UK Birds of Prey Directory
Field identification guides, wingspans, conservation statuses, and live community sighting counts across the British Isles.
Barn Owl
Tyto alba
A ghostly, silent nocturnal hunter of rough grassland, field margins, and roadside verges. Frequently active at dusk and dawn during the breeding season.
Common Buzzard
Buteo buteo
The most common and widespread UK bird of prey. Often spotted soaring on broad wings over farmland and woodland edges, or perched prominently on fence posts and telegraph poles.
Common Kestrel
Falco tinnunculus
A familiar small falcon renowned for its ability to hover stationary above motorway verges, rough grasslands, and coastal dunes while scanning for small mammals.
Eurasian Hobby
Falco subbuteo
A sleek, acrobatic summer migrant that arrives in spring to breed across southern and central Britain, feeding on large flying insects (especially dragonflies) and swifts/swallows caught mid-air.
Eurasian Sparrowhawk
Accipiter nisus
An agile woodland hunter that has adapted exceptionally well to suburban gardens, ambushing small songbirds with sudden bursts of speed over hedges and fences.
Hen Harrier
Circus cyaneus
A heavily protected open-country raptor that breeds on heather moorlands and winters along lowland marshes and coasts. Subject to intensive conservation monitoring.
Marsh Harrier
Circus aeruginosus
The largest of the UK harriers, thriving in expansive lowland reedbeds, coastal saltmarshes, and fens. Known for its graceful, low-altitude patrolling flight.
Merlin
Falco columbarius
The UK’s smallest bird of prey. A compact, fast-flying falcon that nests on upland moors and moves to coastal marshes and lowland farmland during the winter.
Peregrine Falcon
Falco peregrinus
Renowned as the fastest animal on earth during its hunting dive (stoop). Historically nesting on sea cliffs and rocky uplands, now increasingly colonising city cathedral spires and towers.
Red Kite
Milvus milvus
A magnificent raptor saved from national extinction by intensive conservation efforts and reintroductions across Wales, the Chilterns, Midlands, and Scotland.
Tawny Owl
Strix aluco
The UK’s most widespread woodland owl, responsible for the classic "ke-wick" contact call and male "hoo-hoo" hooting. Strictly nocturnal and seldom seen during daylight.
Western Osprey
Pandion haliaetus
A specialist fish-hunting summer visitor nesting primarily around Scottish lochs, Cumbria, the Lake District, Wales, and Rutland Water before migrating to West Africa.