White-tailed eagles: first breeding pair in 150 years in NI

The white-tailed eagle, or ‘sea eagle’, is the UK’s largest bird of prey, standing at almost 1m tall, with a huge wingspan of up to 2.4m and a distinctive white tail, as their name suggests.

They can live to over 20 years of age, and usually begin breeding at five years old.

The conservation effort was to secure a viable population following extinction from Ireland in the late 19th century.

From 2007 to 2011, 100 eagle chicks were brought from Norway and released in Killarney National Park, County Kerry.

Phase two of the reintroduction, by NPWS, continued in 2020 with more young birds released at a number of sites across Ireland.

Each was wing-tagged, with colours relating to their year of birth and many were fitted with satellite tags to track their locations.