Many thousands of seabirds including grebes, divers, ducks, auks, gulls, cormorants and shags spend the winter at sea in the Channel Islands. Even in a good year it is possible that some of these birds may be found dead on our coastline. However, in periods of extremely bad weather or during pollution incidents many hundreds of birds may wash up on the beaches.

Earlier this year over 1,000 dead birds were found on our beaches following a period of extreme weather in the area. In 2013 we had the tragic experience of PIBs being discharged in the Channel and killing many seabirds.

The sight of dead birds like these is never pleasant but it is very important that we record the numbers of birds and their species in order to understand the extent of the incident and to predict what impacts there may be on already threatened seabird populations.

The birds may have rings or other identification devices and reporting these will increase our knowledge of the birds’ ecology as we can map where different species spend the winter or chose to moult and understand how long they can live.

If you find a dead seabird please report it immediately to Birds On The Edge at birdsote@gmail.com or phone Glyn Young at 01534 860032 or Cris Sellarés at 07700 337077 with the following important information:

1)The species of bird or size, colour of the head, body, beak and feet if species is unknown;

2) The date that you found the bird and your contact details if you are happy to share them;

3)  Information on its location (e.g. which beach and nearest landmark such as slipway or café);

4)  A picture taken from your phone or camera, if you can;

5)  Any rings or other tags that it might have. If ringed, please write down the ring number and address.

This information can also be downloaded here

Thank you for your assistance.