RSPB Science

Northern Rockhopper Penguins on the shore of Alex (Middle) Island with a view of Nightingale Island in the background.

These surveys, led by our local partners, are essential to monitoring the global population trend of Northern Rockhoppers

Helping us to protect this very charismatic, yet sadly endangered, species

A pair of wellies poke out from between tall tussock grasses as a fieldworker attempts to surveys the Northern Rockhopper Penguins breeding within.

For Northern Rockhoppers, survey method depends on nest site:

- Open ground: Fieldworkers count active nests as they walk through

- Tall grass: Counts along transects are used to estimate the wider area

- Inaccessible sites: Binoculars, photography or drones are used to count from afar

A colony of Northern Rockhoppers on Tristan da Cunha’s rocky shoreline.

>90% of the world’s Northern Rockhopper Penguins live in the Tristan da Cunha island group, where they are known locally as ‘pinnamins’

This makes surveying these populations key to understanding the species' global conservation status

Northern Rockhopper Penguins standing in a busy looking group.

For many bird species, getting accurate population estimates allows us to work out which are doing poorly and if conservation action is working.

However, penguins have notoriously chaotic colonies, bustling with action, so how do scientists get these numbers?

A Northern Rockhopper Penguin bends down to look quizzically at the camera.

Happy #PenguinAwarenessDay

Ever wondered how scientists go about counting penguin colonies? It’s pretty challenging when no-one stays still and everyone looks alike...

Read on to find out the answer from our penguinologist Antje Steinfurth

Full story: www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happen...

#seabirds 🧪🌎

YouTube video by RSPB Travel to a remote Scottish island to see how tagging seabirds can help protect them

Join our Marine Team on an expedition to track the Leach's Petrel 🪶

These birds can travel over 2000km during a single foraging trip, but are only the size of a starling!

Watch the full film here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrXB...

All birds were caught and handled under licence by RSPB staff

Government’s wildlife targets will be missed in England, watchdog says Seven out of 10 targets have little likelihood of being met by 2030, Office for Environmental Protection says

Government’s wildlife targets will be missed in England, watchdog says

Seven out of 10 targets have little likelihood of being met by 2030, Office for Environmental Protection says

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

@rspbscience.bsky.social @rspbengland.bsky.social

However, we would like to apologise for combining two separate facts here. It was actually the nest that was 1.5km away from the nearest stream where they would normally deposit sacs. But the sacs were deposited in a nearby water trough instead.

This information comes from Handbook of the Birds of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa: Tyrant Flycatchers to Thrushes v.5.

Henderson Island coastline

Job alert:

Join our International team on a 2yr Conservation Scientist post working on Island Restoration. This role is UK based, but includes a 4-month expedition to Henderson Island.

Deadline: 30th Jan

Find out more here: app.vacancy-filler.co.uk/salescrm/Car...

12 of the 107 species studied by the RSPB Conservation Science department in 2025 are shown in a grid. Top left to bottom right they are: Pied Flycatcher, Black-tailed Godwit, Northern Rockhopper Penguin, Redshank, Razorbill, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Slender-billed Vulture, Kittiwake, Dartford Warbler, Slavonian Grebe, Lapwing and Snow Bunting.

Well its certainly been a busy year for RSPB Conservation Science

In 2025 we…
- Worked in 54 countries & UKOTs
- Carried out 94 research projects
- Studied 107 species
- Tracked 366 seabirds
- Surveyed 4420 people

Bring on 2026!

📷 Andy Schofield, Paul Insua-Cao, Ben Andrew

A Redpoll looks quizically at the camera. Text reads: "Did you know? Scientists have un-discovered two species of Redpoll'.

Did you know? Scientists have un-discovered two species of Redpoll

Following investigations into their genetics and variation in plumage, the Lesser Redpoll, Common Redpoll and Arctic Redpoll are now lumped together as a single species; the Redpoll.

#ScienceFactFriday

A Stone-curlew stands in a field, it's large yellow eye clearly visible.

Celebrating 20 years of Action for Birds in England!

This partnership between Natural England and @rspb.bsky.social has worked on restoring some of England's most threatened birds.

Read about some of its historic wins here: www.rspb.org.uk/england/engl...

📷Henry Cook
@rspbengland.bsky.social

RSPB Geltsdale nature reserve, Cumbria

Reconciling top-down and bottom-up treescape objectives
Wednesday - 1215 - Tinto

@tfinch.bsky.social
@britishecologicalsociety.org

📷Tom Finch

A Yellow Wagtail perches on wheat

Attending #BES2025?
Make sure to catch talks from @rspbscience.bsky.social

Deriving Essential Biodiversity Variables from passive acoustic monitoring
Wednesday-12:15-Pentland

Metric Soup – exploring biodiversity metrics for use in business’ nature-related disclosures
Thursday-11:30-Lowther

The Pan-European Common Bird Monitoring Scheme has published 2025 update on indices and trends! Unfortunately, it still shows an overall decline in common birds breeding in Europe, with the most pronounced decline among farmland species. Read more about the new update: pecbms.info/what-is-new-...

A Bittern stares intently into the water, text reads: Did you know? Bitterns eyes are made to look down.

Did you know? Bitterns’ eyes are made to look down

Bittern eyes are placed lower down on their head than many other birds so they can easily look for prey beneath them in the water

#ScienceFactFriday

We're hiring!

Seasonal Research Assistant and Senior Research Assistant positions for 2026 🪶

Deadline: 11th Jan 26

Apply here: app.vacancy-filler.co.uk/salescrm/Car...

High resolution tracking projects such as these can help us understand how seabirds use the sea

And importantly, predict how development- or climate-driven changes to ocean processes may alter seabird habitat use

A Kittiwake flies, wings outstretched, across the water.

Use of tidal mixing fronts varied between birds based on individual space use and the habitats and ocean features they encountered

Birds whose foraging ranges overlapped most with tidal fronts were more likely to switch to foraging near these features

Colours show foraging paths of Kittiwakes tracked from a) Flamborough b) Filey. Outlined circle represents colony location.

To understand the context of individual birds’ responses to fronts, authors used tracking data to cluster birds by foraging area and test how environmental context shapes their response to fronts

Bird movements were then categorised as either resting, travelling or foraging

A Kittiwake sits amongst the grass looking out to sea.

Tidal mixing fronts are often highly productive areas, where nutrient enrichment and prey aggregations create important foraging hotspots for marine predators

Scientists used GPS loggers to track 144 Kittiwakes from neighbouring North Sea colonies close to the Flamborough Front

Fine-scale behavioural responses to mixing fronts are linked to variation in geographic space use in a medium ranging seabird - Marine Biology Marine predators forage in dynamic, heterogeneous environments, where resources are unevenly distributed. Consequently, predators often concentrate foraging activity in areas where oceanographic proce...

Can GPS tracking reveal how #seabirds make use of tidal mixing fronts when foraging? 🧪

New research shows a bird’s use of ocean fronts may relate to its regular foraging areas

Read on for more

Or read the full paper: doi.org/10.1007/s002...

@ellingbry.bsky.social

📣 New paper out now in @conbiology.bsky.social!

#Headstarting - hatching eggs and/or rearing chicks in captivity & releasing them back to the wild - has been increasingly used for #wader #conservation. But it can be challenging and expensive.

So why do it and when❓

📷WWT/Bob Ellis #godwit

(1/4)

Conference attendees photographed outside the venue.

Last month our Conservation Science dept. conference returned!
-131 attendees
-32 talks
-18 posters
-9 workshops
-1 winning quiz team

We heard about biosecurity, breeding waders, biodiversity monitoring, seabird tracking and more. Look out for some exciting papers in 2026...

A Redshank stands on a stone wall, its orange-red legs clearly visible. Text reads: Did you know? These aren't knees....

Did you know? Birds keep their knees hidden

The back bend in bird legs is actually the ankle not the knee. Birds’ knees are hidden higher up, closer to the body

#ScienceFactFriday

A researcher from BirdLife International partner ACBK looks over maps with a local farmer, identifying spaces where livestock and Saiga may be competing for food and water.

This research highlights the need to balance conservation action with community livelihoods

By involving local communities in management decisions and co-developing interventions, conservation programmes can reduce the potential for conflict in the landscape

📷 Sorrel Jones

Using these key drivers, authors then mapped water, livestock and Saiga distributions

They identified >60 areas where conflict was likely to occur

These maps could be used to target conflict reduction action and even potentially avoid it

Results revealed a few key drivers of conflict:
- Crop damage
- Competition for water and grazing
- Concern over livestock catching diseases from Saiga

They also found conflict was highest during the calving period in spring and in winter, when demand for hay and water is high

Western Kazakhstan hosts over half of the world’s Saiga, intensifying conflict between local communities and the species

To identify and map the causes of this conflict, researchers conducted >100 interviews with local herders