Despite both seeking a similar goal - a healthy and balanced avian population - agreement on how this should be achieved is only occasionally reached. Although the groups have begun to work together on a number of projects, differences in outlook have led to a relationship characterised more by conflict than by cooperation.

The issue where the differences are most sharply defined concerns raptors – birds of prey. The past decline in numbers of these iconic birds has brought the RSPB into direct conflict with gamekeepers on numerous occasions. It is a battle with its roots in the Victorian era, when some landowners, seeking to maximise their estates’ game shooting potential, helped to drive a number of species – such as ospreys, sea eagles and red kites - to extinction in the UK. As a result of this legacy of unenlightenment, the management policies of landowners and gamekeepers have traditionally been given little credibility by the RSPB.

Thanks to the protection of raptors by law in 1954, the population of species such as buzzards, kestrels and sparrowhawks has been gradually increasing. More recently, RSPB-led reintroductions of species such as sea eagles and red kites have been hailed as great successes. However, as raptor numbers have risen, populations of gamebirds – particularly red grouse, black game and capercaillie – have been in marked decline.

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