Birds of prey

Persecution

Birds of prey have been historically persecuted both directly and indirectly. In the Danish Faroe Islands, there were rewards Naebbetold (by royal decree from 1741) given in return for the bills of birds of prey shown by hunters. In Britain, kites and buzzards were seen as destroyers of game and killed, for instance in 1684–5 alone as many as 100 kites were killed. Rewards for their killing were also in force in the Netherlands from 1756. From 1705 to 1800, it has been estimated that 624,087 birds of prey were killed in a part of Germany that included Hannover, Luneburg, Lauenburg and Bremen with 14,125 claws deposited just in 1796–97. Many species also develop lead poisoning after accidental consumption of lead shot when feeding on animals that had been shot by hunters. Lead pellets from direct shooting that the birds have escaped from also cause reduced fitness and premature deaths.