England is facing an enormous wildlife challenge with the country's most threatened breeding bird of prey. There's just a handful of hen harriers left, and now, following the disappearance of three males, two nests have failed. Only one active nest is estimated to still be in existence.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is offering a bounty of £10,000 or about $15,650 for information that would lead to a conviction after the birds vanished in unknown circumstances from moorlands on the United Utilities Bowland Estate over the past three weeks. It is very uncommon for male hen harriers to abandon their nests.

The first hen harrier, a nesting male, went missing from its nest three weeks earlier and two other male hen harriers have not been seen since April 30. Fortunately in the first case, another young nesting male arrived in time and replaced the missing hen harrier — securing the well-being of the unhatched eggs.

Meanwhile, the disappearance of the other two males meant that the female birds were forced to leave their eggs behind. Female hen harriers rely on males to bring food to the nest, and their absence required the females to leave for their own survival. 

Hen harriers are England's most vulnerable breeding bird of prey. The RSPB has coordinated with Bowland's shooting and farming residents to form a partnership that would protect the interests of both parties. The RSPB is also satellite tagging as many chicks as possible, so as to better keep track of them and additionally identify risk zones.

In spite of habitat space that could accommodate up to 340 pairs of hen harriers, just four active nests were recorded for the whole country in 2014 — two of which were located on the United Utilities Bowland Estate. The reemergence of hen harriers – official symbol of the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty – would take a long time, posing a difficult task for the RSPB.

"Hen harriers are hanging on by a thread in England, and the disappearances of the past few weeks have made a desperate situation even worse," stated Martin Harper, the RSOB's conservation director.

"I've spoken to numerous staff and volunteers who are devastated by what has happened. But these events only strengthen our resolve to save this beautiful bird."

Photo: Rob Zweers | Flickr