Puffin numbers on Farne Islands rebound after 2008 crash

Puffins on the Isle of May NNR (c) A. Takahashi

The National Trust has just released results for this years puffin count on the Farne Islands, one of a small number of significant breeding sites for puffins in the British Isles. One of the other significant sites for puffins is the Isle of May NNR where CEH's seabird ecologists carry out much of their long-term research. 

The Farne Island count recorded an eight per cent increase in breeding puffin pairs since 2008, from just under 37,000 to just under 40,000 pairs of nesting puffins. The BBC Online story is here.

As regular readers will know CEH scientists carried out a similar puffin census on the Isle of May NNR earlier this year. This found that numbers were at similar levels to 2009 despite this spring’s severe weather. Populations on the Farne Islands and the Isle of May recorded a dramatic crash in numbers between 2003 and 2008.

Responding to the Farne Islands count Professor Mike Harris of CEH said, "The Isle of May puffin population, 100 km to the north of the Farnes, has also shown no sign of a decline in numbers following the 2012 to 2013 winter puffin wreck."

Professor Harris added, "Our recent count on the Isle of May showed that puffin survival over the last winter was not exceptionally low, despite fears after the wreck. The wreck was unusual in that it occurred when puffins were returning to their colonies and were close to land.  It's likely that a very high proportion of the total number of birds that died were found, therefore exaggerating the severity of the mortality."

The National Trust Farne Islands Wildlife micro-site has lots more detail on the count including a puffin-cam. More details of CEH's seabird research on the Isle of May NNR can be found here.

Assessing the 2013 Atlantic Puffin wreck

Three weeks on from the first reports of a puffin ‘wreck’ in Eastern Scotland and NE England CEH’s seabird ecology team are beginning to assess the longer term impact on the overall population. With help from members of the public and organisations such as the RSPB, SNH and the Scottish Seabird Centre we’ve been able to put together a map of locations where dead birds have been reported. Other species have also been found dead on the beaches of the East Coast, including guillemots, razorbills, shags and kittiwakes.

Google Map showing locations of reported seabird 'wrecks'

View 2013 Puffin wreck in a larger map

There are now two key questions: why did it happen and what impact will it have on the populations?

Prof Mike Harris writes, “All the Puffins we have examined so far have been emaciated, had empty stomachs, atrophied breast muscles and lacking subcutaneous and mesenteric fat – in other words the proximate cause of death appears to be starvation. Deciding whether this was due to lack of food, an inability to feed efficiently or to some other factor(s) is much more tricky.”

Later this month (in the week starting 29^th April) CEH scientists and volunteers will carry out an assessment of the puffin population on the Isle of May. We have been monitoring seabird populations on the Isle of May for more than 40 years, and carry out a full count every five years, so by July we hope to know the effects of the 2013 wreck at this colony. As more than half the corpses were of breeding age we expect adult survival to be lower than normal. However, whether this will result in a measurable decrease in numbers breeding is unclear.

Another serious wreck (in 1983) did not result in a demonstrable reduction in breeding numbers of puffins on the Isle of May. However in the 1980s the population was increasing rapidly. The last puffin count on the Isle of May (in 2008) showed that the population was no longer increasing, so it remains to be seen whether it is still sufficiently resilient to cope with the 2013 wreck or if breeding numbers will decline.

Prof Mike Harris and Prof Sarah Wanless of CEH have written a detailed article on the 2013 ‘wreck’ which will be published in the next issue of British Birds (1 May) and also on the British Birds website.

Additional information

Images of the puffin 'wreck' as well as images of puffins on the Isle of May can be found in our recently updated 2013 Puffin 'wreck' Flickr set.

CEH's Seabird Ecology research  

RSPB Scotland

Scottish Natural Heritage

Scottish Seabird Centre