Starving seabirds being found across Scotland and Northern Ireland.
11/03/2007 00:00:00![news/StarvingguillemotSNH[1]](/resources/listimg/news/StarvingguillemotSNH[1]@body.JPG)
Guillemots in Scotland.
- More tham 1/2 million pairs of common guillemots breed in the UK, with large colonies on RSPB reserves in Orkney, Shetland and at sites on Ailsa Craig and Fowlsheugh.
- Common guillemots weigh between 800gms - 1 kg, but many of found this week weighed just 400gms.
- Guillemots, and species like puffins and razorbills, only visit Scotland’s coast and islands for a few months in the summer, before returning to the sea with their young after fledging. The birds are very reliant on healthy populations of fish – especially sand eels, and often form large feeding flocks or ‘rafts’ many hundreds strong.
If you find any dead or sick guillemots...
- RSPB Scotland would like to ask anyone finding dead or dying guillemots to let them know by calling 0141 331 0993. Common guillemots are a slim seabird (slightly smaller than a duck) with dark grey or black upper parts and a white breast, and could be seen swimming on the surface of the water or walking along the shoreline.
- If you find sick or injured guillemots (that can be contained) please contact the Scottish SPCA only on 0870 73 77722.
Several guillemots have also been reported from highly unusual inland locations including the centre of Glasgow, Crianlarich and Loch Awe, and some birds also reportedly seen attempting to swim upstream of small burns.
There have been similar reports from Northern Ireland, and both RSPB Scotland and Scottish Natural Heritage are assessing the extent of the Scottish situation in Argyll especially.
Common guillemots only lay 1 egg each year and breed all around the coast of Scotland. They have suffered a severe decline in numbers over recent years as their key food source may have been depleted through over-fishing and warming seas.
Monitoring has shown that guillemots had suffered from low productivity during the 2006 breeding season, with many colonies failing to raise young on east and west coast breeding sites such as the Isle of May and Ailsa Craig. Tests on guillemots found in Northern Ireland and Scotland revealed that many of the birds were severely underweight and had empty stomachs, suggesting a lack of food to be a key factor. Young guillemots searching for food may also explain sightings further inland from their usual feeding areas.
Dr Norman Ratcliffe, Senior Research Biologist with RSPB Scotland said: ‘Although post-fledging deaths of guillemots such as those reported in recent days are typical in any year, this is a particularly high number of birds in a more unusual area – indicating that a bad season has perhaps been worse than first thought. Hopefully, there will still be a sufficient number of surviving young guillemots to breed as adults when they reach maturity in six years time’.
Kara Brydson, Marine and Coastal Policy Officer with RSPB Scotland added: ‘Seabirds such as guillemots are the ‘coalmine canaries’ of our seas, giving us an indication of the health of the oceans and much of the wildlife that depends on them. Incidents such as these guillemot ‘wrecks’, although not uncommon, suggest that factors such as climate change maybe having an effect’.
