€1.75m spent to protect hen harrier bird in first 10 months of the year

Forget about the millions of euro spent on turkeys this Christmas, Ireland’s most expensive bird is the rare and protected hen harrier.

New figures show that the Government spend on the bird of prey in the 10 months to Oct 20 this year amounted to €1.75m — or an average spend of more than €5,000 per recorded adult bird.

The most recent national hen harrier survey recorded 128 to 172 breeding pairs across the country, giving an estimated total of 344 adult birds.