New study shows role of bird flu in widespread declines of UK seabirds - RSPB

A new report has for the first time shown the impacts of recent Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI or bird flu) outbreaks on populations of the UK’s seabirds. Due to the tens of thousands of dead birds seen in 2021 and 2022, HPAI has become one of the biggest immediate conservation threats faced by multiple seabirds, and updated population estimates are an urgent priority.

A new report by the RSPB has for the first time, quantified the effects of recent Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) outbreaks on the populations of the UK’s seabirds.

Of the 13 species included in the study, nine showed declines, three of which are attributable to HPAI, with a further two being most likely attributable to the disease. The role of the disease in other declines is less clear and requires further study.

Recent surveys show the UK’s seabirds are in dire trouble, facing threats including unsustainable fishing practices, predation by invasive non-native mammals, offshore wind development, climate change and now bird flu.

The study revealed a highly concerning picture of widespread and extensive declines, with nine of the 13 species included in the report decreasing in numbers by over 10% since previous surveys made between 2015 and 2021. For Gannet, Great Skua and Roseate Tern these declines are largely attributable to HPAI and for Sandwich and Common Terns, HPAI is the likely cause. For the remaining species (Arctic Skua, Black-headed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Kittiwake, Arctic Tern and Guillemot), further work is needed to better understand the likely contribution of HPAI to the declines.

The project was led by the RSPB in collaboration with the British Trust for Ornithology, the Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies, and other conservation organisations.

In 2022, the current H5N1 strain of HPAI became widespread in UK wild bird populations, particularly in seabirds and waterfowl, after being initially recorded in Great Skuas in the summer of 2021. The number of reported bird deaths in 2022, showed that HPAI had become one of the biggest immediate conservation threats faced by many of our seabird species, including some, such as Great Skua, for which the UK is responsible for a high proportion of the global population.