BUZZARDS on shooting estates could be taken into captivity and their nests destroyed as part of government proposals to control escalating numbers of birds of prey in England.

Defra is offering thousands of pounds to research projects into the best way to control birds of prey, including destroying nests, relocating birds and taking buzzards into captivity.

The buzzard is now the UK’s most common bird of prey and has been blamed for decimating pheasant populations on shooting estates, as well as killing songbirds.

Every year millions of young pheasant poults are raised in pens and then released into the British countryside in time for shooting in the autumn and winter.

Buzzards are scavengers that rely mostly on carcasses of rabbits and birds but will also prey on poults and take eggs.

But the RSPB says such plans would be cruel and unjustified as well as a waste of public money.

Conservation director Martin Harper said: “Buzzards play a minor role in pheasant losses, compared with other factors such as collisions with vehicles.

“There are options for addressing the relatively small number of pheasant poults lost to buzzards.

Destroying nests is completely unjustified and catching and removing buzzards is unlikely to reduce predation levels, as another buzzard will quickly take its place.

“Both techniques would be illegal under current wildlife laws and I think most people will agree with us that reaching for primitive measures, such as imprisoning adults or destroying nests, when wildlife and economic interests collide is totally unacceptable.”

Pheasants are not native to the UK.

But around 40 million birds are released every year for shooting and concerns have been raised about the impact such a large injection of non-native birds might have on the countryside.

Mr Harper added: “At a time when funding for vital conservation work is so tight, and with another bird of prey, the hen harrier, facing extinction as a breeding bird in England, I can think of better ways of spending £400,000 of public funds.

“This money could work harder for wildlife, and I hope the government will, therefore, put a stop to this project.”