The latest status assessment of breeding seabird species in the United Kingdom has been published (Monday 2 September 2024). This addendum completes the 2021 Birds of Conservation Concern 5 (BoCC5) review and updates the second International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List review of extinction risk for breeding seabird species in Great Britain.
Seabird species were assessed against a set of standardised criteria and, apart from two that no longer breed here, were placed on either the Green, Amber or Red list – indicating an increasing level of conservation concern. When combined with the results from the 2021 BoCC5 review, these results show that 73 (30%) of 245 regularly occurring bird species are now on the UK Red list.
Due to substantial population declines, five seabird species were added to the UK Red list: Arctic Tern, Leach’s Storm-petrel, Common Gull, Great Black-backed Gull and Great Skua, which now contains a total of 10 seabird species.
The assessment does, however, contain some good news with two species, Shag and Black Guillemot moving from Red to Amber and Amber to Green, respectively.
Seabird populations face increasing threats from overfishing, bycatch, predators, offshore energy development, climate change, and emerging diseases like Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza.
Dr Gemma Harper OBE, Chief Executive of JNCC said "The worsening status of some of the UK’s breeding seabirds highlights how our marine environment is struggling to withstand the demands we are making of it and the increasing impacts of climate change. Our monitoring activities, through the Seabird Monitoring Programme and Seabirds Count, are vital for identifying the main drivers of seabird population change, highlighting what research is needed to develop and test effective management options, and provide the building blocks of future seabird conservation and recovery,"
BoCC is produced in partnership with the RSPB, British Trust for Ornithology, Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Natural England, Natural Resources Wales, Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (NI), NatureScot and Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust.
Full details of this assessment can be found in 'The status of the UK’s breeding seabirds: an addendum to the fifth Birds of Conservation Concern in the United Kingdom, Channel Islands and Isle of Man and second IUCN Red List assessment of extinction risk for Great Britain', published in British Birds.