Kittiwakes nesting on North Sea oil rigs

Translated from Ecomare museum in the Netherlands:

Kittiwakes go south – 1/12/20

Kittiwakes usually breed on rocky northern shores

Kittiwakes in the summer of 2010 have colonized an oil rig in the North Sea. That in itself is not so special: since 2000, the nests of this northern rock nesting species have been found on North Sea oil rigs. But the new platform is much further south than these platforms and the water is a lot less transparent. It is the first breeding colony discovered so far to the south and in such circumstances. The new place for the settlers was a success as was demonstrated by the photographs, which showed at least 27 young birds.

Counts by RSPB Scotland and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) of Orkney‘s “seabird cities” revealed an 82% decline in breeding pairs of kittiwakes in just over a decade: here.

The RSPB and other wildlife organisations are asking for help for one of Cornwall‘s most rapidly declining seabirds, the kittiwake: here.

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