A male white-tailed eagle which was relocated from a nest on the Reay Forest Estate, Scotland, and released on the Isle of Wight, reared the first chick to fledge from a wild nest in the country in over 240 years. Part of a conservation scheme aiming to reintroduce the species in England, the successful nest was described as a landmark moment for conservationists working to return the revered bird of prey in England. 

White-tailed eagles are Britain’s largest birds of prey with wingspans of up to 2.5m (over eight feet). The species was persecuted to extinction in England, with the last breeding pair thought to have been in 1780. 

As part of the programme, which was led by Forestry England and the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation, a charitable trust dedicated to wildlife conservation and research, a male from the Reay Forest Estate and a female from the Outer Hebrides were released on the Isle of Wight in 2020 and successfully reared the male chick in summer 2023.