Seabird Colony Climate Threats | Animal Welfare Hub

Seabird colonies in the UK and globally are experiencing breeding failure linked to climate-driven changes in fish prey availability, timing, and distribution.

Key Facts

UK seabird populations have declined by 20-30% since the 1990s
Kittiwake populations have crashed by over 70% in parts of the North Sea
Warming seas have shifted sand lance and herring distributions northward away from colonies
Chick starvation when parents cannot find sufficient fish is the primary welfare harm
Seabirds on Scottish islands show near-complete breeding failure in poor prey years

Welfare Considerations

Seabird chick starvation is a welfare catastrophe that plays out at colony scale: thousands of chicks fed insufficient food slow-starve over days to weeks while parents make increasingly desperate foraging trips. The welfare harm is massive in scale and caused entirely by climate-driven changes in prey distribution. Individual seabirds experiencing this are cognitively sophisticated birds with long memories and individual personalities. The systemic welfare solution — climate action — must be complemented by marine protected area expansion and fisheries management that maintains prey fish populations.

What You Can Do

Support climate action as the primary seabird welfare intervention
Donate to RSPB seabird monitoring and protection programmes
Support expansion of marine protected areas in seabird foraging range
Reduce consumption of sand lance and small pelagic species from seabird feeding grounds
Engage with fishing industry on management of forage fish critical to seabirds