Save seabird chicks from danger

Each year, too many vulnerable seabird chicks die before their life has properly begun. When non-native predators such as rats, mink or stoats invade seabird nesting islands they eat eggs, chicks and even adult birds, devastating their numbers. 

Your support today could help keep these chicks safe. Every penny will help our new Seabird Protection Teams keep predators away from 42 UK islands.

Our islands are a globally important haven for just under 8 million breeding seabirds. Yet we’ve lost almost a quarter of them in just 33 years. Please act now to protect our young seabirds.

We have identified 42 UK islands that urgently need our protection. Many are currently free from non-native predators, yet few have an up-to-date plan in place to keep them that way.

You can change this by supporting our Seabird Protection Teams. Together we can keep seabird islands safe by:

• Preventing predators coming ashore by training local islanders in biosecurity
• Responding to alarm calls if non-native predators are spotted
• Intervening early to remove non-native predators before any problems get out of hand

These preventative measures will help seabirds continue to raise their young in safety on our most precious breeding islands.

If non-native predators ever reached these islands, the price paid by young seabirds would be terrible.

In 2000, before rats were removed from Lundy Island, just 10 pairs of puffins remained from a population of 3,500 pairs in 1939.

The puffin population has now recovered to 375. Overall, seabird numbers on Lundy have trebled to over 21,000.

Nevertheless, keeping predators away in the first place is much more cost-effective than the millions it costs to deal with a problem that has got out of control.

Please support our appeal today to keep our wonderful seabird breeding colonies safe.