Birds of Prey in the UK: Identifying Hawks, Falcons and Eagles

UK birds of prey at a glance

The figures below are UK breeding estimates from the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and the RSPB. Some surveys are several years old, and red kites and ospreys have increased since.

Owls are birds of prey too, but they hunt mostly at night. See our guide to owls in the UK for the five breeding species.

How to identify birds of prey by shape

At a distance, a raptor’s outline tells you more than its colors. Learn four basic shapes:

• Broad wings and a short tail, soaring in circles: buzzards and eagles. Eagles are much larger, with longer “fingered” wingtips.
• Short, rounded wings and a long tail, flap-flap-glide flight: hawks such as the sparrowhawk and goshawk, built for dashing through trees.
• Long, pointed wings and fast, direct flight: falcons such as the peregrine, hobby, merlin and kestrel. Our falcon vs hawk comparison explains the differences in detail.
• Long wings held in a shallow V, flying slowly and low over open ground: harriers.

Size is hard to judge in the sky: a sparrowhawk is roughly pigeon-sized, a buzzard about the size of a large gull.

Common buzzard: the UK’s commonest raptor

The common buzzard (Buteo buteo) is the bird of prey most people see, perched on a fence post or telegraph pole beside a road or soaring over fields with its wings raised in a shallow V. Plumage varies from dark brown to very pale, but many birds show a pale band across the chest. Its cat-like “pee-yow” call is often the first clue.

Buzzards eat rabbits, voles, young birds, earthworms and carrion. Numbers crashed in the 1950s, when myxomatosis killed most rabbits, and persecution kept them scarce in the east for decades. Since 1995, BTO surveys show an increase of about three-quarters.

Red kite: the comeback bird

The red kite (Milvus milvus) is an elegant, reddish-brown raptor with a pale gray head, long angled wings with white patches beneath, and a deeply forked tail that it twists constantly as it glides. In medieval towns kites scavenged the streets, but centuries of persecution wiped them out in England and Scotland, leaving only a few pairs in mid-Wales by the 20th century.

Reintroductions began in 1989 in the Chilterns and northern Scotland, using birds from Sweden and later Spain. The result is one of Europe’s great conservation successes: the RSPB reports that UK numbers rose by more than 2,400% between 1995 and 2023, and the UK now holds roughly an eighth of the world population. Red kites feed mainly on carrion and worms and are often seen low over roads and even towns.

Sparrowhawk and goshawk: the woodland hawks

The sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) is the raptor most likely to visit a garden. It hunts small birds by surprise, flying fast and low along hedges and around buildings. Males are small, with a slate-gray back and orange-barred underparts; females are up to twice as heavy, brownish-gray above and barred gray below. Numbers collapsed in the 1950s and 1960s because of organochlorine pesticides, which made eggshells too thin, and recovered after the chemicals were banned. A recent decline has put the species on the Amber List.

The goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) looks like a giant sparrowhawk, the female almost as big as a buzzard, with a white eyebrow and, in adults, fierce orange to red eyes. It was persecuted to extinction in Britain in the 19th century and returned from the 1960s, mainly through escaped and released falconry birds. Around 620 pairs now breed, mostly in large conifer forests in Wales, northern England and southern Scotland. Goshawks are secretive, but pairs display above the canopy in late winter.

Kestrel: the hovering falcon

The kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) is the falcon that hangs in the air over roadside verges, head perfectly still while its wings and tail work against the wind. Males have a gray head and tail and a chestnut back spotted with black; females are browner with a barred tail. Kestrels eat mainly voles, which they spot from above. Research suggests kestrels can see ultraviolet light reflected from vole urine trails, which may help them find good hunting areas.

Kestrels have declined by more than a third since 1995 and are Amber-listed, for reasons that are not fully understood.

Peregrine falcon: the fastest bird

The peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) is a powerful, blue-gray falcon with a black hood and “moustache” and finely barred white underparts. It hunts pigeons and other birds in the air, often after a steep dive called a stoop, and is considered the fastest animal on Earth. Our article on how fast a peregrine can fly looks at the speed records.

Peregrines crashed across Britain in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when pesticides caused eggshell thinning and poisoned adults. After the chemicals were restricted, the species recovered strongly, and the last national survey in 2014 found about 1,769 pairs. Peregrines nest on sea cliffs and crags, and increasingly on cathedrals and tall city buildings.

Hobby and merlin: the small falcons

The hobby (Falco subbuteo) is a summer visitor from Africa, present from about April to September. With its long, scythe-shaped wings it looks like a giant swift, and adults have a dark moustache and rusty-red “trousers”. Hobbies catch dragonflies, swallows and martins in flight. About 2,050 pairs breed, mainly in southern and central England.

The merlin (Falco columbarius) is the UK’s smallest bird of prey. Males are blue-gray above and rusty below; females are brown. Merlins breed on heather moorland in the uplands and chase small birds such as meadow pipits in fast, low pursuit. In winter, many move to coasts and lowland farmland, joined by birds from Iceland. The UK population of about 1,150 pairs is Red-listed.

Harriers: hen, marsh and Montagu’s

Harriers hunt by quartering, flying slowly and low over open ground with their wings in a V and dropping onto prey.

The hen harrier (Circus cyaneus) breeds on upland moors. Males are pale gray with black wingtips, earning the nickname “gray ghost”; females and young are brown with a white rump and are called “ringtails”. In spring, males perform a rollercoaster “sky dance”. The UK had about 545 pairs at the 2016 national survey, mostly in Scotland, and the species is Red-listed. Illegal persecution, particularly on moorland managed for red grouse, is the main reason it remains far below the numbers its habitat could support.

The marsh harrier (Circus aeruginosus) is the largest harrier and a bird of reedbeds and coastal marshes. Males are a mix of brown, gray and black; females are dark chocolate-brown with a creamy head. The RSPB notes that only a single pair bred in the UK in 1971, in Suffolk. Today there are around 700 pairs, mostly in eastern England. The slender Montagu’s harrier is a rare summer visitor, with no more than a handful of nesting attempts in most years.

Osprey: the fish hawk

The osprey (Pandion haliaetus) is a large, long-winged raptor, white below and dark brown above, with a dark stripe through the eye. It hunts fish by hovering over water and plunging in feet first. Ospreys are summer visitors, arriving in late March and April and leaving for West Africa by September.

Persecution wiped out ospreys in the UK in the early 20th century. They returned naturally to Scotland in the 1950s, and the Loch Garten nest in the Abernethy Forest became famous after it was opened to visitors in 1959. Translocated chicks started a population at Rutland Water in England in the late 1990s, and ospreys now also breed in Wales, Cumbria, Northumberland and Dorset. The RSPB estimates up to about 400 pairs now nest across the UK each year.

Golden eagle and white-tailed eagle

The golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) is a huge, dark brown eagle with a golden-buff nape, living in the mountains and moors of the Scottish Highlands and Islands. About 510 pairs breed in the UK, almost all in Scotland. It hunts mountain hares, rabbits and red grouse and feeds on carrion in winter. Since 2018 young golden eagles have been moved from the Highlands to the hills of southern Scotland to strengthen a tiny population there.

The white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla), or sea eagle, is the UK’s largest bird of prey. Its very broad, square-ended wings have been compared to a flying barn door, and adults have a pale head, a heavy yellow bill and a short, white, wedge-shaped tail. It lives on coasts and large lakes, eating fish, seabirds and carrion. Persecution drove it to extinction in the UK, and the last native bird was shot in Scotland in 1918. Birds from Norway were released on the island of Rùm from 1975, followed by releases in western and eastern Scotland and, since 2019, on the Isle of Wight. The RSPB estimates there are fewer than 150 pairs in the UK.

Where and when to see birds of prey in the UK

• Buzzards and kestrels: almost anywhere in the countryside, especially on roadside posts and over verges.
• Red kites: the Chilterns, much of Wales and central England, and Yorkshire. In Wales, kite feeding stations such as Gigrin Farm near Rhayader attract hundreds of birds in winter.
• Peregrines: cathedrals and tall city buildings, many with nest cameras and public watch points in spring and summer, as well as sea cliffs.
• Ospreys: Loch Garten and other Highland lochs, Rutland Water and the Dyfi estuary in Wales, from April to August.
• Eagles: the islands of Mull and Skye for both species, with boat trips and viewing points in summer. White-tailed eagles from the Isle of Wight project are now seen widely along England’s south coast.
• Harriers, merlins and peregrines in winter: coastal marshes and estuaries such as the Norfolk and Kent coasts.

Sunny days from mid-morning onward are best for soaring raptors, because rising warm air helps them gain height. Watch from a distance and never approach a nest.

Threats and protection

All wild birds, their nests and eggs are protected in the UK, and the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 gives extra protection to the most vulnerable species. Even so, birds of prey are still illegally shot, trapped and poisoned, and conservation groups record dozens of confirmed cases each year. Hen harriers, red kites, buzzards, peregrines and eagles are among the most frequent victims.

Still, most UK raptors are far more common than 50 years ago. Pesticide bans, legal protection and reintroductions have brought back the red kite, osprey, marsh harrier and white-tailed eagle. The hen harrier, merlin and kestrel remain the species of greatest concern.