More than half the seabird species breeding on British and Irish coasts have declined over the last 20 years, according to the most comprehensive census to date. Eleven of 21 nesting seabirds species have fallen, five species have remained stable and five have increased, some because of targeted conservation work, according to the Seabirds Count […]
Tag: Atlantic Puffin
Seabird conservation mostly works, comprehensive new data set shows
Fifty years ago, ornithologist Stephen Kress had a bold vision for Eastern Egg Rock, an island off the coast of Maine. He wanted to restore the island’s former colony of Atlantic puffins that hunters had wiped out in the 1880s. This kind of seabird restoration had never been done before, but Kress was determined to […]
Puffin nesting sites in western Europe could be lost by end of century
The majority of puffin nesting sites in western Europe are likely to be lost by the end of the century due to climate breakdown, a report has warned. Other seabirds will also be affected unless urgent action to limit global heating is taken, with razorbills and arctic terns forecast to lose 80% and 87% of […]
After a Climate Disaster Last Year, Maine’s Seabirds Get a Reprieve
This year, twice as many seabird chicks survived the summer and fledged from their nests along the coast of Maine compared to last year. This exciting success rate is much closer to what’s considered normal for Maine’s seabird colonies, following a steep decline last year as climate change dealt a blow to nesting birds like […]
Bird species are in decline everywhere – but in Ireland it’s worse
Some 63 per cent of Irish bird species are in “serious trouble” compared to almost 50 per cent globally, according to Birdwatch Ireland and RSPB Northern Ireland. Yet there was no funding in yesterday’s 2023 Budget for nature preservation in a move branded as “shameful”. State of the birds The comments followed the release of […]
Dead in their nests or washed ashore: why thousands of seabirds are dying en masse
Twenty years ago, David Grémillet, a seabird ecologist, watched in dismay as a heatwave hit a breeding colony of Cape gannets in Lambert’s Bay, South Africa, causing dozens of birds to keel over. An unseasonably hot wind sent temperatures to 40C (104F), too intense even for the heat-adapted birds. While guarding their nests, they baked […]
The most awe-inspiring and exuberant birds are facing extinction first – let’s stop nature becoming boring
For decades ecologists have been warning about the homogenisation of diversity – species becoming more alike – in the living world. Now, researchers at the University of Sheffield have published research predicting that bird species with striking and extreme traits are likely to go extinct first. “The global extinction crisis doesn’t just mean that we’re […]
We Saved the Puffins. Now a Warming Planet Is Unraveling That Work
I stepped onto the battlefield of climate change, sidestepping carcass after carcass. In the grass were the remains of Arctic terns, common terns, and roseate terns. Along the boulders, researchers pointed out dead puffin chicks. As other climate war zones smolder with wildfire embers, are strewn with flattened homes, or marked by bleached coral, the […]