Published in Scotland Magazine Issue 21 on 10/07/2005.

This article is 40 months old and some information provided may be time sensitive. Please check all details of events, tours, opening times and other information before travelling or making arrangements.

Bucking the trend

While some species of bird are struggling, Britain’s most distinctive sea bird is thriving reports Graham Holliday

The puffin is Scotland’s most distinctive sea bird. It mates for life and returns to the same cliff top burrow to nest every March.

Britain hosts nearly a million of the small black and white birds each year. The majority of those nest in Scotland before leaving for the Bay of Biscay in August. In season the islands of Orkney and Shetland teem with the brightly billed parrotlike birds which are closely related to the razorbill and little auk.

According to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) 2004 was a ‘disastrous year’ for Scotland’s sea birds. Whole species failed to breed, but puffins bucked the trend and are on the increase.

“The Lothian coast is excellent for breeding sea birds with large concentrations of birds breeding on the islands and seashores,” says David Kelly, the Lothian bird reporter for the Scottish Ornithologist’s Club.

“There has been long term declines in kittewake and shag numbers, but other species are on the up, especially puffins.” Sea birds are long lived, puffins can live for up to 29 years, and only need to raise two chicks in a lifetime to sustain numbers. They lay just one egg every year, but a bad breeding year doesn’t mean there’s any lack of birds on the cliffs.

Martin Heubeck has been monitoring sea bird breeding at the RSPB reserve of Sumburgh Head on Shetland for nearly 30 years.

“There’s still plenty to see on the cliffs, even if the season doesn’t go well,” he says. “2004 represented an all-time low in the breeding fo.....

To read the rest of this article you can buy this issue or subscribe to Scotland Magazine to have every issue delivered direct to your door.

By Graham Holiday

Section : Scottish Wildlife

Page number : 22