Welcome Sea Eagles

On 22 June 2007, 15 eagle chicks were flown in from Norway to RAF Kinloss, Moray, to start a new phase of reintroduction of (white-tailed) sea eagles to Scotland. East Scotland Sea Eagles, a partnership between RSPB Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage and Forestry Commission Scotland, is the third phase of a successful reintroduction programme which began on the island of Rum in 1975.

The return of sea eagles to Mull, Skye and other parts of western Scotland has been one of the outstanding conservation success stories of recent times. A total of 42 pairs bred on the west coast of Scotland in 2007, producing 34 chicks. There are around 200 individuals in Scotland

The last native pair bred in Skye in 1916 and the species was then extinct in the British Isles. Although people have come to associate the birds with the isolated, mountainous west coast of Scotland, away from human habitation, in the majority of their world range the birds’ natural habitat is coastal areas, lowland wetlands and estuarine and riparian areas with shallow, productive waters.

This kind of habitat is widely available on Scotland’s east coast, so the new birds should fare extremely well once they become established. In the past, lowland Scots would have been far more familiar with the sea eagle than our now iconic golden eagle.

If left to their own devices, the west coast populations might take decades before they begin to re-occupy their former haunts in the eastern lowlands. For this reason, the East of Scotland Sea Eagle reintroduction programme, a partnership of Scottish Natural Heritage, Forestry Commission Scotland and RSPB, will run for five years (starting last year) and will see up to 20 chicks being brought to Scotland each year.

Prior to release, each chick will be fitted with wing-tags and radio backpacks so that they can be radio-tracked for up to five years. This has not happened on previous phases of the reintroduction programme, and it is hoped that the use of new technology will give researchers a unique insight into the birds’ dispersal, survival and establishment of breeding territories.

Environment Minister Michael Russell was taken to Norway to see the birds before they fly out as part of a fact-finding visit and was accompanied by representatives from the RSPB and Scottish Natural Heritage. After seeing the birds in Ålesund, north west of Oslo, he said, “The group of eaglets I met yesterday are still relatively small but will quickly grow into huge birds - even bigger than a golden eagle.

“They will bolster the eastern population and further aid our drive to ensure that the sight of a sea eagle soaring over our woods and waterways becomes an increasingly common sight.

“Our thanks, of course, go out to the Norwegian government for their co-operation in further extending the reintroduction of sea eagles to Scotland.”