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Malcolm Henderson with brood of goshawks. Photo © Ruth Tingay |
Persecution by humans is one of the main threats facing several raptor species in Europe. Persecution can take many forms and affect all ages of raptors, although killing of adults is the most problematic because adult survival is the most influential parameter affecting population growth.
The northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) is a medium-sized raptor that breeds in Holarctic temperate and boreal forests. Historically, the species was heavily persecuted in Europe, largely in relation to game bird rearing; the indigenous UK population was extirpated by the 1880s. Re-colonisation in the UK occurred in the late 1960s through informal release or escapees from falconers. The current UK population is approx 400-450 pairs, although goshawks are still heavily persecuted in some areas, and persecution is the main restriction on population expansion.
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Moulted goshawk feather from which DNA will be extracted. Photo © Malcolm Henderson |
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Mouthswabbing a nestling goshawk. Photo © Ruth Tingay |
Our study examines the effect of persecution on population turnover and recruitment by comparing annual turnover rates between persecuted and non-persecuted nest sites in the Scottish Borders. With the support of fieldworkers from the Forestry Commission, Scottish Raptor Study Group and Northumbria Ringing Group, we are collecting moulted adult feathers from study sites on a yearly-basis so we can identify individual goshawks by their DNA found in these feathers. This will allow us to calculate breeding survivorship. In addition, we are collecting DNA from the nestlings at these sites by taking mouth swab samples. This will allow us to identify each nestling when/if it is recruited into the breeding population and thus we can calculate immature survivorship.
2009 is our fourth consecutive year of collecting samples from the field. Since the project began in 2006, a total of 561 feathers and 235 mouthswabs have been collected from 76 unique sites, many of which have been sampled during each year of the study.
For more information please contact:
info@natural-research.org
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YOU CAN HELP THIS PROJECT
We are currently seeking funding to help cover the costs of our research into one of Britain's most persecuted raptor species. If you are interested in helping us find out how these birds survive, please click here to visit our donations page. Thank you for your support. |
