanding actions from the 2001 SPA Review and additional recommendations of the 2016 SPA Review. Up to date evidence is also required.
Action targets: 7. Best approach adopted at appropriate scales
Action type: Site protection
Duration: Unknown
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 50 sites
High priority sites:
Comments:
Acknowledgment:
Data used on this website are adapted from Threatened species recovery actions 2025 baseline (JP065): Technical report and spreadsheet user guide (Natural England, 2025). Available here.