Millions of wild birds may have died from bird flu globally in the latest outbreak, researchers have said, as the viral disease ravages South America, with 200,000 deaths recorded in Peru alone. The highly infectious variant of H5N1, which gained momentum in the winter of 2021, caused Europe’s worst bird flu outbreak before spreading globally. […]
Tag: puffins
Marine heat waves caused mass seabird die-offs, beach surveys show
Seabirds, from cormorants to puffins, spend most of their lives at sea. Beloved by birdwatchers, these animals can be hard to study because they spend so much time far from shore. New research led by the University of Washington uses data collected by coastal residents along beaches from central California to Alaska to understand how […]
Locals Are Saving Puffins in Iceland By Throwing Them off Clifftops
Puffins are a national treasure in Iceland, and the Westland Islands, located off the southern coast of Iceland, have the world’s largest puffin colony. However, in recent years, their numbers have been dwindling due to several factors, such as climate change, overfishing, pollution, and difficulty finding food. Due to increasingly warm sea temperatures, reduced populations […]
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 […]
The Effects of Climate Change on Sea Turtles
On December 12, 2015, over 90 countries adopted an international agreement called “the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.” This agreement required all signing countries to make significant commitments to resolving climate change. Participants were intended to re-evaluate their pledges in the year 2020 and then strengthen their emissions reductions by 2030. The goal of this […]
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 […]