Seabird numbers in Scotland continue to fall - NatureScot
Scotland’s seabird populations continue to decline according to new statistics published today by NatureScot, although the short-term trend for some seabirds is more promising.
Overall, seabird numbers fell significantly between 1986 and 2023, with the numbers breeding around our coasts now close to half of the 1986 level, when regular monitoring first started. However, short term trends show some species appear to be stabilising, albeit still at lower levels than when monitoring began.
The latest Scottish Biodiversity Indicator for Seabirds was prepared by NatureScot using data from the UK Seabird Monitoring Programme. Twenty-four species of seabirds breed in Scotland and the indicator assesses breeding numbers for 11 species, and breeding success for 12 species.
Of the 11 species assessed for breeding numbers in 2023, all showed declines, with numbers down by 48 percent overall. Arctic skua continues to show the worst declines with numbers down 83 percent since 1986. Shortages of their food source, sandeels, is believed to be one of the main factors affecting Arctic skua, while increased predation from great skuas has also been linked to their decline.
But the short-term trend shows a more positive picture for some seabirds. Between 2013 and 2023, three species stabilised, while black-legged kittiwake, European shag and common guillemot populations increased in the sites surveyed.
The 2023 results also show that breeding success (the number of chicks produced) was around the long-term average, at 75 percent of the 1986 level. There was a mixed picture across the 12 species assessed. Four species - Arctic skua, black-legged kittiwake, European shag and little tern - had higher than average breeding success. Five species had lower than average breeding success: Atlantic puffin, common tern, guillemot, northern fulmar and northern gannet, while three species had breeding success around the average: Arctic tern, great skua and razorbill.
Posted On: 15/04/2025
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