Seabirds and Seaduck
Seabirds and seaduck comprise those species of bird that
depend wholly or mainly on the marine environment for their
survival. They spend the majority of their lives at sea, exploiting
its surface and the water column to varying depths for food. Most
of these species come ashore only to breed.
The are over seven million breeding seabirds
in the UK, composed of 25 species in 6 families
(Procellariidae – petrels and shearwaters;
Hydrobatidae – storm-petrels; Phalacrocoracidae –
cormorants and shags; Stercoraridae – skuas;
Laridae – gulls and terns; and Alcidae – auks). A
further 13 species or more regularly occur in UK waters, but breed
elsewhere. Thirteen species of seabird that breed in the UK are
present in internationally important numbers.
Inshore UK waters host large numbers of wintering seaduck,
divers (Gaviidae) and grebes (Podicepididae). UK
populations of seaduck include the common eider Somateria
mollissima, scoter Melanitta sp., greater
scaup Aythya marila, long-tailed duck Clangula
hyemalils, common goldeneye Bucephala clangula and
sawbills Mergus sp.
Population Trends
Breeding seabird population trends have been
used by UK Government as a
‘sustainable development strategy indicator’ and there was an
increase in population size during the 1970s, 80s and early 1990s.
However, in recent years, seabird breeding success in some parts of
the UK has been very low and the total number of seabirds breeding in the UK is
estimated to have declined by around 600k, or 9%, since 2000.
Not all species have declined, but those showing the steepest
declines since the mid 1990s are those that feed on small shoaling
fish such as sandeels. Seabird breeding success and over-winter
survival has been lowered by a shortage of this food source, caused
by climate driven changes to the food chain. These impacts are
likely to worsen as the UK’s seas continue to warm up. To mitigate
these impacts, it is possible to reduce other substantial pressures
from fishing and from non-native species that predate seabird eggs
and young, for example American mink and brown rat.
Conservation
Seabird and seaduck conservation is an
important aspect of UK implementation of the EC Birds
Directive, which concerns the conservation of wild birds and
their habitats. With one exception (black guillemot), all seabird
and seaduck species must be accorded protection within Special
Protection Areas (SPAs).
The UK is also a signatory of the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA),
established under the Bonn Convention on the Conservation of Migratory
Species. Parties to AEWA are called upon to engage in species and
habitat conservation, management of human activities, research and
monitoring, and education and information.
The role of JNCC
JNCC seeks to ensure that an adequate
information base exists to support existing legal obligations and
to enable other stakeholders to meet theirs in respect of the
seabird and seaduck resource in UK land and sea areas. It does this
by conducting and commissioning research and surveillance of birds
at breeding colonies and also at sea.
In addition to marine bird work in and around
the UK and Europe, JNCC carries out and advises on seabird research
and survey in other parts of the world, notably the Overseas
Territories, for example the Falkland Islands.