Wild Gannet Chick Welfare at Nesting Colonies

Gannet chick welfare at breeding colonies is affected by food availability, plastic entanglement in nests and human disturbance during the critical rearing period.

Key Facts

Gannet chicks take approximately 90 days to fledge, requiring intensive parental feeding
Both parents undertake fishing trips of up to 200 km to bring fish to the chick
Chick starvation occurs in poor food availability years when mackerel and herring are scarce
Plastic incorporated into nest structures entangles chicks, causing limb constriction and death
Human disturbance at colonies causes adult departure, leaving eggs and chicks exposed
Gannets are colonial nesters with aggressive territory defence between adjacent pairs
Chick mortality from poor weather including prolonged wet periods is significant
UK gannet colonies are increasing overall despite plastic and climate threats

Welfare Considerations

Gannet chick welfare is most threatened by food scarcity, plastic entanglement and colony disturbance. Chicks starving due to insufficient parental provisioning experience prolonged distress. Entanglement injuries from nest plastic cause limb ischaemia and death. Human disturbance of adults causes thermal and predation exposure of vulnerable chicks. Reducing plastic in marine environments and maintaining appropriate exclusion zones around nesting colonies are the most impactful welfare interventions for this thriving but threatened seabird.

What You Can Do

Support beach clean operations to reduce plastic reaching gannet nesting colonies
Never approach gannet nesting colonies - observe from boats at safe distances
Support RSPB seabird monitoring at Bass Rock and other major UK gannet colonies
Advocate for fishing quotas that maintain sandeels and other forage fish abundance
Report unusual gannet mortality events to the RSPB seabird monitoring programme