Sparrowhawk found dead with shotgun injuries – Police Scotland RSPB appeal for information

Press release from Police Scotland and RSPB (23 April 2025)

POLICE & RSPB SCOTLAND APPEAL FOR INFORMATION AFTER PROTECTED SPARROWHAWK FATALLY SHOT

• The bird was found dead in Inverness and was later confirmed to have been shot with a shotgun.
• Anyone with information which could help identify a suspect is encouraged to contact Police Scotland and the RSPB.

POLICE Scotland and RSPB Scotland are appealing for information after a male Sparrowhawk was found shot in the Cradlehall area of Inverness. 

On 6 March 2025 a member of the public reported to the RSPB Scotland that they had noticed a bird of prey dead on the ground. The next day, in agreement with Police Scotland, an RSPB Scotland Investigations Officer then collected the bird’s body and sent it for testing to establish the cause of death.

A post-mortem by a vet revealed a pellet lodged within the bird’s chest, and concluded that the bird had been shot with a shotgun. It added that the bird could have died some distance from where it was shot, before later dying from an infection and starvation as a result of the shooting.

All wild birds are legally protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Anyone found to have killed or injured a bird of prey faces an unlimited fine or even jail.

Police Scotland are appealing to anyone with information in connection with this incident to come forward. 

Ian Thomson, RSPB Scotland’s Head of Investigations, said: 

“Sparrowhawks are one of the birds of prey you or I are most likely to encounter, as they live alongside us in parks and gardens. They hunt small birds by stealth and can be identified by their brilliantly piercing yellow eyes. The presence of Sparrowhawks and other birds of prey is a good indicator of a healthy and balanced ecosystem. This bird was shot with a shotgun, resulting in a drawn-out and painful death. Few people have access to such weapons, with even fewer motivated to shoot at protected birds of prey. We ask that if anyone has information about this incident, to please get in touch with Police Scotland or ourselves.”

Thomas Plant, Bea Ayling and Shona Rüesch of the Inverness Urban Sparrowhawk Project have been studying the Sparrowhawk population in Inverness since 2020. They commented: “We are absolutely devastated to hear that someone has shot one of these beautiful and majestic birds: one we may have been monitoring this year here in Inverness. As part of our voluntary monitoring we have been checking nest sites and colour-ringing Sparrowhawks (with support and funding from the Highland Raptor Study Group (HRSG)). We hope that this will help to improve understanding of the local Sparrowhawk population, their movements, lifespans and the threats that they face.”

If you have any information relating to this incident, call Police Scotland on 101 quoting reference number CR/0132125/25.

If you notice a dead or injured bird of prey in suspicious circumstances, call Police Scotland on 101 and fill in the RSPB’s online reporting form: https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/wild-bird-crime-report-form/    

ENDS 

The last shot sparrowhawk in this area that made the headlines was the one shot and killed by a gamekeeper on Moy Estate, a grouse moor to the south of Inverness. The RSPB filmed him using a plastic decoy owl, presumably to draw raptors in close as they come to mob it, whilst he hid behind a nearby bush with his shotgun. The gamekeeper was subsequently convicted in 2023 for killing a sparrowhawk (here).

Here is a quote I’ve just given to a journalist who asked for my opinion about the latest shooting of a sparrowhawk in the region and about whether the Government’s strategy on tackling raptor persecution is effective:

“It’s unusual to find a dead bird of prey in an urban area with shotgun injuries – typically urban raptors are killed with air rifles. Although the post mortem report on this particular bird suggests it had probably succumbed to an infection and subsequent starvation, indicating it may have been shot some distance from where it actually died.

“Shamefully, the illegal killing of raptors is still prevalent in Scotland, particularly in rural areas being used for gamebird shooting because birds of prey are still perceived as a ‘threat’ to gamebird stocks, even though raptors have been legally protected since 1954. These crimes are so frequent and widespread that the Scottish Government finally decided to introduce new legislation last year (the Wildlife Management & Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024) in an attempt to bring an end to raptor persecution on driven grouse moors. The idea is that grouse moor owners now have to operate under a licence and if there’s evidence of ongoing raptor persecution that licence can be revoked, preventing any more shooting of Red Grouse on the moor for a specified period. 

“Having the new legislation in place is certainly progress, but legislation is only effective if it is properly monitored and enforced. Unfortunately the new legislation was subsequently watered-down by nature conservation agency NatureScot in December last year, following threats of a legal challenge from the representatives of the grouse shooting industry. The legislation as it currently stands is not worth the paper it’s written on because NatureScot has introduced a massive loophole that means it is virtually impossible to connect the killing of raptors with grouse moor management and this is a situation that will be readily exploited by those who wish to continue killing birds of prey. Indeed, since the legislation was enacted numerous birds of prey have been shot and killed on grouse moors in Scotland (e.g. an Osprey, a Peregrine, a Red Kite) and there haven’t been any consequences for those responsible. 

“The Scottish Government has acknowledged that there are ‘issues’ with the current legislation and work is underway by campaigners to address this unsatisfactory situation“.