10 May 2025
Montagu’s harrier: rescued egg "pulsing" with life is hope for the future of the species
Montagu's harrier embryo inside the egg, seen through the ovoscopy technique. Photo: Filippo Guidantoni/Palombar.
World Migratory Bird Day
On World Migratory Bird Day, celebrated this Saturday, 10 May, we reveal the exciting story of a "surviving egg" of a Montagu's harrier (Circus pygargus), a migratory bird at risk of extinction in Portugal, with an embryo that "pulsates" with life and is a symbol of hope for the future of the species.
As part of the "Save the Montagu's harrier" campaign, an exceptional emergency situation arose in 2024, in which the environmental non-governmental organisation Palombar – Conservação da Natureza e do Património Rural (Palombar – Conservation of Nature and Rural Heritage) had to intervene to try to save what remained of a nest of the species in an already harvested agricultural field, located in the Mirandese Plateau, in the municipality of Miranda do Douro. At the time, Palombar technician Filippo Guidantoni rushed to the site and managed to rescue the only egg, which appears in this video, which survived the accidental destruction of the nest due to the farmer's unawareness of its location.
After verifying that the "surviving" egg had been unincubated for many hours by its parent, who had abandoned the site, there was little hope that it would be viable. However, we did not give up! Using the technique of ovoscopy, technician Filippo verified that there was still life... hope was reborn! As can be seen in the video, the embryo was moving inside the egg, which was immediately transported to the Wildlife Recovery Centre of the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (CRAS-UTAD).
The incubation of this egg was completed at CRAS-UTAD, the chick was born and then transferred to the acclimatisation station (where adaptation to the natural environment takes place and attachment to the territory is enhanced) located in the Mirandese Plateau, in the village of Duas Igrejas, in the municipality of Miranda do Douro. It was later returned to nature and freedom. In September 2024, we hope that, if it has survived successfully after leaving the station, it will have managed to migrate to Africa, where it winters, like all individuals of its species. We hope so, and that we will have it here this year and in the years to come.
We are continuing with the campaign, now part of the LIFE SOS Pygargus project, to save the Montagu's harrier, to save many lives like this one, which "pulse" with hope and give us the strength to continue to halt its extinction, so that it remains in its historical territory and endures.
About the Montagu's harrier
This migratory species has an "Endangered" conservation status in Portugal and is at risk of disappearing. Its population has declined by 80% in ten years. It winters in Africa and returns to Portugal in the spring to nest, remaining in its breeding grounds until September, when it returns to the African continent. The Montagu's harrier nests on the ground, mainly in agricultural fields and scrubland, and its main threats are habitat loss, changes in land use and agricultural crops, particularly the drastic reduction in the area cultivated with cereals for grain. It is also increasingly exposed to predation, whether by wild or domestic animals.
The campaign
The "Save the Montagu's harrier" campaign was launched in 2022 as part of the "Fields with Biodiversity: Let's Save the Montagu's harrier" project, developed by Palombar, BIOPOLIS-CIBIO, the National Association of Protein Crop Producers (ANPOC) and the Continente Producers' Club. It has now been integrated into LIFE SOS Pygargus.
The campaign, coordinated with other more comprehensive and multisectoral measures, focuses on monitoring this species in its main distribution areas in the Iberian Peninsula; identifying nests to ensure their protection; the rescue of eggs and chicks from nests that cannot be protected; and raising awareness and involving farmers, whose collaboration is essential to the success of these efforts.
LIFE SOS Pygargus - Urgent conservation actions to sustain Portuguese and transborder populations of the Montagu’s harrier is an Iberian project that brings together conservationists, farmers, scientists and public and private entities in an unprecedented effort to save this migratory bird from imminent extinction in some of its main areas of distribution in the Iberian Peninsula.
It combines nature conservation and agriculture to protect this species, which is fundamental to the balance of ecosystems. It is 75% funded by the European Union's LIFE programme and co-funded by Viridia – Conservation in Action, Lightsource bp and the Environmental Fund.
It is implemented by a consortium comprising Palombar – Conservação da Natureza e do Património Rural (coordinating entity), BIOPOLIS-CIBIO Association, AEPGA - Associação para o Estudo e Proteção do Gado Asinino, ANPOC - Associação Nacional de Produtores de Proteaginosas, Oleaginosas e Cereais, CCDR-N - Comissão de Coordenação e Desenvolvimento Regional do Norte, EDIA - Empresa de Desenvolvimento e Infraestruturas do Alqueva SA, ICNF - Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e das Florestas, INIAV - Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária e Veterinária, LPN - Liga para a Protecção da Natureza, MC Shared Services SA, Modelo Continente Hipermercados SA, SPEA - Sociedade Portuguesa para o Estudo das Aves, UTAD - Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vita Nativa - Conservação do Ambiente, AMUS - Acción por el Mundo Salvaje, Consejeria de Agricultura, Ganaderia y Desarrollo Sostenible - Junta de Extremadura, GREFA - Grupo de Rehabilitación de la Fauna Autóctona y su Hábitat and the University of Murcia.
On World Migratory Bird Day, celebrated this Saturday, 10 May, we reveal the exciting story of a "surviving egg" of a Montagu's harrier (Circus pygargus), a migratory bird at risk of extinction in Portugal, with an embryo that "pulsates" with life and is a symbol of hope for the future of the species.
As part of the "Save the Montagu's harrier" campaign, an exceptional emergency situation arose in 2024, in which the environmental non-governmental organisation Palombar – Conservação da Natureza e do Património Rural (Palombar – Conservation of Nature and Rural Heritage) had to intervene to try to save what remained of a nest of the species in an already harvested agricultural field, located in the Mirandese Plateau, in the municipality of Miranda do Douro. At the time, Palombar technician Filippo Guidantoni rushed to the site and managed to rescue the only egg, which appears in this video, which survived the accidental destruction of the nest due to the farmer's unawareness of its location.
After verifying that the "surviving" egg had been unincubated for many hours by its parent, who had abandoned the site, there was little hope that it would be viable. However, we did not give up! Using the technique of ovoscopy, technician Filippo verified that there was still life... hope was reborn! As can be seen in the video, the embryo was moving inside the egg, which was immediately transported to the Wildlife Recovery Centre of the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (CRAS-UTAD).
The only egg rescued. Photo: Filippo Guidantoni/Palombar.
The incubation of this egg was completed at CRAS-UTAD, the chick was born and then transferred to the acclimatisation station (where adaptation to the natural environment takes place and attachment to the territory is enhanced) located in the Mirandese Plateau, in the village of Duas Igrejas, in the municipality of Miranda do Douro. It was later returned to nature and freedom. In September 2024, we hope that, if it has survived successfully after leaving the station, it will have managed to migrate to Africa, where it winters, like all individuals of its species. We hope so, and that we will have it here this year and in the years to come.
We are continuing with the campaign, now part of the LIFE SOS Pygargus project, to save the Montagu's harrier, to save many lives like this one, which "pulse" with hope and give us the strength to continue to halt its extinction, so that it remains in its historical territory and endures.
About the Montagu's harrier
This migratory species has an "Endangered" conservation status in Portugal and is at risk of disappearing. Its population has declined by 80% in ten years. It winters in Africa and returns to Portugal in the spring to nest, remaining in its breeding grounds until September, when it returns to the African continent. The Montagu's harrier nests on the ground, mainly in agricultural fields and scrubland, and its main threats are habitat loss, changes in land use and agricultural crops, particularly the drastic reduction in the area cultivated with cereals for grain. It is also increasingly exposed to predation, whether by wild or domestic animals.
Male Montagu's harrier. Photo: Filippo Guidantoni/Palombar.
The campaign
The "Save the Montagu's harrier" campaign was launched in 2022 as part of the "Fields with Biodiversity: Let's Save the Montagu's harrier" project, developed by Palombar, BIOPOLIS-CIBIO, the National Association of Protein Crop Producers (ANPOC) and the Continente Producers' Club. It has now been integrated into LIFE SOS Pygargus.
The campaign, coordinated with other more comprehensive and multisectoral measures, focuses on monitoring this species in its main distribution areas in the Iberian Peninsula; identifying nests to ensure their protection; the rescue of eggs and chicks from nests that cannot be protected; and raising awareness and involving farmers, whose collaboration is essential to the success of these efforts.
Protected nest with a female Montagu's harrier perched on the protective structure. Photo: Palombar.
About the project
LIFE SOS Pygargus - Urgent conservation actions to sustain Portuguese and transborder populations of the Montagu’s harrier is an Iberian project that brings together conservationists, farmers, scientists and public and private entities in an unprecedented effort to save this migratory bird from imminent extinction in some of its main areas of distribution in the Iberian Peninsula.
It combines nature conservation and agriculture to protect this species, which is fundamental to the balance of ecosystems. It is 75% funded by the European Union's LIFE programme and co-funded by Viridia – Conservation in Action, Lightsource bp and the Environmental Fund.
It is implemented by a consortium comprising Palombar – Conservação da Natureza e do Património Rural (coordinating entity), BIOPOLIS-CIBIO Association, AEPGA - Associação para o Estudo e Proteção do Gado Asinino, ANPOC - Associação Nacional de Produtores de Proteaginosas, Oleaginosas e Cereais, CCDR-N - Comissão de Coordenação e Desenvolvimento Regional do Norte, EDIA - Empresa de Desenvolvimento e Infraestruturas do Alqueva SA, ICNF - Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e das Florestas, INIAV - Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária e Veterinária, LPN - Liga para a Protecção da Natureza, MC Shared Services SA, Modelo Continente Hipermercados SA, SPEA - Sociedade Portuguesa para o Estudo das Aves, UTAD - Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vita Nativa - Conservação do Ambiente, AMUS - Acción por el Mundo Salvaje, Consejeria de Agricultura, Ganaderia y Desarrollo Sostenible - Junta de Extremadura, GREFA - Grupo de Rehabilitación de la Fauna Autóctona y su Hábitat and the University of Murcia.