Seabird Colony Thermal Welfare | Animal Welfare Hub

Rising temperatures at seabird colonies create thermal stress for nesting adults and chicks, with significant welfare implications for species like gannets, guillemots, and puffins.

Key Facts

Seabird chicks at exposed nest sites experience heat stress when air temperatures exceed species-specific thresholds
Parental shading behaviour increases with temperature but has limits beyond which adults abandon nests temporarily
Climate projections indicate increasing frequency of heat events at UK seabird colonies
Kittiwakes at Newcastle's Baltic Centre have adapted to urban heat island effects over time
Gannet colonies like Bass Rock can show extensive nest abandonment during extreme heat events
Chick mortality from hyperthermia is increasingly documented at warming colonies worldwide
Long-term monitoring reveals population-level responses to thermal stress at colony level

Welfare Considerations

Thermal stress at seabird colonies causes genuine welfare harm to individual birds - adults forced to choose between feeding and shading chicks, and chicks exposed to lethal overheating. The welfare impacts of climate change on seabirds are real, current, and worsening. Addressing climate change is the ultimate welfare intervention for seabirds; local habitat management can provide supplementary shade at some colonies.

What You Can Do

Support climate action as a fundamental seabird welfare intervention
Donate to seabird monitoring and conservation organisations like the RSPB and Seabird Group
Visit seabird colonies respectfully and at appropriate distances to avoid adding thermal disturbance stress
Support habitat restoration that provides shade and windbreaks at accessible colony sites
Reduce your personal carbon footprint to contribute to slowing the pace of colony warming