One-legged eagle helps raise chick that's fledged from a Dorset nest
It's one of three white-tailed eagle chicks to fledge in England this summer
Last updated 16th Sep 2026
A white-tailed eagle missing one of its legs has helped raise a chick that has successfully fledged from a nest in Dorset.
The male chick, given the code GE38, is the offspring of parent birds G463 and G466, according to Forestry England and the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation, which run the reintroduction project.
The male adult bird lost one of his legs five years ago, making this year's breeding success "remarkable", the project said.
This is the second successful breeding attempt for the pair.
It comes as part of the wider project to reintroduce white-tailed eagles to England, which has now seen chicks fledge from wild nests for four consecutive years running.
Two further chicks, both male and given the codes GE36 and GE37, also fledged this summer from a nest in Sussex.
Those chicks are the offspring of parent birds G405 and G471, which have bred every year since 2023.
Five pairs of eagles released by the project have now formed bonds and become established pairs, of which two bred successfully this year.
This summer's breeding success brings the total number of these birds born in the wild through the project to nine.
Tracking the chicks
All three chicks have been fitted with satellite tags so the project team can monitor their progress.
The team has also used specialist cameras near the nests to track the diet of the breeding eagles in detail, collecting over 300 records of food brought in by the parents.
Fish was by far the most frequent item recorded.
Roy Dennis OBE, from the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation, said: "This year's breeding success is another important milestone in the return of this lost species to England; it shows what can be achieved by very skilled wildlife managers. This is now the fourth year where these released eagles have raised and fledged chicks. With a further three pairs of eagles also well-established we should see this progress continue in the next few years.
"Restoring a species takes many years and requires the support of a wide range of communities and organisations, in particular landowners and farmers. I would like to thank everyone who is supporting the project and supporting essential nature recovery in this way."
Steve Egerton-Read, White-Tailed Eagle Project Officer for Forestry England, said: "It's been another long summer of watching and hoping that the eagles would be successful in breeding and raising young. There is nothing quite like that moment of seeing the chicks hatch and first appear in the nest. It is then a waiting game while we watch their progress. We are delighted that these three chicks made it through and will be closely watching their progress as they begin to explore the landscape.
"The breeding season is a challenging time for the parent birds. It's also a busy time for our team as we closely monitor the nests. This year we were able to monitor every item of food coming into the nests and can see that fish is by far the favoured item for these wetland loving birds."
A lost species returning
White-tailed eagles are Britain's largest birds of prey, with a wingspan of up to 2.5 metres, and were once widespread across England.
Human persecution caused their extinction in the country, with the last breeding pair in southern England recorded in 1780.
Forestry England and the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation began reintroducing the birds to the English landscape in 2019.
So far, 56 young white-tailed eagles have been released through the project, including five birds released this summer from the team's base on the Isle of Wight, and, for the first time, six birds released at Exmoor National Park in partnership with Exmoor National Park Authority.
The reintroduction is conducted under licence from Natural England, the Government's wildlife licensing authority, with birds for release collected from wild nests in Scotland under licence from NatureScot.