Britain’s adorable puffins have had a tough run of it recently. They were already ranked on the ‘red list’ of our most endangered birds when they then faced a vicious wave of disease. Thankfully, the affectionately nicknamed ‘clowns of the sea’ have been spared the fate of the dodo, and a welcome boost to their numbers has been reported.
The good news is all thanks to the National Nature Reserve on the remote Farne Islands, just off the coast of Northumberland. The rugged rocks dotted with lighthouses are home to around 200,000 sea birds like Arctic terns, kittiwakes and, of course, puffins.
Researchers were worried about how puffins were coping after a devastating bird flu on the islands in 2022 and 2023 killed nearly a thousand of them. Fortunately, a new study by the National Trust has found that the deadly outbreak seems to be over. That means conservation workers have returned and visitors can ferry out to the islands to enjoy the scenery and hang out with the winged locals.
National Trust Area Ranger on the Farne Islands Sophia Jackson said: ‘We just didn’t know what to expect with this year’s count. We feared the worse … but it’s been amazing to get this positive news; and it seems due to the species’ own self-isolating behaviours that they have weathered this particular storm.’
The study found puffin numbers had risen to around 50,000 breeding pairs, a healthy 15 percent increase from the last tally done in 2019. It also found that more puffins have moved their fledgling families further into the islands, while seals were moving up the shoreline to protect their pups from the crashing waves.
Puffins are the only type of seabirds that protect their eggs in burrows within the islands. These burrows are used by researchers, who estimate bird numbers by checking whether puffin parents are returning with food, and looking for signs of hatched eggshells.
The National Trust says studies like this are super important to keep track of bird and animal populations and help them manage the threats of climate change. Sadly UK puffin populations could drop by 90 percent by 2050 if world temperatures keep ticking up. Ben McCarthy, Head of Nature and Restoration Ecology at the Trust said that ‘long term monitoring is vital for ensuring that we can plan for the future of all our seabirds.
‘[The research] suggests that the Farne Islands is becoming an increasingly important site for the birds – and will be an important early bellwether for how they are doing in the face of our changing climate.’
Did you see that Britain’s tallest bird has just hatched in Cambridgeshire for the first time in 400 years?
Want to learn more about our feathered friends? Spread your wings at the Natural History Museum's Bird exhibition
Get the latest and greatest from the Big Smoke – from news and reviews to events and trends. Just follow our Time Out London WhatsApp channel.
Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out London newsletter for the best of the city, straight to your inbox.