16 September 2026
Three wild white-tailed eagle chicks hatched in England
Reintroduction project reveals a successful summer for the returning species
White-tailed eagle chicks have successfully fledged from wild nests in England for the fourth consecutive year. The eaglets were reared this summer by white-tailed eagles released in a ground breaking conservation project by Forestry England and the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation to return this lost species to England.
Five pairs of eagles released by the project have now formed bonds and become established pairs. This summer two of these pairs successfully bred and raised young with one chick fledging from a nest in Dorset and two chicks in Sussex.
The two chicks (GE36 and GE37) from the nest in Sussex are both males and are offspring of white-tailed eagles released by the project in 2020. The parent birds - G405 and G471 –have bred every year since 2023.
A single male chick (GE38) fledged from the Dorset nest. This is the second successful breeding attempt for parent birds G463 and G466 and made more remarkable by the fact that the male adult bird has only one leg after it lost this five years ago.
This year’s successful breeding brings the number of these iconic birds born in the wild through the project to nine.
All of the chicks were fitted with satellite tags so that the project team can track their progress. Over the last year they have used satellite data to follow previous fledglings as they have explored widely across the UK.
This year the team were also able to track in detail the diet of the breeding eagles using specialist cameras near the nests. The team collected over 300 records of food brought into the nest by the parents, with fish being by far the most frequent item.
Roy Dennis OBE from the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation, said:
“This year’s breeding success is another important milestone in the return of this lost species to England; it shows what can be achieved by very skilled wildlife managers. This is now the fourth year where these released eagles have raised and fledged chicks. With a further three pairs of eagles also well-established we should see this progress continue in the next few years.
“Restoring a species takes many years and requires the support of a wide range of communities and organisations, in particular landowners and farmers. I would like to thank everyone who is supporting the project and supporting essential nature recovery in this way.”
Steve Egerton-Read, White-Tailed Eagle Project Officer for Forestry England, said:
“It’s been another long summer of watching and hoping that the eagles would be successful in breeding and raising young. There is nothing quite like that moment of seeing the chicks hatch and first appear in the nest. It is then a waiting game while we watch their progress. We are delighted that these three chicks made it through and will be closely watching their progress as they begin to explore the landscape.
“The breeding season is a challenging time for the parent birds. It’s also a busy time for our team as we closely monitor the nests. This year we were able to monitor every item of food coming into the nests and can see that fish is by far the favoured item for these wetland loving birds.”
White-tailed eagles are Britain’s largest birds of prey with a wingspan of up to 2.5 metres and were once widespread across England. Human persecution caused their extinction, with the last pair breeding in southern England in 1780. In 2019, Forestry England and Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation began reintroducing these iconic birds to the English landscape.
To date, 56 young white-tailed eagles have been released. This includes five birds released this summer from the team’s base on the Isle of Wight, and for the first time this year additional releases of six birds at Exmoor National Park, in partnership with Exmoor National Park Authority.
The reintroduction of white-tailed eagles is conducted under licence from Natural England, the Government’s wildlife licensing authority. Birds for release are collected by the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation team from wild nests in Scotland under licence from NatureScot.
Notes to Editor
- Forestry England grows and cares for the nation's forests for this generation and the next. We live and breathe forests, using our scale and expertise to look after more than 1,500 woods and forests across England. We're creating places where wildlife can thrive and people can connect with nature. And we’re producing one million cubic metres of high-quality sustainable timber every year.
In 2025-26, the nation’s forests attracted 326 million visits, from everyday walks and family adventures to volunteering and wellbeing activities. At the same time, we're adapting our forests today so they can thrive in a changing climate for generations to come.
By 2026, we're committed to:
- creating more than 38,000 hectares of productive forests with nature recovery at their heart, alongside 15,000 hectares of nature networks that will allow wildlife to move.
- welcoming a broader range of visitors by making the nation’s forests welcoming, inclusive and accessible, and supporting one million hours of volunteering.
- planting at least 5,000 hectares of new, high-quality woodland.
Find out more at forestryengland.uk. Forestry England is an agency of the Forestry Commission.
- The Roy Dennis Foundation was established in 1995 and has become a world leader in the successful reintroduction of rare species to their original range. Their speciality is the recovery of white-tailed eagle and osprey, but they have worked with other species – for example successfully restoring red squirrels in northwest Scotland. Dr Tim Mackril leads the conservation and research work in England, while team member, Zoe Smith heads up the new white-tailed eagle reintroduction project in the Exmoor National Park. Natural England supports their work and regards their expertise as of gold standard. Find out more at https://www.roydennis.org/
Media Contact:
Susan Smith
South Forest District, Forestry England