How to Help Save Birds of Prey

Helping birds of prey is not a matter of good intentions. The species at risk — surveyed in our guide to endangered raptors — are threatened by specific, identifiable causes: lead in the food chain, rodenticides, poisoned baits, lost nest sites, illegal killing, and disturbance. The actions that genuinely help are the ones that remove or reduce those causes. Many of them are within the reach of an individual: what you put on a garden trap, what you load into a rifle, what you record, where you point a lens, and which organisations you fund. This guide sets out the practical measures in order of how much difference they make.

1. Cut Poisoning at Its Source

Poisoning is now the leading threat to scavenging raptors in many regions, and it is almost entirely preventable — the mechanisms are explained in our article on the impact of pesticides on raptors. Three changes do most of the work.

Switch to non-lead ammunition. When a game animal or pest is shot with lead ammunition, fragments of lead are left in the carcass and in the gut pile. Scavenging raptors — eagles, condors, kites, buzzards — eat those remains and absorb the lead, which is a potent neurotoxin that causes paralysis, organ failure, and death. The solution is ammunition made from copper, steel, bismuth, or tungsten composites, which perform well and remove the source of exposure entirely. Hunters who cannot switch immediately can help by burying or removing gut piles rather than leaving them in the field, and by recovering shot animals promptly.

Stop using second-generation rodenticides. Anticoagulant rodenticides such as brodifacoum and bromadiolone are designed to be persistent, and that persistence is the problem. A poisoned rodent does not die at once; it becomes slow, easy prey, and the predator that eats it receives a dose of the same toxin. This secondary poisoning is documented in Barn Owls, kites, buzzards, and other raptors across Europe and North America. The effective alternatives are physical and hygienic: snap traps, live traps, sealing entry points, removing food and water sources, and managing waste — the principle of integrated pest management. Solve the reason the rodent is there, trap the individuals present, and keep poison out of the food chain.

Never use poisoned baits. Lacing a carcass with a pesticide to kill predators is illegal in most countries and is indiscriminate: it kills whatever scavenges it, including protected eagles and vultures. If you find a suspected poisoned bait or a dead bird near one, do not touch it — report it.

2. Provide Nest Sites

Many raptors are limited not by food but by safe places to breed. Where old trees have been felled, cliffs quarried, or suitable ledges lost, a well-placed box or platform can restore a missing resource — often within a single season.

The wider principle is to leave habitat alone where you can. Dead trees, or snags, are prime real estate for raptors and owls — hollows for nesting, bare perches for hunting — and a standing dead tree in a garden edge is worth more than most people realise. Hedgerows, rough grass margins, ponds, and native planting all support the prey that raptors depend on.

3. Record What You See

Raptor conservation runs on data, and most of that data comes from volunteers. A single sighting is trivial; thousands of them, gathered consistently over years, reveal the trends that decide where money and protection go.

• Submit sightings to bird-recording platforms. Structured, dated, located records feed national and global datasets.
• Join a migration count. Systematic autumn and spring counts at watch points have documented raptor declines and recoveries for decades.
• Take part in a winter or breeding survey. Fixed-effort surveys are what allow genuine comparison between years.
• Report colour rings and bands. A resighting of a marked bird can reveal migration routes, longevity, and survival rates, and it takes only a few seconds to report.
• Help with nest monitoring under supervision, so breeding success can be tracked over time.

4. Report Persecution and Poisoning

Illegal killing is a crime, and the thin evidence base for it is one reason it persists. Reporting is how it is documented and prosecuted.

If you find a dead or dying raptor, a poisoned bait, a shot bird, or a destroyed nest, report it to the relevant authority as quickly as you can. In the United States, that means the state wildlife agency and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; in the United Kingdom, the police and the RSPB’s investigations team; most countries have an equivalent. Give precise details:

Two cautions. Do not touch a suspected poisoned bait or carcass — toxic baits are dangerous to humans and pets, and handling them destroys evidence. And do not confront anyone you suspect. Camera evidence and a call to the authorities are far safer and more effective than an argument in a field.

5. Give Money That Works

Raptor conservation is chronically underfunded, and donations go furthest where they support monitoring, research, and direct threat reduction — not just publicity. Look for organisations that can show what they measure and what has changed as a result. Support groups working on the specific problems you care about, and give locally as well as internationally: a regional group protecting a local nest site can achieve more per pound than a large general appeal, while international bodies are essential for migratory species. It also helps to support the legal and policy framework — responding to consultations and voting for wildlife law are free actions with real leverage.

6. Don’t Add to the Problem

• Keep your distance from nests and never approach an active site in the breeding season. Use a long lens, not a closer position.
• Keep drones well away from raptors — what looks harmless from the ground reads as a threat to the bird.
• Keep cats indoors, especially at dawn and dusk. Cats take enormous numbers of birds and small mammals, and removing a raptor’s prey base matters as much as direct predation.
• Slow down near roadkill. Road-killed animals attract scavenging raptors to the carriageway, and vehicle collisions are a real and under-recognised cause of eagle and owl mortality.
• Mark reflective windows where collisions occur.
• If you find an injured raptor, do not try to handle it. Its talons can injure you and stress can kill the bird. Contact a licensed wildlife rehabilitator or the wildlife authority. Keeping a protected bird, or even its feathers, is illegal, so the bird must go through official channels — our guide to helping an injured eagle explains the process.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can one person really make a difference to raptor conservation?

Yes, particularly through the three actions that scale: switching to non-lead ammunition, cutting rodenticide use, and recording sightings. Each removes a real threat or adds real data. Multiplied across thousands of households, these changes have moved policy as well as populations.

How do I stop rodents without poisoning owls?

Use exclusion and traps rather than poison. Seal gaps so rodents cannot enter, remove food and water, store waste securely, and use snap or live traps. This removes the secondary-poisoning risk entirely.

Is it worth putting up a nest box?

Absolutely, if you place and monitor it well. Kestrels, owls, and Ospreys will use boxes where natural sites are scarce, and boxes can support local populations quickly.

Who should I contact about an illegal poisoning or shooting?

Your national or state wildlife agency, and in serious cases the police. In the UK, the RSPB’s investigations team coordinates reports of raptor persecution; in the US, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement handles violations of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.

What should I do if I find an injured bird of prey?

Do not handle it yourself unless a professional instructs you to. Contact a licensed wildlife rehabilitator or the wildlife authority, and if advised to contain the bird, use a dark, ventilated box and thick gloves to avoid the talons. Never attempt to keep it. See our guide to injured eagle legislation.

How do I choose a charity to support?

Look for organisations that publish what they monitor and what has changed: population trends, recovery outcomes, or measured reductions in a specific threat. Give to groups working on the threat you care most about, and support local groups as well as international ones.

See the context in endangered raptors and the impact of pesticides on raptors, then read what these efforts have achieved in raptor conservation wins.