Migration is one of the riskiest times in a bird’s life, and sadly, many migratory species are seeing their numbers drop. One such species is the Egyptian Vulture, the only true migrant among the Old World vultures, and currently listed as Endangered. These remarkable birds come in two populations: one spread across Africa, the Middle East, and Europe, and the other in central and south Asia. Protecting migratory birds is not an easy task. They face a range of threats depending on where they are, be that where they are breeding, where they are spending the winter, or where they […]
After taking a break from flying in our displays, White-headed Vulture Mamba is coming back onto the scene under the wing of Bird Team member Ryan! But instead of flying solo, there’s hopes that romance will blossom for Mamba and fellow vulture, Ravenclaw. Having now trained both of them, Ryan is keen for the pairing to work out! “A year with Mamba… It has been nearly a year now since Mamba, one of our spectacular White-headed Vultures, has been under my wing (pun intended). Mamba has been no stranger to our flying demonstrations in the past, but over the past couple […]
This year, for the very first time, we have had a live stream into one of the Kestrel nest boxes, which is part of our Raptor Nest Box Project. We have run this project since 2008, growing from an initial 38 boxes to around 1600 now! We have boxes for Barn Owls, Tawny Owls, Little Owls and Kestrels. There is a unique kind of joy that comes from watching a live camera positioned on a nest, like you have been the only person invited to look into a normally hidden world that no one else can see. Watching new life […]
Flying in from Wales, we’re excited to welcome Bird Team member Poppy to the Trust. With a lifelong passion for birds of prey, conservation and education, she moved all the way to Hampshire to join our team after working with birds of prey for five years in Carmarthen. Read more about Poppy below. ” Hello! My name is Poppy, and I’m thrilled to have recently joined the team here at the Hawk Conservancy Trust! Originally from Carmarthenshire in South Wales, I’ve made the big move to Andover to follow a lifelong passion for birds of prey, conservation, and education. My […]
Our Marion Paviour Award winner for 2024, Kioko has been busy in the field, with him and his team making great headway. Kioko’s project aims to reduce human-wildlife conflict and protect critically endangered vulture populations in Laikipia, Kenya. He is particularly focusing on engaging local communities and collaborating with them as a way to achieve his objectives. So far Kioko has made great progress, balancing research work in the field as well as engaging with local communities and forming positive relationships in these spaces. The team has established a growing Vulture Guardian network in local communities as well as rapid […]
We’re delighted to welcome a second intern into our Conservation, Education and Research Team! Meet Aderyn, our Conservation Education Intern, who joined us in May to support our education delivery. In her first month, she’s already been supporting school visits with welcome talks and workshops – read below to hear more about her time so far. We are grateful to the Cameron Bespolka Trust for funding this Internship. “Hello, my name is Aderyn, and this spring I had the pleasure of starting at the Hawk Conservancy Trust as the Conservation Education Intern! I have been working with children for 10 […]
We’re delighted to introduce Sorcha, our 2025 Conservation and Research Intern! We are grateful to the Cameron Bespolka Trust for funding this Internship. Over the past few weeks she’s been getting stuck in carrying out onsite biodiversity surveys, supporting our Research Assistant, Tanith, surveying small mammal populations, and so much more! ‘Having grown up visiting the Hawk Conservancy Trust, I am thrilled to be back as a Conservation and Research Intern for the next few months. It has already been a busy couple of weeks, and I have loved getting involved with the various tasks here at the Trust. I […]
We’re excited to welcome new Bird Team member, Mel, to the Hawk Conservancy Trust. Eagle-eyed readers may recognise Mel as one of our Conservation and Research Interns from 2023. She’s been settling into this new role over the last month – be sure to say hello, or perhaps a ‘welcome back’ on your next visit: ‘Hello! My name is Melanie, and I joined the Trust this spring as the newest member of the Bird Team. I’m absolutely delighted to be here, working alongside such a knowledgeable and passionate group of people – and, of course, some truly remarkable birds! With […]
With your generous support, we were able to reach our £5000 target through the Big Give Green Match Fund. With these donations doubled, we’ll receive £10,000 towards our work conserving Kestrels! We are so grateful and humbled once again by the fantastic support of our community who care as deeply for these beautiful birds as we do – thank you. Sadly, Kestrels are declining at an alarming rate in many parts of the UK. The reasons for this are unknown, and until we can figure out why, this iconic British species could be at risk of disappearing from our landscape. […]
As we get back into the hectic season of nest box checks for our Raptor Nest Box Project, we wanted to share our progress from last year! Last year our nest box network grew to over 1600 boxes, most of which fall in a core area of about 4,500Km2, although we have many placed outside that area too. Over the last couple of months our team of volunteers and our British Raptor Programme Research Assistant, Tanith Jones, have been busy building new and replacement boxes. This helps maintain and grow our network of boxes as old or broken ones are […]
