Puffins make poor diet choices when the chips are down

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

by University of Southampton

A new study has shown that Britain's puffins may struggle to adapt to changes in their North Sea feeding grounds and researchers are calling for better use of marine protection areas (MPAs) to help protect the country's best known seabirds. Britain's coasts support globally important populations of many species of seabird, but they face many challenges as their established habitats change.

Scientists at the University of Southampton and the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology studied the diet and distribution of Atlantic puffins and razorbills on the Isle of May National Nature Reserve, off the coast of southeast Scotland.

They studied the seabirds' over-winter feeding habits and found that during the 2014 to 2015 winter, when conditions were good, both species foraged close to their breeding colony eating a diet consisting mostly of lipid-rich fish such as sandeels. However in the 2007 to 2008 winter, conditions were not as good and the small fish populations were mainly concentrated further out in the southern North Sea. Whilst the razorbills flew farther away from the breeding colony in order to maintain their healthy diet, the puffins stayed closer in, eating a poorer quality diet of crustacea, polychaete worms and snake pipefish. The researchers found that fewer birds survived to return to the colony in the spring of 2008 compared to 2015, with puffins being more severely affected than razorbills.

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Mystery as 20,000 dead or dying birds showing signs of starvation wash up in the Netherlands

The fish-eating guillemots have been washing up on beaches in the Netherlands

However the sudden bird deaths have not been reported in Belgium or Germany

Scientists are planning a mass autopsy in an effort to shed light on the mystery 

By AFP

PUBLISHED: 15:20, 6 February 2019 | UPDATED: 15:46, 6 February 2019

Dutch scientists have been left baffled after 20,000 dead or dying seabirds washed up on North Sea beaches in a phenomenon not seen for decades.

The fish-eating guillemots have been washing up between the northern Wadden Islands and southwestern Zeeland - all showing symptoms of severe starvation, a marine biologist said.

However the bird deaths are confined only to Dutch shores, with nothing reported in Belgium or Germany. 

Scientists are now planning a mass autopsy of hundreds of dead birds next week, hoping to shed more light on the mystery. 

'What's killing them is the million-dollar question,' Mardik Leopold, a maritime researcher for Wageningen University, told AFP.

'And we still don't know what the answer is. It's an alarming situation,' he added.

'The last time we saw high mortality rates like this was in the 1980s and 1990s.' 

High winds and stormy winter seas also could affect the birds' feeding patterns on herring and sprat as they become too fatigued to eat, Leopold said.

'But again, why are the deaths only localised to the Netherlands? Surely we're not the only place experiencing winter weather?' said Leopold.

Dutch media have raised the question of whether the deaths may be linked to a recent container spill, littering the Dutch and German coast lines with debris, including plastic toys, polystyrene, shoes and at least one bag with a dangerous powder identified by authorities as 'organic peroxide.'

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Eagle-eyed North-east lifeboat crew swoops in to save bird found flapping around

A lifeboat crew has made one its most unusual rescues – plucking a struggling bird from the North Sea.

Members of Fraserburgh RNLI had been training off the coast of the North-east town on Thursday night

During a man overboard training exercise crew members spotted the struggling creature and pulled it to safety in a bucket.

Crewman Jason Flett said: “We were out training and we noticed there was a small bird trying to make for the boat all the time.

“We noticed it kept coming, and any time the boat shifted the bird kept coming, so we realised it was looking for attention or wanting help.

“I grabbed a bucket and scooped it out of the water and put it on the deck and when we came back ashore a member of the crew organised for the RSPB to come and pick the bird up.”

Coxwain Victor Sutherland – who has been with the RNLI 22 years – was in the water when the bird made for the boat.

He said: “It’s one of our stranger rescues.

“I was in the water and I could see the bird flapping about. I’ve never ever seen that with birds before.



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