Time for Action

Birds of prey continue to be killed, despite the fact it is illegal and has been for decades. Our campaign is calling for an end to this unacceptable cruelty once and for all.

Thousands of you signed our pledge calling for the killing of birds of prey to stop and even top decision makers and a host of celebrity supporters and organisations added their names.

We're planning a big hand-in of the pledges to all the major political parties in February 2010 to call for action. Thank you so much for your support.

The killing has to stop

Killing birds of prey was made illegal fifty years ago, but a callous few are choosing to ignore the law. We need your help to finally stop the cruel and unnacceptable killing of these magnificent birds.

Please show your support for our bird of prey campaign today and help consign the killing to history.

By adding your voice to the campaign, you will be standing up for birds of prey - and letting those that kill them know that society is watching them.

A tarnished past

When the RSPB was founded in 1889, birds of prey were systematically persecuted. By the early 1900s, four of our 15 species of birds of prey were exterminated as a breeding species.

Others managed to hang on against the odds, not helped by the introduction of a chemical called DDT that was introduced into farming in the 1950s. We can not allow this to happen again.

On the slow road to recovery

Many of the UK’s birds of prey are now gradually on the road to recovery.

Successful campaigns to ban DDT, and to gain full legal protection for all birds of prey have meant that over the last 50 years, many birds of prey are recovering well.

Other birds of prey have needed a helping hand.

Red kites and white tailed eagles have been successfully reintroduced to parts of the UK where they were once found.

These are all important successes that are worthy of celebration. However, this is not the whole story...

The cruel truth

Since 2003, 1664 incidents of bird crime involving or targeting wild birds of prey in the UK have been reported to the RSPB.

Shooting, poisoning and trapping continue to be the most frequent forms of illegal killing. Alarmingly, the annual figure for reported incidents of crimes against birds of prey continues to rise year on year.

Illegal killing often occurs in remote locations and is therefore difficult to detect. We believe that reported incidents represent a fraction of what actually takes place.

The majority of those found guilty of offences involving birds of prey are associated with the game shooting industry.

How we're helping

Thanks to people like you, our supporters, who care about birds and wildlife, we are succeeding in bringing birds of prey back where they belong.

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