Black-legged kittiwake Rissa tridactyla, adult standing on a potential nest site, St Agnes, Isles of Scilly

Starving seabirds

Our seabirds are already being affected by climate change - in the North Sea, the temperature has risen by 1C in just 25 years.

The changes felt by seabirds

At the top of the marine food web, seabirds are a visible sign of the changes taking place below the surface. They are sensitive to disruptions in the food chain.

Sand eels are disappearing due to dramatic changes in their plankton diet.

In turn, birds are not finding enough sandeel food to sustain them and their young.

Find out what is happening to our seabirds and the marine environment on which they, and their young, depend.

Herring gull Larus argentatus, adult bird standing in thrift, Annet, Isles of Scilly, UK

Seabirds in danger

Kittiwake pair standing on rock, Isle of May National Nature reserve

Norman Ratcliffe, a senior research biologist at the RSPB, reports on how climate change is causing widespread breeding failure among our seabird colonies

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Orkney's vanishing seabirds

Arctic tern Sterna paradisaea, on nest, Farne Islands (National Trust)

Erik Meek lived and worked in the Orkney Islands for more than 30 years. He saw some major changes in the seabirds there - some of which are undoubtedly the result of climate change.

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