SOME of Scotland's most famous seabirds have seen severe falls in population numbers, a new report has shown.
Puffins, one of the UK's most popular birds, have seen a 24 per cent population decrease in 14 years – while other species saw even greater declines.
The figures come from the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), who have released the latest numbers of the state of the UK and Ireland breeding seabirds between 1986 and 2023.
Puffin
The UK and Ireland hosts eight per cent of the global red-listed population of Puffins. The Seabird Count Census shows a 24 per cent decline. Sandeels are one of their main food sources but the rising sea surface temperatures are affecting their numbers. Adult birds then need to travel further to find a reliable source of food.
Kittiwake
Kittiwake, highly identifiable due to their call, has declined by 42 per cent. Climate change and the sea surface temperature rising are changing the distribution and development of their favourite prey, the Lesser Sandeel. The report highlights the link between increased fishing efforts in the Irish, Celtic, and North Sea areas and the impact it had on the amount of Kittiwake prey.
Black-headed Gull
On the side of the Black-headed Gull, there has been a decline of 28 per cent in the UK and Ireland population. The report explains that predation, afforestation, moorland management, and food availability amongst others, might be the reasons for the decline of the species.
The study monitored demographic parameters such as including survival and breeding abundance data for a total of 25 seabird species in the UK and Ireland.
Seabirds and wild birds face numerous threats, including human activity, plastic pollution, and climate change. Additionally, in recent years, seabirds have had to contend with waves of viral bird flu.
The report shows the damages of the highly pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), more commonly called bird flu. This disease is highly mortal for wild birds and has been transmitted to mammals in recent years.
In 2021-2022, seabird species were exposed to a particular strain of the virus. The H5N1 strain of bird flu came in 1996 from intensive Asian poultry farming. The report declares that more than 400 wild bird species have been exposed to this strain worldwide with 78 UK-based species tested positive. This includes 21 out of 25 UK-based breeding seabird species the report says.
Gannets have been particularly affected by this strain in recent years. The population experienced a 25 per cent decline due to the H5N1 outbreak, whereas it had been growing by 39 per cent between 2003-05 and 2013-21 before the outbreak.
The report says that the majority of “UK breeding seabirds’ species have a Red or Amber BoCC listing".
Major environmental institutions such as the RSPB or NatureScot have been reacting to the report on social media.
RSPB science on Twitter/X underlined BTO's vital contribution “to underpin conservation actions to help secure a brighter future for our seabirds".
“The internationally important populations of seabirds nesting in the UK are facing a wide variety of threats, both at the nesting colonies and out at sea,” RSPB continued.
NatureScot highlighted the importance of this report on Twitter/X and how it will help understand the seabird population “how and why they change.”
BTO is calling on the need for a long-term monitoring program to be able to track changes in the seabird populations across the UK and Ireland.
