3 Large British Birds of Prey

There are many birds of prey within the UK, ranging from small falcons to great eagles. Within these large British birds of prey exist raptors like the Northern Goshawk. This large buzzard-size hawk soars through the skies on a wingspan of more than a metre, with the females reaching up to 127cm. The common buzzard, another large bird of prey, reaches a wingspan a little larger, topping out at 140cm.

Small British birds

However, although these large British birds of prey sport impressive wingspans, both seem much smaller when placed next to the largest of the British birds, the White-tailed Eagle. Originally driven to extinction in the UK in the 20th century, the current, reintroduced population flies above the isles on a wingspan reaching almost two-and-a-half metres. Its median wingspan of 2.18m makes it the largest wingspan on average of any eagle in the world. Scientists conducting recent observations of these large raptors have noticed that, unlike their smaller sea-going relatives, they saw Birds of prey attracted to offshore turbines of marine wind farms. They theorise that these birds who would rather not go over the open ocean are using the marine farms to navigate, though this cannot be confirmed yet.