Seabirds and Seaducks

Seabirds and seaduck comprise those species of bird that depend wholly or mainly on the marine environment for their survival. They spend the major part 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.

 

True seabirds, which include members of the orders Sphenisciformes (penguins), Procellariiformes (albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters), Pelecaniformes (pelicans, cormorants, tropicbirds, frigate-birds), and Charadriiformes (skuas, gulls, terns, noddies, skimmers, auks).

 

Twenty-five species of seabird in six families (Procellariidae – petrels and shearwaters; Hydrobatidae – storm-petrels; Phalacrocoracidae – cormorants and shags; Stercoraridae – skuas; Laridae – gulls and terns; and Alcidae – auks) breed in the UK. In addition, many other non-breeding species occur regulalrly in the seas around the UK at various times throughout the year.

 

Seaduck include those species of duck (the family Anatidae) that largely feed in and breed adjacent to the sea, especially in the non-breeding seasons. About nine species occur regularly around UK coasts

 

UK waters host important populations of seabirds and seaduck at all times of the year. The ways in which humans exploit these waters is not always compatible with the ecological requirements of these birds. For example, direct competition for prey might occur between seabirds and seaduck and the fishing and shellfish industries, seaduck habitat might be rendered unavailable to birds by windfarm developments, and oil pollution incidents have been known to kill many thousands of seabirds and seaduck. Of course, birds may also benefit from human exploitation of the sea; populations of many species are thought to have increased greatly during the 20th century through exploitation of fisheries waste and discards at sea.

 

Both UK and national and international legislation exists to promote the proper conservation of seabirds and seaduck. In particular, two international instruments exist that aim to ensure populations remain at sustainable levels. The African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement, established under the Bonn Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species, obliges signatories, including the UK, to monitor migratory species of duck outwith the breeding season. The EU Birds Directive requires that EU member states must classify Special Protection Areas, not only on land but also in the marine environment, for those species on Annex I of the Directive and also those regularly occurring migratory species not on Annex I; these comprise several species of seabird and seaduck.

 

JNCC seeks to ensure that an adequate information base exists to support existing legal obligations and to enable other stakeholders to meet theirs in resepect of the seabird and seaduck resource in UK land and sea areas. It does this by conducting and commissioning research and survey of birds at breeding colonies and also at sea.

 

JNCC directs and carries out:

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 such as the Falkland Islands.