White-Tailed Eagle: 'One of Nature’s Greatest Comebacks'
- Editor OGN Daily
- 8 hours ago
- 2 min read
The return of the white-tailed eagle to the UK has been hailed as “one of the greatest comeback stories” in the country’s natural history.
In 1918, the last known white-tailed eagle in the UK was shot and killed, marking what many thought was the end for the iconic species in the country. However, conservationists brought over the birds from Norway in two stages (1975 and 1985) and in 1983 white-tailed eagles bred for the first time in Britain for more than 70 years. In 2007, further white-tailed eagles were introduced from Norway to the Scottish east coast.
Thanks to the ongoing efforts of conservationists, the raptor has pulled off a remarkable comeback in Scotland and the south of England - one celebrated by a new film, which has been put out for free by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Today, there are an estimated 152 pairs of white-tailed eagles in Scotland.
In England, reintroduction attempts have tended to fail for political reasons rather than due to ecological issues. However, a project is now underway on the Isle of Wight with the Forestry Commission and the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation. Six birds were introduced in 2019 as part of a long-term project to reestablish the species, and the first bird successfully fledged in 2023.
England’s white-tailed eagle population had a record summer in 2025, with three chicks fledging two nests, including the first chick in Dorset, on England's south west coast, for 240 years. “This is a long-term project, and it will take some years before the population is fully restored, but the progress made over the last year has been incredibly encouraging,” said ecologist Roy Dennis.
Apex predators such as white-tailed eagles play a crucial role in ecosystem dynamics, limiting the populations of their prey species and in turn affecting the species on which the prey depends, says Rewilding Britain. They also play a vital role in nutrient cycling, moving nutrients between marine and terrestrial ecosystems.