Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-g7rbq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-29T17:03:17.776Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The breeding seabirds of the Firth of Forth, Scotland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2011

M. P. Harris ,
S. Wanless  and
R. W. J. Smith
M. P. Harris
Affiliation:
Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, Hill of Brathens, Banchory, Kincardineshire AB3 4BY, Scotland, U.K.
S. Wanless
Affiliation:
Nature Conservancy Council, 46 Crossgate, Cupar, Fife KY15 5HS, Scotland, U.K.
R. W. J. Smith
Affiliation:
33 Hunter Terrace, Loanhead, Midlothian EH20, 9SJ, Scotland, U.K.
Get access

Synopsis

The seabird colonies in the Firth of Forth are spectacular. Although the total numbers of individual birds of most species are relatively small, the populations of gannet, herring and lesser black-backed gulls, sandwich, roseate, little and common terns make up more than 10% of the Scottish total. Numbers of fulmar, shag, cormorant, great black-backed gull, kittiwake, guillemot, razorbill and puffin have all increased, the rates varying from 4% per annum (kittiwake) to 20% p.a. (puffin). The numbers of cormorants stabilised soon after the species colonised the Forth in 1957. The period of rapid increase in guillemot numbers may now be over. Numbers of little terns have probably increased, but roseate and common terns have both declined and the number of sandwich terns is more-or-less stable. Herring and lesser black-backed gulls both increased dramatically up to 1972, since when breeding birds have been culled. The herring gull then decreased significantly, but the situation is less clear in the lesser black-backed gull. We set these changes in a wider context and discuss some possible reasons for the observed population trends.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Section B: Biological Sciences , Volume 93 , Issue 3-4: The Natural Environment of the Estuary and Firth of Forth , 1987 , pp. 521 - 533
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1987

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aebischer, N. J. 1986. Retrospective investigation of an ecological disaster in the Shag, Phalacrocorax aristotelis: A general method based on long-term marking. Journal of Animal Ecology 55, 613–629.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baxter, E. V. & Rintoul, L. J. 1953. The Birds of Scotland, Vol. 2. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd.Google Scholar
Benn, S., Tasker, M. L. & Reid, A. 1987. Changes in numbers of cliff-nesting seabirds in Orkney, 1976–1985. Seabird 10, 51–57.Google Scholar
Brown, A. W. 1983. The fulmars of Holyrood Park, Edinburgh. Scottish Birds 12, 228–229.Google Scholar
Campbell, L. H. (ed.) 1978. Report of the Forth Ornithological Working Party. Unpublished report to the Nature Conservancy Council.Google Scholar
Chabrzyk, G. & Coulson, J. C. 1976. Survival and recruitment in the herring gull Larus argentatus. Journal of Animal Ecology 45, 187–203.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coulson, J. C. 1963. The status of the kittiwake in the British Isles. Bird Study 10, 147–179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coulson, J. C. 1983. The changing status of the kittiwake Rissa tridactyla in the British Isles, 1969–1979. Bird Study 30, 9–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coulson, J. C., Duncan, N. & Thomas, C. 1982. Changes in the breeding biology of the herring gull (Larus argentatus) induced by reduction in the size and density of the colony. Journal of Animal Ecology 51, 739–756.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cramp, S., Bourne, W. R. P. & Saunders, D. 1974. The Seabirds of Britain and Ireland. London: Collins.Google Scholar
Duncan, N., 1981. The lesser black-backed gull on the Isle of May. Scottish Birds 11, 180–188.Google Scholar
Dunn, E. K. 1981. Roseates on a life-line. Birds 8, 42–45.Google Scholar
Eggeling, W. J. 1960. The Isle of May. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd.Google Scholar
Eggeling, W. J. 1974. The birds of the Isle of May. Scottish Birds 8, suppl.Google Scholar
Evans, P. G. H. 1984. Status and conservation of seabirds in northwest Europe. In Status and Conservation of the World's Seabirds, eds. Croxall, J. P., Evans, P. G. H. & Schreiber, R. W., pp. 293–321. Cambridge: ICPB.Google Scholar
Galbraith, H. 1983. The diet and feeding ecology of breeding kittiwakes Rissa tridactyla. Bird Study 30, 109–120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harris, M. P. 1984. The Puffin. Calton: Poyser.Google Scholar
Harris, M. P. & Galbraith, H. 1983. Seabird populations of the Isle of May. Scottish Birds 12, 174–180.Google Scholar
Harris, M. P. & Wanless, S. 1986. The food of young razorbills on the Isle of May and a comparison with that of young guillemots and puffins. Ornis scandinavica 17, 41–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harris, M. P. & Wanless, S. 1988. The breeding biology of guillemots Uria aalge on the Isle of May over a six year period. Ibis 130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heubeck, M., Richardson, M. G. & Dore, C. P. 1986. Monitoring numbers of kittiwakes Rissa tridactyla in Shetland. Seabird 9, 32–42.Google Scholar
Lloyd, C. S. & North, S. G. 1987. The seabirds of Troup and Pennan Heads (Grampian) 1979–1986. Scottish Birds 14, 199–218.Google Scholar
Mudge, G. P. 1986. Trends of population changes at colonies of cliff-nesting seabirds in the Moray Firth. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 91B, 73–80.Google Scholar
Nelson, J. B. 1962. Notes from the Bass Rock, 1962. Scottish Birds 2, 357–360.Google Scholar
Pearson, T. H. 1968. The feeding biology of sea-bird species breeding on Farne Islands, Northumberland. Journal of Animal Ecology 37, 521–552.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Potts, G. R. 1969. The influence of eruptive movements, age, population size and other factors on the survival of the shag, Phalacrocorax aristotelis. Journal of Animal Ecology 38, 53–102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rintoul, L. J. & Baxter, E. V. 1935. A Vertebrate Fauna of Forth. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd.Google Scholar
Robeson, C. K. 1986. St Abb's Head Seabird Census 1986. Unpublished. Nature Conservancy Council report.Google Scholar
Sandeman, G. L. 1963. Roseate and sandwich tern colonies in the Forth and neighbouring areas. Scottish Birds 2, 286–293.Google Scholar
Smith, R. W. J. 1961. The spread of some sea-bird colonies in the Forth. Scottish Birds 1, 475–479.Google Scholar
Smith, R. W. J. 1966. The seabirds of the Forth islands. Seabird Bulletin 2, 58–60.Google Scholar
Smith, R. W. J. 1969. Scottish cormorant colonies. Scottish Birds 5, 363–378.Google Scholar
Smith, R. W. J. 1974. Seabirds of Inchkeith. Edinburgh Ringing Group Report 2, 7–12.Google Scholar
Smout, A. M. 1986. The Birds of Fife. Edinburgh: John Donald.Google Scholar
Stowe, T. J. & Harris, M. P. 1984. Status of guillemots and razorbills in Britain and Ireland. Seabird 7, 5–18.Google Scholar
Thom, V. M. 1986. Birds in Scotland. Calton: Poyser.Google Scholar
Thomas, G. J. 1982. Breeding terns in Britain and Ireland, 1975–79. Seabird Report 1977–1981, 59–69.Google Scholar
Wanless, S. 1987. A survey of the numbers and breeding distribution of the North Atlantic gannet Sula bassana and an assessment of the changes which have occurred since Operation Seafarer 1969/70. Research and survey in nature conservation 4.Google Scholar
Wanless, S. & Ewins, P. J. 1985. Isle of May NNR Summer Wardens' Report. Unpublished Nature Conservancy Council Report.Google Scholar