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Puffins added to the list of dwindling North Sea birdlife

4 June 2008

Atlantic Puffin numbers on the Isle of May off Scotland's east coast have declined by 30% during the last five years after a period of almost 40 years of rapid population increase.

The Isle of May is home to the largest colony of puffins in the North Sea and has been the centre of the UK science community's research into puffins for over three decades. The results of the latest puffin survey carried out by scientists from the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH) will be released on Wednesday 4 June 2008.

A colour-ringed puffin

Puffin numbers on the Isle of May increased steadily from a handful of pairs 50 years ago to around 69,300 pairs in 2003. This year's survey, which took place in April, estimates the population to be around 41,000 pairs - dramatically lower than the 100,000 pairs that would be expected if the previous rate of increase had continued.

The survey was led by Professor Mike Harris, Emeritus Research Fellow at CEH, who has studied puffins for 36 years. Professor Harris said, "Something worrying appears to have happened over last winter and probably the one before. Puffins appear to be joining the ranks of other seabirds in the North Sea that are suffering reduced breeding success and decline in numbers."

Surveys of the puffin population on the Isle of May take place every five years. Puffins nest in burrows so numbers are assessed by counting burrows in late April after the birds have cleaned out their burrows and before the vegetation has started to grow over.

One of the methods of collecting this data is by carefully examining burrows for signs of occupation. In past surveys the occupancy rate was nearly 100%, but this year it was only 70%.

In addition to the Isle of May survey the research team has collated other evidence pointing to a change in puffin population dynamics. Fewer breeding birds than usual returned to land and those that did were underweight when compared to samples from previous years. This suggests that they may have had a difficult winter. In addition, unusually high numbers of puffins, including some ringed on the Isle of May in previous years, were washed ashore dead during the last two winters.

Professor Harris added, "We need to repeat the survey next year to check the unlikely possibility that a large numbers of puffins took a summer off from visiting the Island. We also need to widen the survey to include other colonies in the North Sea to measure to what extent the puffin population is declining in the area."

Further information

Barnaby Smith
Press Officer
Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Mob: 07920 295 384

NERC Press Office
Natural Environment Research Council
Polaris House, North Star Avenue
Swindon, SN2 1EU
Tel: 01793 411561
Mob: 07917 557215

Notes

1. Professor Mike Harris and his scientific collaborator Dr Francis Daunt are currently undertaking fieldwork on the Isle of May but are available for interview via mobile telephone. Please contact Barnaby Smith if you wish to speak to them. High resolution images of the Isle of May and puffin activities can also be obtained from Barnaby Smith.

2. The Isle of May is a National Nature Reserve owned by Scottish Natural Heritage. The resident puffin population attracts many thousands of visitors each year. Even after this drop in numbers there are still plenty of puffins for visitors to see on the island.

3. Count details: Counts are made about every five years. The count unit is the nesting burrow and counts are made by lines of people spaced 3-5m apart walking across the Island. This is done in late April when the birds have cleaned out their burrows after the winter absence and before the vegetation has started to grow over. After counting, sample areas are subject to a minute search with every possible burrow examined to see whether it is indeed being used by a puffin and to determine if any burrows have been overlooked. Details of the count methodology are published in the following scientific paper: Counts of Atlantic Puffins Fratercula arctica in the Firth of Forth, south-east Scotland in 2003 - MP Harris, S Wanless, S Murray, A Leitch & LJ Wilson.

4. The Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH) is the UK's Centre of Excellence for research in the land and freshwater environmental sciences. CEH is a wholly-owned research centre of the Natural Environment Research Council and employs around 500 staff at six major sites in England, Scotland and Wales with an overall budget of about £35m. CEH science covers three core areas of expertise: Biodiversity, Water and Biogeochemistry with a major cross-cutting activity focusing on Environmental Information. CEH tackles complex environmental challenges through integrated research, aiming to deliver practicable solutions to help preserve the environment for future generations.

5. The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) funds world-class science, in universities and its own research centres, that increases knowledge and understanding of the natural world. It is tackling major environmental issues such as climate change, biodiversity and natural hazards. NERC receives around £400m a year from the government's science budget, which is used to provide independent research and training in the environmental sciences.

Press release: 30/08