One of six chicks born to Britain’s rarest bird of prey has been hit and killed by a train, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds revealed this weekend. 

The young Montagu’s Harrier was hatched alongside five others at a secret location earlier this year. 

It was initially tagged and tracked by satellite as it made its way south to Africa for winter – which is natural for the species – but this is when conservationists became concerned. 

The bird’s tag temperature suggested it had died in England, but separate location data suggested the animal had travelled at speed along an east-to-west railway line. 

Eventually, with the assistance of rail officials, the Montagu’s Harrier’s body was discovered after it had been hit by a train and carried along the tracks. 

Mark Thomas, RSPB species lead for the species of bird, said: ‘Further investigation revealed that these positions fitted perfectly with an east-to-west railway line. 

‘With the help of the railway staff we have located her body, confirming that she had been struck by a train and carried along the route.

‘The tag was still in perfect working order, enabling us to locate and recover her body.’

One of six chicks born to the endangered Montagu’s Harrier has been hit and killed by a train

Montagu’s Harriers are long-winged migrants who return to Europe to breed before heading south to winter in Africa

He added: ‘This highlights the unpredictability of working with this species.’

Montagu’s Harrier, named after British naturalist George Montagu, were placed on a ‘red list’ of birds most at risk in the UK only five years ago. 

Since 2011, numbers of the bird have declined from a high of nine successful nests to there being no evidence whatsoever of breeding between 2020 and 2024. 

Six chicks, however, fledged from two nests earlier this year and were monitored by the RSPB. The charity said previously it is doing its ‘utmost to save the iconic species’.

The locations from which the chicks fledged were kept secret, with protective fences installed to protect them from predators. 

Last year, four chicks successfully fledged at the same farmland site, giving hope the species would not become extinct in this country. Three of them returned to Britain this summer.

The father is AU, ringed as a chick in Wiltshire in 2016, who appears to have returned to breed for the first time since 2019.

Another of the half dozen juveniles, HV, successfully left Britain after roosting in Lincolnshire before moving through East Anglia, across to the Netherlands, through Luxembourg and on to France.

A juvenile was meanwhile seen flying over RSPB Minsmere last week. 

Montagu’s Harriers are long-winged migrants who return to Europe to breed before heading south to winter in Africa. They tend to nest on the ground in agricultural fields and their success depends on co-operation with farmers during harvesting.

An RSPB spokesperson said: ‘We are doing our absolute utmost to save this iconic species in the UK and are delighted with six flying juveniles this year.’

Mark Thomas added: ‘This is a species right on the brink, and climate change is not helping that. The harvest here, for example, this year, was last month earlier than in previous years. So it almost puts any Montagu’s harrier nest at the peril of inadvertently being destroyed by farm machinery.’