Puffin population declared ‘stable’ on the Farne Islands as results of first full count for five years are confirmed

The Farne Islands are a National Nature Reserve and an internationally important home to approximately 200,000 seabirds, including the charismatic puffin, Arctic terns, and kittiwakes.

Hampered from performing the count firstly by the restrictions put in place by the coronavirus pandemic when the rangers were unable to work on the islands, the team then had to deal with the devastating impacts of bird flu which ripped through seabirds on the islands in 2022 and 2023. This has resulted in 2024 being the first time in five years that the eleven-strong National Trust ranger team has been able to conduct a full and proper survey of the puffins, affectionately known as the ‘clowns of the sea’, performing counts across eight of the 28[1] islands that make up the Farnes.

This summer the number of puffins breeding on the Farne Islands was estimated at around 50,000 pairs[2], compared to nearly 44,000 in 2019 – suggesting a 15% increase in numbers[3].

Avian influenza (bird flu) was also thankfully absent – hinting that the seabirds have perhaps built a natural resilience to the disease, allowing the Rangers to return daily to perform their full range of duties including bird counts, conservation work and welcoming visitors back to the islands.

National Trust Area Ranger on the Farne Islands, Sophia Jackson said: “We just didn’t know what to expect with this year’s count. Annual monitoring is so important in our care of all the birds that live and breed on the islands as it allows us to understand the impacts of climate change, particular weather patterns as well as disease.

“We feared the worse after we sadly collected 938 dead puffins in 2022 and 2023 which had died due to bird flu – but it’s been amazing to get this positive news; and it seems due to the species’ own ‘self-isolating’ behaviours that they have weathered this particular storm.”

Puffins are the only seabirds that lay their eggs in burrows on the vegetated areas of the islands, and typically return to the same burrow each year to breed. During the breeding season they also regularly clean out the nests – again natural behaviours which the rangers suspect has helped numbers remain stable.

To conduct the count, the rangers monitor the birds by observing burrows for signs of activity. Signs of occupation include birds returning to nests with fish in their beaks, an indication the burrows are occupied with a hungry puffling (baby puffin), and external signs around the burrow that puffins are using it, such as fresh digging, puffin footprints, clearance of vegetation, hatched eggshells, or fish or guano in the entrance.

If rangers are unsure if a burrow is occupied, wearing appropriate wipe clean arm length gloves, they’ll put their arm down the burrow to gently and carefully feel for any occupants.

Puffins have traditionally done well on the Farnes thanks to the work of the rangers, protection of the marine areas around the islands, a lack of ground predators and the availability of suitable nesting areas.

Sophia continued: “We think another reason for puffins doing well this year is down to the weather. Although over the winter we saw heavy rain and storms – during the breeding season, despite regular periods of rain we luckily avoided any storms which will have helped the puffins ability to fish for sandeels their preferred food source.

“Diseases, climate change and overfishing are the three main threats to puffins and all the other seabirds we care for, and we are keen to do all we can to ensure the islands have the optimum conditions to ensure these birds keep returning year-on-year and feel safe and protected during a critical time for them.”

A particular interesting finding from this year’s observations was the variance in puffin numbers across the islands between this year and the last count, with fewer pairs recorded on the outer islands and more appearing to nest on Inner Farne the largest of the archipelago where 26,552 pairs were recorded.

Sophia concluded: “From October to December the Farnes is also a key site for grey seals returning to pup. Last year, through that period the weather was particularly wet and stormy and we suspect that the seals were forced to pup further away from the shoreline to ensure their baby seals were safely out of the way of the crashing waves.

“This meant the seals moved onto vegetated areas with their weight causing some of the burrows to collapse. Returning puffins who couldn’t identify their burrows may therefore have decided to relocate their burrows to another island.”

Dr Chris Redfern, Emeritus Professor in the School of Natural and Environmental Sciences at Newcastle University, who helped to verify this year’s results said: “It is very good news that puffin numbers for the Farnes overall are holding up.

“The possible displacement or decline of puffins breeding on the Outer Group of islands is worrying though; it will be important to try and work out why, and whether or not anything can be done to ensure the long-term stability of puffin and other seabird colonies throughout the archipelago.”

Preliminary results from other seabird counts

Cliff nesting birds were able to be monitored last year as they are counted through observation only - from a boat below the cliffs, using a pair of binoculars and a clicker. Although numbers have not yet been fully collated and verified, initial figures show that some species appear to be struggling particularly shags whose numbers were down by 75% on the Inner group of islands (228 pairs on the Inner group of islands in 2023 compared to 56 pairs in 2024) and guillemot numbers are down by 37% (18,416 in 2023 compared to 11,643 in 2024)[4].

Thomas Hendry, Area Ranger for the Farne Islands explains: “With numbers still to be verified across the islands, these initial figures from the inner group of islands are concerning.

“Although we didn’t pick up a particularly large number of shags during the two seasons where we experienced bird flu (172 in total) we fear that the more extreme weather and frequent storms during the winter really disrupted their ability to feed.

“The storms churn up the water making it hard to fish which leads to starvation but also means they don’t have enough fish oil in their system to help waterproof their feathers – meaning they either sadly starve or drown from being waterlogged.

“In comparison, guillemots were hit hard by bird flu – with over 3,500 picked up in the two years the islands had to close, and no way of knowing how many more died at sea. This is likely due to them being cliff nesting birds – packing themselves in tightly with the other species that breed in this manner. It therefore seems reasonable to determine that our populations on the Farnes have been particularly impacted by the disease.

“Our aim therefore next year will be to keep a close watch on the seabirds to see if we can see any sign of a recovery pattern, and contribute towards the national seabird monitoring programme so we can better understand the long term impact of bird flu.”

Ben McCarthy, Head of Nature and Restoration Ecology at the National Trust commented: “Long term monitoring is vital for ensuring that we can plan for the future of all our seabirds and we look forward to working with Natural England and others to ensure that all aspects of the English Seabird Conservation and Recovery Pathway (ESCaRP)[5] are successfully delivered to meet Government targets and so we can all delight in seeing our globally important seabirds flying and diving around our seas.”

“Thanks to monitoring we now know that the Farnes and neighbouring Coquet Island – cared for by the RSPB – are now the largest English colonies overtaking some of the Scottish sites where historically 95% of puffins bred. This suggests that the Farne Islands is becoming an increasingly important site for the birds – and will be an important early bellwether for how they are doing in the face of our changing climate.”