RSPB Science

@rspbscience

Research, reports, and citizen science from the RSPB Centre for Conservation Science

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RSPB Science@rspbscience· 19d

Two likely explanations for these results are: 1) A decline in the Atlantic breeding population of Storm-petrels 2) Changes in their migratory behaviour Understanding whether one - or both – of these explanations is correct is essential to inform conservation efforts for this tiny seabird.

Mist nets at the field study site in Portugal. A translucent net is suspended beside a cliff, forming repeating arcing loops above the sea at sunset and framing a rocky shoreline where a few people stand and watch.

RSPB Science@rspbscience· 19d

Over this 27-year study in Portugal 6,786 Storm-petrels were captured and released during their migration north, providing valuable insights into these seabirds. This research revealed that the number of Storm-petrels being caught by researchers each hour has fallen by 69% over the study period

Figure from the paper: Long-term decline in the hourly capture rate of European Storm-petrels in south-west Portugal. Fitted lines are model predictions (dashed lines = ±95% CI) from models without environmental variables (blue) and with environmental variables
(orange). Predictions were based on median values for time of night 01:00, and Julian day 165 in both models. Model predictions with environmental variables (2006–2017) were also based on median values for wind speed 3.2 kph, wind direction 180°, sea surface temperature 14.35 °C and a moon luminosity of 0.

RSPB Science@rspbscience· 19d

New research reveals a substantial decline in the number of European Storm-petrels caught by researchers over the course of a 27-year study Read on for a summary Full paper: doi.org/10.1080/0006... @one-cardiffuni.bsky.social @robthomasbirds.bsky.social @kirstyfranklin.bsky.social #seabird 🪶🧪

A small dark seabird with white at the top of its tail (European Storm-petrel) cupped in a person’s hand against a black background.

RSPB Science@rspbscience· Jul 10

Latest survey reveals that Dotterel have declined by 89% since monitoring began in 1987/88 Dotterel's resilience to climate change could be supported through limiting disturbance by people and dogs, and managing grazing Read a summary: www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happen... 🪶 🧪 @naturescot.bsky.social

caption: Juvenile Dotterel

Alt text: Speckled wading bird standing on short grass, facing right against a soft pastel pink-and-lavender sky at dusk.

credit: RSPB / Ben Andrew

RSPB Science@rspbscience· Jul 8

Good news: #NaturalEngland have offered RSPB funding through the #SpeciesRecovery Programme Working in partnership, this funding will allow the RSPB to take action for 25 threatened species in England - from Turtle Dove & House Martin to Lesser Spotted Woodpecker & Shrill Carder Bee #wildagain

Caption: One of the 25 threatened species set to benefit from this new funding - Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

Alt text: Small woodpecker with a red crown and black-and-white wings clinging to a pale tree trunk, against a soft green forest background.

Credit: RSPB / Ben Andrew

Caption: One of the 25 threatened species set to benefit from this new funding - Turtle Dove

Alt text: A small dove with mottled chestnut and black wings, a black and white neck pattern and an orange eye, against an out-of-focus green background.

Credit: RSPB / Ben Andrew

One of the 25 threatened species set to benefit from this new funding - House Martin

Alt text: Four House Martin clustered on muddy ground, showing glossy blue-black heads and wings and bright white bellies, with a soft beige foreground and greenish background.

Credit: RSPB / Ben Andrew

RSPB Science@rspbscience· Jul 3

Two of the world’s largest Gannet colonies may not recover from the impact of bird flu until 2041 at the earliest, study finds Read a summary: www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happen... Full paper: doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2026.111887 #seabirds #hpai 🪶 🧪

Caption: A pair of Gannets

Credit: RSPB / Chelsie Jones

Alt text: Two Gannets with pale yellow heads and blue eyes touching beak tips and arching necks in a courtship display against a blurred grey sea background.

Figure 3 from the paper: (A): Estimated impact of reduced adult survival in 2022 on colony growth trajectories for the Bass Rock and Grassholm gannet colonies (orange line) compared to a theoretical baseline scenario without an outbreak (grey line) until the year 2045. Blue dots represent drone-based count data; Bass Rock 2023 and 2024 (Harris et al., 2023, Burton et al., 2024), Grassholm 2023 and 2024 (Morgan et al., 2023; Morgan and Stephens, 2024). (B) The residual between the baseline and HPAI scenarios highlights the scale of the impact and the long recovery times for both colonies. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

RSPB Science@rspbscience· Jun 26

Swifts are one of the UK’s most threatened species, declining by 70% over the last 30 years, so this research reinforces why protecting their nesting sites and providing suitable new ones is a vital part of helping the species’ recovery.

Caption: Common Swift adult in flight over new build rooftop

Alt text: A single Swift flying in the foreground with a blurred background of a rooftop.

Credit: Ben Andrew / RSPB

RSPB Science@rspbscience· Jun 26

Scientists studied 190 different Swifts from 243 nests over 15 years and found that 94% of Swifts reused the same nesting site as in a previous year.

Caption: Common Swift group in flight

Alt text: Ten Swifts flying left against a blue sky.

Credit: Ben Andrew / RSPB

RSPB Science@rspbscience· Jun 26

New research by the RSPB shows Swifts are highly loyal to the same nest sites each year Read on for a summary Full paper: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... @uniexecec.bsky.social

Caption: Common Swift poking its head out of a specially created nesting brick on the side of a new build house.

Alt text: A red brick wall with a square sand coloured brick on it. The square brick has a horizontal opening with the head of a Swift looking out of it.

Credit: Ben Andrew / RSPB

RSPB Science@rspbscience· Jun 6

Two 3‑month PhD placement opportunities: Join our team to look at lessons learned from conservation livelihood interventions in the Guinea Savannah Landscape of Ghana. These placements are UK based. Deadline: 15th June Find out more here: www.rspb.org.uk/helping-natu... 🌎️ 🧪

Credit: Natasha Constant

Alt text: Three men in conversation in the shade of a tree.

RSPB Science@rspbscience· May 29

The UK Dartford Warbler population crashed in the 1960s, leaving only a few pairs in Dorset. The most recent national survey has now revealed the highest ever number of Dartford Warblers recorded on RSPB nature reserves with 264 pairs counted in 2025 – a 44% increase in just five years.

Dartford Warbler habitat: lowland heathland. This photo shows RSPB Arne Nature Reserve in Dorset.

Alt text: A sunny landscape view with flowering heather, some large pine trees and pale coloured sandy soil visible in patches.

RSPB Science@rspbscience· May 29

Record year for Dartford Warblers on RSPB nature reserves Read on for a summary Find out more: www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happen... @btobirds.bsky.social @naturalengland.bsky.social 🪶

Caption: A Dartford Warbler perched on top of heather.

Alt text: A small bird - grey-brown in colour, with a distinctive red eye ring, russet breast and long tail – sitting on top of flowering heather, surrounded by pink / purple flowers.

RSPB Science@rspbscience· May 21

Results indicate that Corncrake conservation would benefit from increasing the proportion of land that has tall early cover vegetation, rather than grassland mowed for silage in August. This management requires special support. This camera survey method could be used for other secretive species.

Caption: Chicks become independent of the mother at only 12-14 days old, when they are still covered by black down. This older chick is about 18 days old and is living independently. Its brown feathers are appearing, but it will not be able to fly until it is 42 days old. Corncrake chicks are vulnerable to silage mowing throughout their flightless period.

Alt text: A brown and black Corncrake chick – fluffy with feathers growing - is stood on a brown mat surrounded by leafy vegetation.

RSPB Science@rspbscience· May 21

Until now, little has been known about the behaviour of Corncrake chicks and females because they hide in tall vegetation. Trail cameras were deployed on the Isle of Coll; in grassland managed for silage production and livestock grazing. The cameras successfully captured images of Corncrakes.

From figure 2 of the paper: Example of a trail camera site. This image, from late May, shows a camera located in initially short vegetation mowed for silage in the previous August.

Alt text: A grassy field with a rectangular brown mat on it. A black trail camera can be seen mounted at one end of the mat.

RSPB Science@rspbscience· May 21

Trail cameras provide a fascinating insight into the secret lives of Corncrakes – both habitat selection and the timing of breeding. Read on for a summary Full paper: doi.org/10.1080/00063657.2026.2666694 @camzoology.bsky.social @rspbscotland.bsky.social 🪶 🧪

From figure 3 of the paper: Trail camera image of four Corncrake chicks, estimated to be 11 days old, with their mother.

Alt text: Four fluffy black Corncrake chicks, with long legs and large feet, are standing in the foreground whilst an adult Corncrake fans out her brown wing behind them. They are stood on a brown mat which has been laid down to stop vegetation growth from blocking the camera’s view. There is tall vegetation on either side of the photo and immediately behind the birds.

RSPB Science@rspbscience· May 7

Monitoring experts agreed that all of the data sources were suitable and that their potential is increasing as technologies develop However, technical, analytical, logistical and financial barriers limit creation of monitoring networks that could yield the data needed for landscape-scale indicators

Caption: Butterfly surveys in Bedfordshire

Alt text: The sky is blue and there are flowers in bloom on short grassland. In the foreground a man is looking into a butterfly net. In the background a woman is holding a butterfly net in the air.

RSPB Science@rspbscience· May 7

Many conservation projects work at a landscape scale, but we currently lack suitable biodiversity indicators to measure success at this scale. Scientists looked at the potential for seven biodiversity data sources - including drones, acoustics and eDNA - to contribute to indicators.

Caption: Drone image of RSPB Ynys-hir Nature Reserve, Wales

Alt text: Aerial photo of green grassland with a stream meandering through it and some ponds.

RSPB Science@rspbscience· May 7

New research reveals promising potential for using a range of biodiversity data sources to create indicators for tracking conservation success at a landscape scale. Read on for a summary Full paper: rdcu.be/ffLTu @ukceh.bsky.social @btobirds.bsky.social @jncc.bsky.social 🧪

Caption: Habitat vegetation surveys in Suffolk.

Alt text: Two women sitting on green leafy vegetation with a quadrat – a square white grid – between them. One is taking notes and the other is looking at a flower identification book.

RSPB Science@rspbscience· May 1

This research revealed that the movements of Storm-petrels at sea are influenced by predators, other Storm-petrels, wind & oceanographic conditions such as sea temperature & depth. These insights help us to better identify threats and solutions to help safeguard habitats for these tiny seabirds.

Caption: RSPB biologist surveying for Storm-petrels

Alt text: A night photo with rocks illuminated by the flash in the foreground and the sea in the background. Also illuminated is a scientist who is looking at a bird flying nearby her.

RSPB Science@rspbscience· May 1

Until now, little has been known about the behaviour of European Storm-petrels at sea. This is because these birds weigh just 26g and GPS tags are only now small enough for them to wear safely Scientists tagged 28 Storm-petrels with miniature GPS devices at their breeding colony on Mousa, Shetland

Figure 5 from paper: The most-used areas are closer to Mousa for 2018 and further from the colony for 2015, with distributions for 2016 and 2017 intermediate between these. There is overlap between the most-used areas for all years except 2015 and 2018.

RSPB Science@rspbscience· May 1

New research gives insight into European Storm-petrel movements and behaviour at sea. Read on for a summary Full paper: doi.org/10.3354/meps... @one-cardiffuni.bsky.social @robthomasbirds.bsky.social @meps-ir.bsky.social 🧪 🌎️ 🪶 #seabirds

RSPB Science@rspbscience· Apr 29

This uphill range shift is important because as the birds move uphill there is a smaller area of suitable habitat available. This research highlights a particular threat of climate change to island endemics.

Caption: Forest being cleared in the lower hills of Montserrat

Alt text: The top half of the photo is a mountain covered in lush green vegetation. The bottom half is bare red earth, with a vehicle and a small structure. Between the green vegetation and the red earth is an abrupt edge to the forest. In the foreground there are crops being grown.

RSPB Science@rspbscience· Apr 29

Scientists used fourteen years of bird data to demonstrate that four species are shifting their ranges uphill. The most significant shift is by the Montserrat Oriole, which is endemic to Montserrat and a priority species for RSPB.

Caption: The Centre Hills of Montserrat

Alt text: Mountains covered in lush green vegetation, towering over a small rural settlement with a palm tree in the foreground.

RSPB Science@rspbscience· Apr 29

New research shows that some of the forest birds on the small Caribbean Island of Montserrat are shifting their ranges up the mountain. This shift is expected under climate change. Read on for a summary Full paper: doi.org/10.1111/jbi.70223 @uni-goettingen.de @steffopp.bsky.social 🪶 🧪

Caption: Purple-throated Carib – found in Montserrat

Alt text: A vibrant tropical hummingbird with a bright purple throat, green wings and a curved beak. The bird is perched on a small twig against a green forest background.

RSPB Science@rspbscience· Apr 17

Research has shown a worrying decline in some of our much-loved garden birds due to a disease called trichomonosis. This is a highly contagious disease and can spread where birds gather in large numbers such as at bird feeders. See our website for the latest guidance: brnw.ch/21x1t4w

Caption: Conservation Scientist Will Kirby swabbing for signs of trichomonosis on a garden bird feeder.

Alt text: Scientist wearing blue latex gloves pressing a swab against the surface of a bird feeding containing peanuts.

RSPB Science@rspbscience· Mar 24

Results show that Band-rumped Storm Petrels forage in different directions from the island: cool season breeders prefer to forage in warm water, and hot season breeders prefer to forage in cool water.

From figure 1 from the paper.

Caption: Individual tracks showing foraging trips of Band-rumped Storm Petrels tracked with GPS loggers from St Helena between 2017 and 2019 during the cool (blue) or hot (orange) breeding seasons. The black diamond indicates the location of St Helena Island, and the black circle indicates a 200 nautical mile marine protected area for scale reference.

RSPB Science@rspbscience· Mar 24

St Helena is home to Band-rumped Storm Petrels. Individual birds breed either in the hot or the cool season. Over time these two breeding populations may split into two species Scientists used GPS tags to investigate whether or not they forage in the same places but at different times of the year

Caption: The research team working at the Band-rumped Storm Petrel breeding colony on Egg Island, an islet off St Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean.

Alt text: A view from above of research scientists descending a steep rocky slope above the sea.

Credit: Steffen Oppel

RSPB Science@rspbscience· Mar 24

New research shows that, as well as breeding at different times of the year, populations of Band-rumped Storm Petrels on St Helena forage in different places. Read on for a summary Full paper: doi.org/10.1186/s40462-026-00633-1 @bas.ac.uk 🧪 🌎️ 🪶 #seabirds

Caption: Mist-nets were used to capture Band-rumped Storm Petrels at their breeding colony on Egg Island, an islet off St Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean.

Alt text: The sun is setting over the sea. Mist nets are strung between vertical poles. A Band-rumped Storm Petrel is silhouetted in flight above the net.

Credit: Steffen Oppel

RSPB Science@rspbscience· Mar 12

Whilst paludiculture cannot replace wetland restoration, it has the potential to help deliver nature-positive, climate-resilient landscapes while supporting communities into the future Full paper: doi.org/10.1002/2688... FAWG SW project: www.paludiculture.org.uk/fwagsw

Paludiculture site in Netherlands growing bulrush (Typha sp.).

RSPB Science@rspbscience· Mar 12

Paludiculture is still early in development in the UK, requiring more investment and advisory support A project led by the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG) South West, in collaboration with the RSPB, is working to develop best practice for establishing and managing bulrush crops