Mass death of seabirds across UK and Europe following winter storms underlines fragility of populations - RSPB

The RSPB is calling for the urgent nationwide delivery of actions to support seabirds following the reported deaths of hundreds of Puffins, Guillemots and other species, with potentially thousands of birds affected across the UK and Europe.

Seabirds have been found dead along the coastline of Cornwall, Devon, north-east England and northern and eastern Scotland in recent weeks, with many thousands more reported along the coasts of Portugal, Spain, France and the Channel Islands.

An increase in seabird deaths beginning in late January was recorded by BirdTrack, an online bird reporting scheme run by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) with support from the RSPB. Since the beginning of February, 150 dead Puffins, 27 dead Guillemots and 52 dead Razorbills have been reported via BirdTrack, as well as almost 100 other seabirds including divers and sea ducks.

While the exact cause of the seabird wreck is still to be determined, recent winter storms will have made conditions at sea very challenging for seabirds who then struggle to feed and become exhausted, leading to starvation. Avian Flu also has not been ruled out at this point. Members of the public who come across any dead wild birds are asked not to touch them and report the sightings to Defra, or Daera in Northern Ireland, for possible collection and testing, and to BirdTrack via the BTO website or app for monitoring purposes