Łukasz Ławicki, Jan Lontkowski, Przemysław Wylegała, Piotr Zieliński
Ornis Polonica 2013, 54: 1–11
https://doi.org/10.12657/ornis.2013.1.0
Abstract: This paper presents data about the extinction of breeding population of the Hen Harrier in Poland over the last 20 years. Due to its local and very rare occurrence, published information on breeding occurrence were verified and only confirmed and probable breeding cases were included. In the 1990s the Hen Harrier was an extremely scarce breeder in Poland. Only a dozen confirmed broods are known from these years, mainly in the Szczecin Lagoon, near Leszno, Biebrza Marshes and in Lublin region. Other breeding sites were scattered across lowlands and were occupied irregularly. In the early 1990s Polish population of the Hen Harrier was still about 20–25 pairs, but has declined to around 10 pairs in the mid-1990s and no more than 5 pairs at the end of the decade, meaning that the estimates given by both books “Polish Red Data Book of Animals” and “Avifauna of Poland” were too high. The last confirmed breeding record of this species was in 1999 near Tomaszów Lubelski, SE Poland. In 2000–2011 only seven probable broods of this species were recorded: in Poleski National Park, Biebrza Marshes, in river valleys of the Warta, Noteć and Omulew and at Lake Czeszewskie. Extinction of breeding population of the Hen Harrier in Poland is related to the situation of this species in Europe – there was a large decline of its numbers over the last decades.
