Scientists plan to bring back extinct bird species

August 21, 2016 | UPDATED 14:20 IST

London, Aug 21 (PTI) Scientists are planning to bring the extinct great auk back from the dead, almost 200 years after the penguin-sized, flightless birds disappeared.

A team of researchers met at the International Centre for Life in Newcastle to discuss reintroducing the flightless marine birds onto the Farne islands off the north-east coast of England.

Until the species final extinction in the middle of the 19th century, great auks ranged across the Atlantic from Northern Europe to Iceland, Canada and the US.

The size of a medium penguin, it lived in the open ocean except for when it waddled ashore for breeding.

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Puffin census on Farne Islands shows numbers rising

Puffin numbers in a habitat in the north-east of England are making a comeback despite thousands having perished in severe winter storms.

A census on the Farne Islands, off the coast of Northumberland, showed there had been an 8% increase from the last count in 2008.

There are now just under 40,000 pairs of nesting puffins across the eight National Trust-owned islands.

But numbers are still lower than the 55,674 living on the islands in 2003.

Dozens of seabirds were washed up along the coast of north-east England and Scotland in March, with experts blaming weather conditions, as well a shortage of food.

A team of 11 rangers have been checking thousands of burrows on the Farne Islands in search of nesting puffins since May.

David Steel, head ranger on the Farne Islands, said the rise in numbers was a "positive result and a step forward following worrying declines in recent years".

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Puffin count starts on Farne Islands

5 yearly census underway 

May 2013. A Puffin census has begun at the north east's most amazing wildlife habitat, the windswept Farne Islands, as National Trust rangers attempt to find how many breeding pairs of these iconic birds live on the Islands. 

Every 5 years

The census takes place every five years and records date back to 1939 when 3,000 breeding pairs were recorded. 

2008 showed first decine

Until 2008, each survey since the census began 65 years ago showed a steady increase in pairs of puffins on the Farne Islands, but the last count indicated numbers had fallen by a third. The 2008 survey recorded 36,500 pairs of puffins across eight islands compared to 55,674 pairs living on the Islands in the 2003 census. 

How to count a puffin

This spring and summer a team of eleven National Trust rangers will be travelling between eight of the Farne Islands to carry out the mammoth task of counting every single bird. Puffins nest underground in burrows, which means the rangers will have to put their arms into the holes to make sure that the nests are occupied during the comprehensive count. 

David Steel, Head Ranger for the Farne Islands told us: "We've been monitoring a small section of the Farnes every year since the last census in 2008 and have seen a small increase in numbers in this area. We're hoping to see an increase overall numbers this year but you can't tell after the winter we've just had." 

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