Bird flu impact on UK seabirds revealed in RSPB report
A new RSPB report has laid bare the devastating effects of the initial wave of the recent outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI; bird flu) on seabird populations in the UK.
Great Skua, a species that was previously increasing, suffered a 76% decline across surveyed sites since the outbreak. This decline is especially concerning as Scotland alone holds 60% of its global population.
Northern Gannet and Roseate Tern were also on the up before the virus swept through Western Europe. The tern's only functional UK colony is on Coquet Island, Northumberland, where numbers were down 21% in 2023. Gannet numbers have dropped nationwide by a quarter since the outbreak.
The HPAI Seabird Survey Project reports a 76% decline in Great Skua numbers at survey sites since the bird flu outbreak (Patrick Safford).
The report says that the 35% decline in Sandwich Tern and 42% fall in Common Tern numbers were probably also caused by H5N1, the current strain of avian influenza.
Nine other species, all in long-term decline, also showed a fall in number, but the RSPB said that further work is needed to understand the role of HPAI in population changes since the outbreak.
Bird flu report results
The data in the report came as a result of the HPAI Seabird Survey Project, a UK-wide programme of additional, targeted seabird counts in 2023. The census of 14 species was organised in response to the number of reported bird flu fatalities in 2022, in order to ascertain the impact of the virus on UK seabird populations. The UK supports internationally important numbers of many breeding seabird species.
The outbreak was first detected in the UK in 2021 and tens of thousands of seabirds have died since, with HPAI detected in all but four of the 25 regularly breeding seabird species in the country. The virus has also claimed the lives of many other bird species both in the UK and overseas.
The RSPB says these latest counts show that HPAI needs to be taken into account as a new significant threat to the UK's internationally important seabird populations, with 62% of UK seabirds already in decline before HPAI arrived.
