Save our seabirds
Donate todayPlease help us protect our vulnerable seabird colonies.
Seabirds under threat
Avian flu has spread through our seabird colonies with devastating speed. It is a highly contagious disease and, due to the migratory nature of birds, it has spread rapidly between different species across the globe. Tens of thousands of birds have died from avian flu this year in Scotland alone.
The damage wrought by the disease is exacerbated by external pressures. The climate crisis has caused ocean temperatures to rise, affecting the fish that make up a proportion of seabirds’ diet. Some fishing practices also result in a loss of food for seabirds to raise their young.
In addition, island refuges are under constant threat from non-native species. The accidental introduction of predators, such as rats and mink, leads to attacks on seabirds, their eggs and their chicks. This process is so quick that seabirds cannot sustain their population.
Did you know?
Only 16,000 pairs of great skuas exist in the world; over 60% of these breed in Scotland. However, almost two thirds of the great skuas on St Kilda were found dead last year, and even greater losses were recorded in some other Scottish locations.
At this time, we do not know if great skuas will be able to recover and it is possible that they could become extinct.
Donate todayOur Trust ambassador, Cal Major, recently visited St Kilda and made this short film about the worrying decline in great skua numbers there.
Transcript
Two speakers: Cal Major and Craig Nisbet
Cal
One of the projects I'm most excited to get involved with here is with the great skua, or, as they're known by their Shetland name: the bonxies.
These are an amazing seabird, one of the biggest, and they predate on other birds.
Unfortunately, they were one of the hardest hit by avian flu.
Craig
In 2019 the census revealed 183 breeding pairs of great skua; this year, that number has declined to around 50 pairs remaining.
When I started, I was very excited about working with the seabird assemblage on St Kilda, but particularly with great skuas.
In 2021 I found my first dead great skua around about early July; it wasn't until I found a few more that the alarm bells started ringing.
By the end of that season, we had reported 66 dead adults that had been found on the island.
The following year, things got a lot worse.
That was hard; that was really hard.
I've been working with seabirds for over 10 years on various islands, and I've never had to deal with that level of mortality for such an extended period over two seasons.
It felt in 2022 like a very big part of my job was overseeing the demise of one of our most fantastic seabird species that we have breeding on the island.
Cal
Two-thirds of the global population of great skua nest in Scotland, and since 2021, avian influenza wiped out three-quarters of them.
In 2024 on St Kilda there was one confirmed case of avian flu in a great skua.
The research work here with great skua has been in two stages.
The first has been mapping where their territories and their nests are around the island.
And the second is what we're doing today, which is going up the hills, catching them, ringing them and taking samples from them, so that we can see what their response to avian flu has been.
This is so exciting! It's not every day you get to go and be this up close and personal with a great skua.
It feels like a huge privilege to be a part of it.
We've got some big hills to climb so we better get going.
[whispers] above that cleit there!
[whispers] So we found a nest with two eggs.
We've removed the eggs from the nest and put fake eggs in instead, which I've warmed up underneath my armpits to make them as realistic as possible.
The idea is that the bonxie who's flying around -- she knows we're here -- comes back and sits on these fake eggs.
We can set the trap; we can catch her without any damage to the egg or to her.
In the meantime, the real eggs are in insulated tubs so that they don't get cold; they're protected basically.
And we can just put them straight back onto the nest.
We've got really strict time frames to do this in, so the disturbance is minimal, so that we know that we're not damaging the eggs or causing too much distress to the bird.
Can I get your bag out? And I'll start getting things ready.
Hello love.
So, these colour rings -- they're applied to the bird's leg and it means that we can identify individual birds, follow their life and their stories over many years.
You can actually see them through binoculars, so we don't have to catch the birds to be able to identify them.
It's a really exciting way of being able to see what happens to that bird: how long it lives, whether it has chicks, whether it keeps coming back to St Kilda, or ends up somewhere else in the world completely.
It's all about telling these individual bird stories.
Have a little look at that, Liz. That looks great, yeah, perfect.
[whispers] Well done!
We've had one successful nest, which feels like such a massive relief, after all the work and time we've put into this project.
And we just found another nest with eggs, so hopefully this one goes just as smoothly.
Craig
1.65 ...
Cal
[whispers] Ok, that's the best I can do with that.
This research has never been more important.
During my time on St Kilda, I developed a real fondness for great skua.
After a few very tough years, I'm really rooting for them and hoping that the beautiful sight of their chicks hatching here on St Kilda is the start of their population's rebounding, retaining their global stronghold in the islands of Scotland.
Over 1 million seabirds live at places that are cared for by our charity. We have a duty to protect them, but seabird resilience is at an all-time low. That’s why we’re asking for your help today in our campaign to protect vulnerable seabird colonies. There is hope for our seabirds, but we need your support – can you make a gift today?
How your gift could help
- Avian flu – monitoring and research
One of the most important things we can do is monitor how avian flu is impacting our seabird colonies. Knowing how it spreads and looking at natural immunity will help shape long-term responses to the disease.
This is why we are making an increased effort to monitor and count seabirds at our properties. On St Kilda we’ve been counting Leach’s storm petrels, great skuas and gannets this summer, while at St Abb’s Head we counted gannets and guillemots.
Avian flu badly hit the guillemots of St Abb’s Head NNR – 65 dead chicks were counted in just one day.
We’re also recording the numbers of avian deaths to ensure we have a more accurate picture of the impact the disease is having on our seabird populations. We are working with other organisations and academics to support ground-breaking research into how avian flu operates in seabirds. A donation today can ensure this vital work to save our seabirds can continue.
- An end to sand eel fishing
We’re adding our voice to the national campaign to close sand eel fisheries in Scottish waters. Sand eels are a vital source of food for many seabirds, including the puffin. However, the warming of the oceans has made the sand eel scarcer. Removing the additional fishing pressure could be an immediate lifeline to seabirds.
MSPs and Scottish fishing communities are generally in support of closing these fisheries as it would have little domestic impact. We’re hopeful that this campaign will help restore a vital food source for many seabirds.
- Biosecurity
It is essential that we keep non-native species away from our seabirds. Once a new predator is introduced to an ecosystem, seabird numbers can plummet as eggs and chicks are eaten.
While all our islands have emergency response plans in case a pest is spotted, the best way to protect our seabirds is to prevent non-native species reaching the island in the first place. We’re building on our work with cruise ships, tourist boat operators, island visitors, private boat owners and contractors to ensure that they bring no stowaways.
All our seabird rangers have biosecurity training and are vigilant for signs of non-native species at their properties.
Our scientists are also developing new tools to remotely monitor invasive animals. Some of these tools will be world-firsts and use new technology such as sensors and artificial intelligence to help us monitor non-native predators, even in the most inaccessible parts of Scotland. By supporting our appeal, you’ll help us retain these high biosecurity standards and innovations, and ensure our seabirds are protected from non-native threats.
Did you know?
Out of the 25 different seabird species breeding here in the UK, 24 have plummeted to Red or Amber status on the UK’s list of Birds of Conservation Concern.
Donate today
Featured Places
St Kilda
Fragments of the past haunt these islands, now home to the UK’s largest colony of Atlantic puffins
St Abb’s Head
Breathtaking coastal headland with dramatic cliffs, famed for its seabird colonies
Read next
The impact of avian flu
Updated regularly. How avian flu is affecting the birds in our care, and guidance on what to do if you find an unwell bird while out and about.
Concern over slow start to seabird breeding season
Seabird experts at the Trust have raised concerns after observing a slow start to the seabird breeding season as well as a reduction in nesting activity for key species such as fulmars, guillemots and shags.
SOS – Save our Seabirds
The Biosecurity for LIFE project – a partnership between the Trust, the RSPB and the National Trust – recently launched its new campaign: Save Our Seabirds from Invasive Predators.
