Puffin numbers down in survey after tough winter

Numbers of puffins breeding on an island fell this year as seabird species struggled with a difficult winter, the National Trust has said.

The Farne Islands, off the coast of Northumberland, is home to about 220,000 seabirds each summer and the annual survey showed a mixed picture, with black-headed gulls, razorbills and gadwalls seeing increases.

Meanwhile, European shags, Arctic terns, northern fulmars and common guillemots also saw breeding numbers fall in the wake of a hard winter in the North Atlantic when three storms contributed to a major seabird wreck.

Conservationists warned the scale of the event showed how vulnerable seabirds were to extreme weather caused by climate change.

More than 38,000 seabirds were stranded along the Atlantic coasts of Spain, Portugal and France as a result of the storms, while hundreds of puffins washed ashore in south-west England, in what is thought to be Europe's largest seabird wreck since 2014.

In February, dozens of dead puffins were found on beaches around north-east England.

But the annual survey showed a mixed picture overall for wildlife.

Atlantic puffins saw numbers of breeding pairs fall 12% from 38,559 last year to 33,939 this year.

The National Trust said long-term monitoring showed declines of more than a fifth since 2018, with similar declines recorded at neighbouring colonies.

There was better news for the ground-nesting birds, however, with an average of 0.89 chicks fledging per occupied burrow, up from 0.78 in 2025 and 0.51 in 2024.

And while puffin numbers declined overall on the Farnes, they increased slightly on Inner Farne, so rangers said they were looking carefully at why the birds are doing better on that island to help protect and manage their breeding habitat.

The count by rangers also showed European shags had one of the steepest declines among the birds which nest there, falling 42% from 96 to 56 breeding pairs.

Senior ranger Sophia Jackson-Chaytor, said: "Puffins and shags are both particularly vulnerable to severe winter weather, but for different reasons.

"Puffins spend much of the winter far out at sea, where repeated storms and rough conditions can make it harder to find food and increase the energy they need simply to survive.

"Shags stay closer to the coast and their feathers aren't fully waterproof, which helps them dive for food but means they need to regularly return to land to dry out.

"Prolonged periods of wet and stormy weather can therefore be particularly challenging for them."

The survey found Arctic terns fell 27% from 519 to 377 pairs, northern fulmars were down 21% from 235 to 186 breeding pairs and common guillemot numbers fell 11% from 44,509 to 39,059.

But it was better news for black-headed gulls, whose numbers increased by 55% from 128 to 198 pairs, as they recovered after being hit by avian flu in 2022.

And their increased presence could have benefits for smaller breeding birds on the Farnes, such as Sandwich and common terns, as their colonies provide protection from larger predatory gulls, the National Trust said.

Razorbills also saw an increase in numbers, of 17% from 408 to 478 pairs, while rangers found four gadwall nests, following their first ever recorded breeding on the islands in 2024 and no nests in 2025.

Head of nature conservation at the National Trust, Ben McCarthy, said: "The Farne Islands are one of the UK's most important seabird sanctuaries, so the trends we're seeing here matter far beyond Northumberland.

"This year's census highlights the growing pressures facing seabirds and how those pressures can combine, making populations less resilient to future challenges."

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