Rebecca Cheape

Perspective Who gets the spotlight? Disparities in seabird research attention at scientific conferences Ingrid L. Pollet a b Alexander L. Bond b c Jennifer L. Lavers b c d Highlights • Decade-long review of >2,950 seabird conference abstracts. • Over 30% of seabird species are rarely or never featured at scientific conferences • Several seabirds listed as Critically Endangered have received little or no attention. • 16 seabird species are over-represented in conferences. • Southern Hemisphere seabirds require greater research attention.

Hey seabird folks - have you ever thought "*ANOTHER* talk about <species X>?!" So did we.

So we reviewed 3000 conference abstracts to see which species get the spotlight. Huge work from @ingridpollet.bsky.social with me and @seabirdsentinel.bsky.social

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

A breeding pair of Gannets on the Bass Rock with their chick. One of the adults clearly has a black eye, an indicator of past exposure to highly pathogenic avian influenza, while the other is normal/healthy.

Very cool new #seabird paper showing no difference in breeding success between healthy and black-eyed gannets, but a worrying overall decline in productivity following the #avianflu outbreak. 🦠🐣

Read the paper here 👉 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #seabirds #ornithology

Still my favourite strand line discovery to date - a female Phronima sedentaria (‘monster in a barrel’) - Isles of Scilly, October 2023!

An amphipod crustacean, she parasitises salps, devouring them from the inside, forming a vessel to raise her young 👽

#MarineLife 🦑 #ukwildlife

@bsbiscotland.bsky.social

Great to find flowering Water Lobelia in a Scottish West Coast loch. A very rare species to find let alone during its flowering period. A really nice species to find! 🌿

#bsbi #aquaticplants #botany

YouTube video by Dave Goulson No More Beewashing! Why beekeeping doesn't help conserve bees.

No more Beewashing please! Why beekeeping doesn't help conserve bees. Pls RT if you agree.
youtu.be/fiBYBmlKSYU

Boat guide, Sophie, captured this fantastic moment on the Isle of May last week - a razorbill chick being fed a (rather large!) fish🐟

Right now is the best time to see seabird chicks, with razorbills, guillemots, gannets & more all feeding their young regularly🍽️

📷©️S Wilson

@btobirds.bsky.social

Had an amazing time on Eilean Nan Ròn last week as part of the BTO Seabird Grant 🌊 It was a great learning experience. Many Storm Petrels were ringed, Gull chicks and some other nice species. I can’t wait for more Island ringing in future 😊@btobirds.bsky.social @btoscotland.bsky.social

New #UKCEH dataset published on how breeding seabirds spend their time and energy. These data will help us to model the potential impacts of any changes in seabird behaviour in response to new offshore windfarms catalogue.ceh.ac.uk/documents/07...

Albatrosses make distinct flight hops when following fishing vessels

New study reveals albatrosses make distinct flight hops that are almost exclusively seen when following a vessel

It could help manage bycatch risk for 'hidden' fisheries 👇
bit.ly/3G86yuN
@mcem-oxford.bsky.social w/ @birdlifeglobal.bsky.social @marescience.bsky.social in @jappliedecology.bsky.social

🦆 Eider Update! 🐣

The Bird Team have been busy over the past 2 months monitoring our breeding Eiders. They’ve been mapping nests, recording clutch size and catching the females as part of a long-term project.

So far this season they’ve found 76 nests, predominantly in bracken and heather… 1/4

#mothsmatter #burnetmoth #argyllmoths

Lovely to find lots of Transparent Burnet moths on cliff edges amongst Wild Thyme and other wildflowers in the Kintyre Peninsula whilst out doing fieldwork! ☺️ Such lovely moths!

Beach season open! 🐠💦 This is an encounter I had with a young cormorant last summer, I think I spent 3 days talking about it 😁. Impatient for what I will discover this year! I'll upload it all to minka-sdg.org

#cormorant #birds #nature #wildlife #beach #birdlovers #birding #seabirds #ocean #explore

Breeding Eiders are starting to pick up on the Calf of Man now with females starting to lay across the island. Slowly getting my eye in to this rather cryptic species #ukbirding

Yesterday’s ‘star bird’ was this control Spotted Flycatcher, which had been ringed in Norway 🐦🇳🇴An amazing record!!

#ukbirding #ManxNature

Found my 5th pipefish today (#speciesaday no. 581 is Snake Pipefish). A quick blog celebrating these 5 species here... analternativenaturalhistoryofsussex.blogspot.com/2025/04/pipe...

The Svalbard ringed Purple Sandpiper at Redcar yesterday, now in its 11th year. @teesbirds.bsky.social @nybirdnews.bsky.social @waderquest.bsky.social @northyorksbirds.bsky.social

Screenshot of the paper front page.

Now this is exciting.

Antonin and his team have just published a study showing that the number of migrating hoverflies through Czechia are positively correlated with the numbers of birds!
Suggests that the birds are using the flies as fuel on migration.

royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/epdf/10....

Interested in seal diet, population size and haul out behaviour in Ireland? Funded PhD position at University College Cork. www.ucc.ie/en/hr/vacanc...
Application deadline 31st Jan.

Ahh love Razorbills!! Great photo - so elegant!😍

They definitely are! 😱

#superseabirdsunday

Tysties aka The Black Guillemot in Oban, West Coast of Scotland ☺️ One of my favourite Seabirds. #Seabirdsunday #Blackguillemot

Image of a deceased Oystercatcher alongside the wording: Please report sightings of dead birds.

Please report all sightings of dead birds for possible testing for Avian Influenza.
📌In England, Wales & Scotland: www.gov.uk/guidance/rep...
📌In Northern Ireland: www.daera-ni.gov.uk/services/dae...
📌In Republic of Ireland: aviancheck.apps.services.agriculture.gov.ie/report #Ornithology #UKBirding

Image of a Redstart alongside the wording: Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) data now freely available. This includes over 7 million records! BTO, JNCC and RSPB logo bottom left. BBS logo top middle.

1/ Great news! 🎉BTO, JNCC and RSPB are making decades of Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) data freely available for everyone in the conservation and research community. This includes over 7 million records! 📝 Find out more ⬇️ or read the paper➡️ bit.ly/_BBSData #Ornithology #UKBirding

‘It absolutely took off’: five UK biodiversity success stories From new butterfly habitats in the Cotswolds to arctic willow planting in the Scottish Highlands, there are increasing numbers of places where humans are giving nature a helping hand to re-establish i...

Delighted that my #PhD #research at University of Stirling @stir.ac.uk features in this uplifting @theguardian.com article! Wonderful recognition of 30+ years of restoration action for montane willows across Scotland, spotlighting Ben Lawers @n-t-s.bsky.social.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

The fluffiest European Storm Petrel Chick being weighed a few months ago in September on Nolsoy, Faroe Islands. 😍
#Seabirdsunday #StormPetrel #Seabirds

David Campbell: exit polls With the recent news that redpolls are to be lumped into a single species, David Campbell reflects on these charming birds and the joy the rarer forms bring.

Exit polls

With the recent news that redpolls are to be lumped into a single species, David Campbell reflects on these charming birds and the joy the rarer forms bring: