{"id":2189667,"date":"2026-01-13T06:00:20","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T05:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/?p=2189667"},"modified":"2025-12-18T14:52:27","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T13:52:27","slug":"puffin-numbers-down-by-almost-a-quarter-on-farne-islands-annual-survey-shows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/puffin-numbers-down-by-almost-a-quarter-on-farne-islands-annual-survey-shows\/","title":{"rendered":"Puffin numbers down by almost a quarter on Farne Islands, annual survey shows"},"content":{"rendered":"

A survey of puffins on the internationally important Farne Islands has shown a drop in numbers of almost a quarter.<\/p>\n

The National Trust which looks after the islands off the Northumberland coast said the long-term trend needed to be monitored and cautioned against interpreting it as a sudden population decline.<\/p>\n

The number of breeding pairs recorded in the survey fell from 50,103 in 2024 to 38,500 this year, a drop of 23%.<\/p>\n

\"National
National Trust rangers carry out an annual survey on puffins (Owen Humphreys\/PA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ben McCarthy, head of nature conservation at the National Trust said: \u201cCounting puffins is a notoriously complex task.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no single perfect method, and annual variations in survey conditions, puffin behaviour, and environmental factors all influence the count.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the decline in numbers is concerning, it\u2019s important to view this year\u2019s results within the broader context of global puffin trends.\u201d<\/p>\n

National Trust experts said the bird flu outbreak in 2022 and 2023 did not affect the puffin population as badly as other species.<\/p>\n

But factors which may have affected their numbers include extreme weather such as Storm Arwen, soil erosion and the expanding grey seal colony.<\/p>\n

Rangers will put measures in place to deter seals from disturbing the puffin burrows during the birds\u2019 breeding season.<\/p>\n

Sophia Jackson, Farne Islands area ranger, said: \u201cWe know puffins are facing challenges globally, from climate change to shifting food sources.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re seeing on the Farnes is part of a much bigger picture.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year\u2019s census doesn\u2019t necessarily mean puffins are disappearing overnight \u2013 but it does reinforce the need for consistent, long-term data.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Farnes attract around 200,000 seabirds every nesting season and the survey has revealed encouraging trends in other species.<\/p>\n

The National Trust said the Northern Fulmar numbers were up from 106 pairs last year to 235 and Common Eiders are up 50%.<\/p>\n

The numbers of Greater Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, European Shags and Razorbills were also up.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Farne Islands are crammed with 200,000 seabirds every spring (Owen Humphreys\/PA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Arctic Terns, another species for which the Farnes are known, increased by over 26% on 2024 figures, from 410 to 519 nesting pairs, which was welcomed as they face increasing pressure from climate change and food availability.<\/p>\n

The 28 Farne Islands, some of which are submerged with the tides, stand one-and-a-half miles out to sea and are an internationally recognised haven for wildlife.<\/p>\n

This article<\/a> by PA Media was published by The Daily Mail on 26 November 2025. Lead Image:\u00a0The National Trust will closely monitor puffin numbers on the Farnes (Owen Humphreys\/PA).<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A survey of puffins on the internationally important Farne Islands has shown a drop in numbers of almost a quarter. The National Trust which looks after the islands off the Northumberland coast said the long-term trend needed to be monitored and cautioned against interpreting it as a sudden population decline. The number of breeding pairs […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1178,"featured_media":2205535,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2025\/11\/26\/00\/wire-104191027-1764115567-909_634x422.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6985,5],"tags":[449,1615,447,440,1780,1060,2113,1609,451,446],"class_list":["post-2189667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-wildlife","tag-arctic-tern","tag-european-shag","tag-farne-islands","tag-fulmar","tag-grey-seal","tag-herring-gull","tag-puffins","tag-razorbill","tag-seabirds","tag-shag"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2189667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1178"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2189667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2189667\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2205535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2189667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2189667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2189667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}