#3 Kittiwake by Heather Davison-Smith
Meet Heather Davison-Smith, Development Officer for the Yorkshire Marine Nature Partnership!
As the Development Officer for the Yorkshire Marine Nature Partnership (YMNP), Heather works with a wide variety of organisations to care for, manage, and improve our knowledge of Yorkshire’s important marine and coastal environment. The Partnership’s main area of focus extends from Staithes in North Yorkshire, all the way down to Spurn Point; taking in some awe-inspiring seascapes and stunning wildlife spectacles in our region. You can contact Heather by email (heather.davison-smith@eastriding.gov.uk), or follow her on twitter at @YorksMarineNP.
Heather’s chosen species is one of our true seabirds, the Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla. From Flamborough northwards, Yorkshire’s craggy coastline provides ideal nesting ledges for numerous seabird species, including the Black-legged Kittiwake. These strictly coastal grey and white gulls with black-tipped wings are smaller and more gentle-looking than their herring gull cousins. Their distinctive cry of ‘kittiwake’ announces their presence in spring and becomes noticeably absent from August onwards, as they return to their seafaring ways once again. The Marine Protected Area around Flamborough and Filey holds one of the UK’s largest Kittiwake colonies, with around 51,000 breeding pairs, though many have also taken up residence on the artificial cliffs of bridges and buildings in our seaside towns. You can find out more about the Kittiwake on the NBN atlas.
A pair of adult Kittiwakes.
“Going up onto the cliffs on a blustery, cold, grey day in March and hearing the familiar ‘kittiwake’ call for the first time as they return to their nests never fails to make me smile with the promise of warmer and brighter days ahead” says Heather. She isn’t alone: for many, seabirds are an iconic part of living on or visiting the coast, and have in fact been integral to our coastal identity for generations. Seabird eggs were once an important source of food and income for local families around Flamborough. Small teams of men, known as ‘climmers’ would collect Kittiwake, Guillemot, Razorbill and Puffin eggs by hand, with one man lowered over the cliff on a rope anchored by the others on the cliff top. This practice ceased with the Protection of Birds Act in 1954. Almost a century before, the Flamborough seabird colony was also the inspiration for the very first Seabird Preservation Act in 1869, after a local clergyman campaigned to stop the shooting of seabirds for both sport and their feathers. It is not known how the seabird populations were impacted by these practices, but human activities continue to put significant pressure on these species, particularly Kittiwakes.
“Small teams of men, known as ‘climmers’ would collect Kittiwake, Guillemot, Razorbill and Puffin eggs by hand, with one man lowered over the cliff on a rope anchored by the others on the cliff top.”
Kittiwakes are ‘true’ seabirds, in that they spend most of the year at sea. As specialist feeders, they depend on small fish which are caught near to the surface of the water; unlike their Gannet, Razorbill and Guillemot neighbours, they don’t dive deep into the oceans or pursue their prey through the water column. During the breeding season, Kittiwakes are particularly dependent on Sandeels, small shoaling fish which thrive in cool waters and are a key prey species for a wide range of seabirds and marine mammals. As our sea temperatures rise as a result of climate change, Sandeels are becoming less available. This is having a significant impact on seabirds across the North Atlantic, in particular those which cannot easily switch to other prey, such as Kittiwakes. Heather notes that she picked the Kittiwake for this blog partially because we need to be taking notice of species like them; as the natural world is increasingly impacted by threats such as climate change, species that span the threshold of terrestrial and marine give us a great insight into what is happening below the surface in marine ecosystems.
Kittwake with chick.
When a protected area was first designated for Kittiwakes around Flamborough in the late 1980’s, estimates suggested that there were around 87,000 breeding pairs. This dropped to around 42,000 when the colony was counted again in 2000, and has remained fairly stable ever since. However, whilst Kittiwakes are able to raise two or even three chicks each summer, productivity has remained at around 0.6 chicks per apparently occupied nest for the last few years. Unfortunately, this data suggests that Kittiwakes are not currently able to fledge enough chicks to keep the colony sustainable in the long-term. This is highly likely to be a direct result of prey availability during the breeding season. This is even more concerning at other colonies, however, where Kittiwakes have experienced losses of more than 95% over the last few decades. Yorkshire’s colonies may be offered some protection from such dramatic declines due to their proximity to the Flamborough Front; a tidal system where warmer waters from the south meet cooler waters from the north, creating an upwelling of nutrients. These important feeding areas are also under threat, however, as offshore developments create artificial barriers and North Sea surface temperatures continue to rise.
Monitoring
Monitoring of this species is important, considering its population changing in the context of Sandeel declines, rising sea surface temperatures, human disturbance, and offshore developments. Around the Flamborough and Filey Coast Special Protection Area, the RSPB undertake an annual productivity monitoring programme on behalf of Natural England. With the help of volunteers, the number of chicks fledged by Kittiwakes (and other species) are counted and analysed, alongside regular full-colony counts. This data is then shared with decision-makers, both locally and nationally, to inform ongoing management.
Acknowledgements and further information
NEYEDC would like to thank Heather for her time and expertise in helping to create this blog. If you’d be interested in contributing a piece for the series, contact Lucy at lucy.baldwin@neyedc.co.uk. To find out more about biological recording, see the Naturalists page on our website.