SEABIRD CITIES
Puffins nest in burrows or rocky crevices.
ALEXANDER MUSTARD/2020VISION
protecting them. Seabirds across the world are threatened by the introduction of predators to their breeding sites, by being caught up in fishing gear, and from the effects of the climate crisis. Warming seas around the UK are already thought to be responsible for declines in many of our more northerly seabird colonies, as the sand eels that so many species rely on move northwards to cooler waters. Our seabird cities are amongst our greatest natural treasures, we must look after them by protecting their nest sites from development and their food sources from overfishing, and by doing all we can to combat the climate crisis.
SEE FOR YOURSELF
Visit a seabird city
1⁄4 of Europe’s breeding seabirds are found in the UK, with over 8 million birds and 25 species nesting around Britain and Ireland.
Ocean wanderers Though some seabirds don’t stray far from their summer breeding grounds, others make incredible journeys. The Arctic tern, who we
already know as an impressive parent, makes the longest recorded migration of any animal on the planet. A recent study, using tiny devices that record daylight and allow the bird’s location to be calculated, mapped one intrepid tern’s 59,650-mile return journey from the Farne Islands in Northumberland to the seas around Antarctica. The bird’s meandering route took it around Africa and into the Indian Ocean, then down to Antarctica and across to the Weddell Sea, before returning to the exact same nesting site the following spring. With the potential to live for 30 years, this bird could travel over 1.8 million miles in its lifetime. Manx shearwaters make their own mammoth migrations each year, crossing both the Atlantic and the equator as they head for wintering grounds off the coast of Argentina and Brazil. Studies on birds from the Welsh islands of Skokholm and Skomer have revealed that they can complete this 6,000-7,000-mile journey in less than a fortnight. Understanding the complex migrations of these globe-spanning seabirds is essential for
Flamborough Cliffs, East Yorkshire Flamborough Head has one of the most important seabird colonies in Europe. In summer, the cliffs are packed with tens of thousands of breeding birds, including guillemots, gannets, gulls and puffins. Portsmouth, Hampshire Not far from busy Portsmouth you can find Farlington Marshes Nature Reserve, home to breeding common terns and black-headed gulls. Alderney, Channel Islands Thousands of gannets breed on a series of rocky outcrops called Les Etacs and Ortac, just off the coast of the mainland. Discover more at www.wildlifetrusts.org/seabird-cities
Wild Life | Spring 2021
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MANX SHEARWATER © CHRIS GOMERSALL/2020VISION
Common terns, elegant white birds with long tail streamers, a black cap and a bright red, black-tipped bill, are summer visitors to the UK. They nest along the coast and on offshore islands but can also be found on reservoirs and gravel pits across the country, especially where artificial rafts have been created for them. It’s a joy to watch them hovering above the water, diving and dipping their beak below the surface to snare a fish, before carrying it back to their small, sand-coloured chicks. The same lakes often host cacophonous colonies of black-headed gulls, with their pale grey and white plumage and dark brown hood. They can gather in their thousands, creating a spectacle every bit as raucous, restless and impressive as the more celebrated coastal colonies of seabirds. Many of these birds have forsaken the sea entirely, remaining near their inland colonies year-round.
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