Britain’s rarest breeding bird has successfully raised chicks for the first time in six years.

A pair of Montagu’s Harriers, which are slender birds of prey that migrate from Africa each spring, have nested at a protected site in southern England, with all four chicks now fledged.

This exact location is being kept undisclosed.

Montagu’s Harriers are highly sensitive to disturbance, and secrecy is essential to protect them from threats such as egg theft, ground predators, and human interference.

Sightings began in May, raising cautious hopes.

By June, with the nest located using a drone under licence, conservationists and a cooperative farmer put protection measures in place to safeguard the birds.

Mark Thomas, Head of investigations at RSPB said: “They haven’t bred successfully and fledge young since 2019, so this is about as rare as you can get. And then the most exciting birds the male is this battleship grey with a really piercing yellow eye. The female’s brown with the white rump and they nest in on this farm. And we’ve had fantastic news because we’ve got full flying youngsters.”

The adult birds were both ringed: the male traced back to a UK nest in 2015, the female to France in 2023, making this an unusual cross-border pairing.

The nest was fenced in early July to protect the chicks from ground predators.

Montagu’s Harriers often choose to nest in cereal crops, putting them at risk during harvest. Across Europe, conservation teams regularly intervene to ensure their survival.

"Most Montagu’s harriers across Europe need some form of intervention," added Thomas. "They nest in farmland and crops and often the chicks are in the nest at harvest time, so that could spell disaster. So what conservationists do, we erect a small metal fence around the nest. We flag the nest so the farmer knows exactly where it is. And working with landowners like the farmer here, we’ve successfully avoided the nest and the young have now fledged. They fly in, which is brilliant news.”

In addition to nest protection, RSPB teams have tried to enhance the surrounding habitat planting food sources like voles and improving foraging areas for both adults and fledglings.

With all four chicks now airborne, conservationists hope this Anglo-French pair may return to breed again, offering a rare sign of hope for a species still on Britain’s red list.