Raptor Biologist – Video Transcript
Raptor biologist
My name’s Campbell Murn, I’m the Scientific Officer at the Hawk Conservancy Trust. We’re an organisation
dedicated to conservation, education, research and rehabilitation for birds of prey. Raptors are a top order
predator: they’re at the top of the food chain so they’re a very good indicator species. So, if a population of
raptors started to decline it’s usually an indication that something else is wrong within the ecological system.
Passion and Qualification
My interests have always been outdoors with wildlife and from a very young age I was one of those people
who said: ‘I want to work with animals.’ Either that was going to be a vet or I’ve turned out to be a
biologist. Vets and biologists both fall into the same category of needing to go and get qualified. You have
the passion for the group of animals that interest you most but if you really want to get involved with them,
make a difference, run a successful conservation programme or even assist a conservation programme, you
need to learn the methods to make you an effective tool for conservation or research or rehabilitation or
whatever it is.
Collecting field data
Fund-a-Bird is a scheme that’s designed around providing nest boxes for British birds of prey in areas of
otherwise suitable habitat that might not have suitable nest sites for them. And before we can decide that
we have to do field visits: we have to assess what kind of habitat’s there – prey abundance, suitability of
woodlands, the pasture, the whole make-up of the environment where those birds are found. It’s a case of
investigating different areas and finding which sites are the best. Now to do that of course you need to be
quite accurate in your assessment of these areas so it’s taking detailed notes, perhaps going and measuring
the abundance of the small mammals that the birds feed on, what types of trees, what density of trees,
proximity to human habitation like towns or villages or whatever. So there’s a whole range of variables that
you need to measure and record to try and find what is the ideal site for locating a nest box.
Monitoring the owls
It’s not just a case of putting the box up and then walking away. You have to go back. You have to monitor
how much it’s being used, whether the birds are breeding in the box and when they are breeding you want
to put rings on them so you can monitor those birds into the future. So it’s a long term thing.
Analysing field data
At the end of a field season you end up with a folder like this full of data sheets that you’ve spent days,
weeks, months collecting. And then comes the often laborious task of transferring this information onto your
computer in a spreadsheet or some other form of database so you can begin to analyse the information
you’ve collected. Once it’s in there that’s when the exciting bit starts because you can start manipulating it,
starting to get some results, starting to figure out the answers to the questions you asked at the first part of
the project.
We have round about 200 birds here. About 64 different species of raptor and so, yes, it’s quite a diverse
collection. It’s one of the largest raptor collections in the world.