Seabirds

Scotland holds internationally important numbers of 24 species of breeding seabirds that are an important indicator for assessing the state of the marine environment. Seabirds respond to a range of factors, such as changes in food availability, weather, predation and pollution. Their abundance (i.e. number of breeding birds) is determined by how many adults survive from the previous year and how many young birds successfully reach maturity. The productivity (i.e. number of chicks produced) can provide a good indication of food availability as well as levels of predation. Productivity typically changes more quickly than abundance.