White-tailed eagles are to be reintroduced to Norfolk, in the latest efforts to bring back the birds nicknamed flying barndoors to England, it has been announced.
Government conservation agency Natural England has given the go-ahead for a scheme to release up to 60 juvenile white-tailed eagles over 10 years at Wild Ken Hill in west Norfolk, the team behind the project have said.
The huge birds of prey, whose huge wing span of up to 8ft (2.4 metres) gives them their nickname, became extinct in Britain by the early 20th century due to persecution.
It was reintroduced to Scotland from the 1970s and the first reintroduction in England, where it was once widespread in southern and eastern areas, took place on the Isle of Wight in 2019, with the young birds ranging widely since.
White-tailed eagles are to be reintroduced to Norfolk, in the latest efforts to bring back the birds nicknamed “flying barndoors” to England, it has been announced.
Government conservation agency Natural England has given the go-ahead for a scheme to release up to 60 juvenile white-tailed eagles over 10 years at Wild Ken Hill in west Norfolk, the team behind the project have said.
The huge birds of prey, whose wing span of up to 8ft (2.4m) gives them their nickname, became extinct in Britain by the early 20th century due to persecution.
They were reintroduced to Scotland from the 1970s, with the first reintroduction in England, where the species was once widespread in southern and eastern areas, taking place on the Isle of Wight in 2019, and the young birds ranging widely since.
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image captionThe birds, which have a wingspan of up to 8ft (2.4m), had not been recorded in England since 1780
A white-tailed eagle reintroduced on the Isle of Wight has become the first to cross the English Channel.
The eagle, known as G463, flew 47km (29 miles) between Dungeness and Boulogne-sur-Mer on Tuesday lunchtime.
According to a tracker it wears, the eagle then flew a further 169km (105 miles) through northern France before stopping near Saint-Quentin.
The young male eagle is one of seven released as juveniles on the island last July.
The Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation, which released the bird, said: We wondered how long it would be before one of the young birds crossed the English Channel.