RSPB Science

BirdWatch Ireland CEO Andrew Kelly & BTO CEO Juliet Vickery are sitting at a table outside smiling as they get ready to sign a partnership agreement for the Bird Atlas 2027–31.

RSPB Chief Executive Beccy Speight & BTO CEO Juliet Vickery are sitting together at a table in the David Attenborough Building in Cambridge holding pens ready to sign a partnership agreement for the Bird Atlas 2027–31.

BTO CEO Juliet Vickery & Scottish Ornithologists Club President Ruth Briggs are sitting at a table smiling and holding pens ready to sign a partnership agreement for the Bird Atlas 2027–31.

BTO CEO Juliet Vickery & Welsh Ornithological Society Chair Anne Brenchley are sitting at a table together looking down and holding pens as they get ready to sign a partnership agreement for the Bird Atlas 2027–31. Wildlife and nature themed artwork hangs on the wall behind them.

1/ Five leading charities forge partnership for bird conservation for the Bird Atlas 2027–31! 🐦 But what is the Bird Atlas? ⬇️🧵 #Ornithology

@btobirds.bsky.social @birdwatchireland.bsky.social @rspb.bsky.social @rspbscience.bsky.social @scottishbirding.bsky.social @birdsinwales.bsky.social

New research🪶#seabirds

Gough Island. Credit: Kate Lawrence.

The detection of HPAIV on Gough Island is a stark reminder of the vulnerability of remote ecosystems to infectious diseases, and for the need to alleviate already persisting pressures on globally important seabird populations.

Figure 4 from the paper. Caption: Kernel utilization distributions (KUDs) showing the combined home-range (95% UD; lighter shading) and core (50% UD; darker shading) foraging areas of tracked Tristan skuas during (a) the pre-laying exodus (green), breeding (purple), and non-breeding periods (orange) across the 2017/18 and 2018/19 seasons, overlaid on major oceanic frontal features.

The scavenging behaviour of birds such as skuas and giant petrels increases viral transmission risk through close contact with carcasses and other scavengers.

These highly pelagic birds may therefore serve both as reservoirs and vectors for disease transmission across the Southern Ocean and beyond.

Figure 3 from the paper. Caption: Time series showing the distance from the colony of GLS-tracked Tristan skuas (8) during the 2017/18 and 2018/19 breeding seasons, across key stages of the annual cycle.

Samples from Gough showed the virus was most closely related to those found in South Georgia.

Tracking data then revealed the likely route, showing Tristan Skuas disperse South of the island in the pre-laying period, sharing feeding grounds with distant populations, including South Georgia.

A Tristan Skua (Stercorarius antarcticus hamiltoni) with a GLS device attached to its leg. Credit Jamie Cleeland.

The death of four Tristan Skuas on Gough Island in September 2024 marks the virus’s arrival at one of the world’s most important seabird breeding sites.

By combining phylogenetic analyses of the virus with tracking data from individual birds, scientists investigated the most likely incursion route.

A rainbow forms over Gough Island

First confirmed cases of High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza Virus (HPAIV) on Gough Island represent one of the most geographically isolated detections of HPAIV to date. But how did it get there?

Read on for a summary

Full paper: doi.org/10.1080/2222...

🧪🪶🌍
#seabirds

🌍A decade after IUCN launched the Global Standard for #KBAs, a new paper led by @birdlifeglobal.bsky.social takes stock of progress.

📍16,596 KBAs
🌱22.1 million km²
🦋18,365 trigger species

Discover more 🔗 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

For many farmers, the transition to NFF was blocked by lack of structural enablers, such as local butchers, markets or ethical co-operatives

Successful NFF therefore requires social, economic and political support, including greater investment in local supply chains and links to consumer values

Results showed NFF relied on farmers with high environmental and social values

These farmers often sold directly to customers or otherwise diversified their income streams to survive economically

However, NFF was often seen as an economic luxury, only possible for the financially secure

However, despite some successes, AES availability alone has not been sufficient to reduce widespread farmland biodiversity loss

To understand drivers behind adoption of NFF practices, researchers conducted 42 qualitative interviews, to identify factors which most influenced farming decisions

Agricultural policies during the mid-1930-80s incentivised productivity with little environmental regulation, leading to a loss of habitat quality and biodiversity in farms

Agri-Environment Schemes (AES) sought to rectify this through financially supporting Nature Friendly Farming (NFF) practices

A field margin at RSPB Hope Farm.

New research shows personal values are a key driver in the adoption of Nature Friendly Farming (NFF) practices

Blockers to adoption of NFF included lack of local supply chain networks and perceived economic losses

Read on for a summary 🧪

Full paper here: doi.org/10.1007/s104...

📷Ben Andrew

Scaling up nature recovery in Europe: eight new large-scale restoration projects receive funding from the ELSP | Endangered Landscapes & Seascapes Programme

Iceland’s Mýrar wetlands provide vital habitat for migratory birds and fish but they have been degraded by decades of drainage and land conversion.

RSPB and Fuglavernd/BirdLife Iceland are working to restore them thanks to new funding from @endangeredlands.bsky.social

More: tinyurl.com/y3yrtkjh

Last day to vote in this year's #Tech4Wildlife Challenge!

Feeling inspired? Keep an eye open for our MSc opportunities here: www.rspb.org.uk/helping-natu...

And for our annual Seasonal Research Assistant positions: www.rspb.org.uk/careers/vaca...

Alix in the Cumbria countryside.

Alix Syder - Social scientist

I get to spend a lot of time talking and drinking tea with farmers, many coming from multi-generational farming families, learning about the local area and the changes seen through their eyes. Last spring I helped with lambing too which was a completely new experience.

Pip takes a well-earned coffee break whilst monitoring moths in the Scottish Highlands.

Pip Gullett – Restoration ecologist

Fieldwork is always a highlight. One day I was checking on some rare Montane Willow saplings at Loch Avon – a remote loch surrounded by high peaks and rock. These trees were among the first in a project to restore a rare habitat now effectively extinct in the UK.

Susie hiking in Newfoundland, Canada.

Susie Gold – Disease ecologist

Last year I had the opportunity to present my research at the International Symposium on Avian Influenza in Newfoundland, Canada. It was a fascinating few days of discussing the science and impacts of this disease with researchers from across the globe.

Kirsty stands on the cliffs above a large Gannet colony.

Kirsty Franklin – Seabird ecologist

Last summer I led an all-female field team on Mousa, Shetland. We had been up all night waiting for our tagged bird to return, and at the end of a successful night, we were rewarded with a spectacular Aurora Borealis!

Lynda watches for wading birds out on a wetland reserve.

Lynda Donaldson – Wetland conservationist

Any day in which I can explore the Fens in Spring and hear the whickering of Black-tailed Godwits after they return from their migration is special. It’s always beneficial to remind ourselves of the work we are doing and that it helps make a difference.

Jess sits amongst high rocks with the Vietnamese countryside sprawling behind.

Jess Bryant – Tropical conservationist

Whilst recently identifying hundreds of camera trap images, I came across an extremely rare observation of the endangered Giant Gound Pangolin. To get a record of this very elusive species was extremely exciting and uplifting.

What’s it really like to work in science at the RSPB? To mark International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we speak to six of our Conservation Scientists.

This #InternationalDayofWomenandGirlsinScience meet just six of the inspiring women in our Conservation Science department and hear about some of their most memorable moments at the RSPB 🧪

Read the full story here: www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happen...

'Measuring what matters: biodiversity metrics for business and finance'

Join RSPB's Dr Elizabeth Boakes in a panel discussion hosted by @oxmartinschool.bsky.social

Tomorrow 10th Feb 5:00-6:30pm
Watch live (online/in person) or catch up later
Register here: www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/events/measu...

International Day of Women and Girls in STEM: From Vision to Impact – Redefining STEM by Closing the Gender Gap with Three RSPB Conservation Scientists

Just ahead of #InternationalDayofWomenandGirlsinScience, meet three of our amazing Conservation Scientists on the latest episode of the Women In STEM Podcast: open.spotify.com/episode/1oA0...

A homemade dictaphone is fixed to a wooden post in open grassland

An off the shelf dictaphone is shown. It is a small grey plastic box with two microphones protruding and internal circuitry.

Over 15 years ago the RSPB was building its own dictaphones for remote #seabird acoustic work on the Azores

Nowadays we use off the shelf versions to monitor a whole range of species across the world, from the Gola rainforest to the Shetland Islands

#Tech4Wildlife
@wildlabs.bsky.social

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?