The public of Jersey have been giving us lots of sightings of the choughs as they move around the Island which is brilliant. One of the most popular spots the choughs are using as foraging habitat is Les Landes Common and Racecourse. Some of those choughs identified as using these spots are Trevor, Noirmont, Minty, Rey, Lee & Cauvette. But very often there are more than 20 choughs there at a time. It’s not surprising that they use Les Landes as a foraging spot as, as well as cattle, there are the horses that use the racecourse, all providing the choughs with dung, which may be alive with lots of tasty larvae for the choughs to consume.
Chough activity update from Simon Sand & Gravel Limited
Last year we had a chough pair, identified as Danny&Jaune, building a nest within the Simon Sand & Gravel Ltd site in St Ouen’s Bay. We’ve kept in contact with this company as choughs do generally nest each year in the same or similar areas. Last year, this pair didn’t get too far with their breeding situation. They managed to start building a nest between them, but unfortunately another (unknown) species took over their nest. This year we were informed of a pair roosting in the roof/overhang of one of their buildings but after a few days of them roosting there, they hadn’t seen them since. So it could be that they’ve found somewhere else to nest nearby. The chough team will be searching for their new nest site area. Furthermore, if this pair successfully breed, it won’t only be their first true breeding year, it’ll also be our second pair to produce real ‘wild’ chicks (chicks from a pair that were both hatched themselves wildly).
The results are in!
The results are in for the five juveniles which had the pleasure of having their blood tested for the reasoning of finding out their sexes. In November tests were taken on Birch, Sallow, Willow, Pine and Liberty. Birch, fledged from Dusty & Chickay’s nest, has been ‘playing the field’ so to speak with some of the females in the flock and it’s good to see that Birch is in fact a male. Sallow, fledged from Kevin & Wally’s nest, has stopped showing an interest in Portelet but has moved on to Archirondel and is also a male. Willow, Pine and Liberty are all females. Willow, fledging from Green & Pyrrho’s brood, Pine from Percy & Icho’s, Liberty from Kevin & Wally’s. It seems that last year’s sex ratio is looking pretty even so far. Hopefully, when the rest of the 2022 juveniles are tested, we will see some more males!
Between 2015 and 2020 almost half of all bird species declined, with woodland bird species being the most affected. UK bird populations have steadily declined over the past 50 years.
New data released by the UK government reveals that 48% of bird species have shown a decrease in just five years between 2015 and 2020. Birds such as the turtle dove, capercaillie, tree sparrow and grey partridge are now less than a tenth of their numbers from 50 years ago.
Campaigners say the government is in danger of missing out on their own targets set out in the Environment Act, which was passed into law in 2021 and requires a halt in species decline by 2030.
This week, the RSPB also released the results of their annual garden wildlife survey, the Big Garden Birdwatch.
It found that house sparrows were the most spotted bird for the twentieth year running, but since the survey began in 1979, almost 60% have been lost from UK gardens. Over the last 57 years it is thought that nearly 22 million house sparrows are believed to have disappeared from the country. In response to the survey results, Beccy Speight, RSPB’s chief executive, says, “The numbers speak for themselves when it comes to the startling declines of some of our once common birds.”
“They no longer have the abundance across the UK that they used to have. We are in a nature and climate emergency and we’ve lost 38 million birds from our skies in the last 50 years.”
Why are UK birds declining?
According to wildlife experts, habitat loss, mainly driven by changes in agriculture, is considered one of the biggest drivers of UK bird decline. This has resulted in farmland birds suffering the worst declines over the past 50 years, which peaked in the late 1970s and 1980s. This was largely due to the rapid changes in farmland management during the 1950s and 1960s.
The loss of mixed farming means less diversity of plants and animals and therefore fewer opportunities for birds to forage in different habitats throughout the year. A decrease in spring crops has resulted in less habitat for ground nesting birds such as lapwing, skylark, yellow wagtail and corn bunting.
Increased pesticide use has also led to the loss of weeds and insects as a food source, and the increased destruction of hedgerows further reduces the amount of suitable habitat.
But in the short term, woodland birds have suffered the biggest impact with 59% of species declining between 2015 and 2020. Some potential causes are a lack of woodland management and pressures from increased deer browsing, reducing the availability of suitable nesting and foraging habitats.
Bird populations are considered a good indication of the broader state of wildlife in the UK. This is because they are a well-studied taxonomic group that occupies a wide range of habitats and responds to environmental pressures that also impact other wildlife groups.
Dr. Richard Gregory, the RSPB’s head of science, says, “Everyone should be concerned that UK bird populations are continuing to decline as this is a crucial indicator of the condition of our environment and health of our natural world.”
“We cannot keep publishing report after report charting the decline of the UK’s wildlife without UK governments delivering on their commitments to take urgent action to restore nature and halt wildlife decline.”
Researchers have developed a tool that estimates the percentage of natural biodiversity that remains across the world and in individual countries. It revealed that centuries of farming and industry have made the UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in Europe. When compared to the G7 countries, the UK is at the very bottom in terms of how much biodiversity still survives.
“We are in a nature and climate emergency, and we need urgent action to keep common species common and save those already on the brink of being lost,” says Richard.
“This is not something on the distant horizon, but on our doorsteps but we can change this if we begin to seriously address the drivers of wildlife decline in the UK.”
Is it all bad news for the UK’s birds?
While many of the findings are a cause for concern, the report also highlights some positive trends in bird populations.
Although almost half of all species declined between 2015-2020, 24% increased during this time. In addition, some species have increased dramatically since 1970, including the Cetti’s warbler, blackcap, common buzzard, great spotted woodpecker, red kite and collared dove.
Positive conservation actions in the past 50 years have helped to drive the recovery of some of the UK’s birds.
For example, red kites were almost hunted to extinction in the UK, but an intense pioneering reintroduction programme which began in the 1980s has led to their almost miraculous recovery.
Despite there being some reasons to celebrate, pressure is building on the UK government to act if they want to achieve their targets of halting species loss entirely by 2030.
Richard Benwell, the CEO of Wildlife and Countryside Link, says, “As political parties turn their sights to the general election, they would do well to heed the warning written into today’s wild bird statistics. The decline of nature has continued, relentless and unabated, for decades.”
“Meeting the legally binding target to stop wildlife losses by the end of the next parliament can’t be achieved with a legal tweak here, some spare change there. Serious, sustained investment, proper penalties for pollution, and action in every sphere of government must be the hallmarks of any nature-positive manifesto.”
Read Wild bird populations in the UK, 1970 to 2021 here
With all this warm, not so wintery weather, it seems that all the choughs are becoming very attentive to one another. This is good news for pair bonds and for our team to acknowledge potential candidates for breeding this year. We’re happy to see that our eleven pairs from last year are starting to rekindle their bonds again, ready for the breeding season. But surely, it’s definitely too early for all these feeding courtship behaviours! Apart from our eleven adult pairs, we’ve again been seeing relationships blossoming between some of the juveniles from 2022. Liberty, who was hatched by Kevin & Wally, has been paying close attention to one of our three-year-old choughs; Archirondel. We have also been seeing mutual preening going on between some of the juveniles; Pine, one of Lee & Caûvette’s young from 2022 has taken to Aspen, one of Percy & Icho’s young from 2022. This may just be the juveniles learning to be attentive, in practice for future mates – but we can hope that this might bring forward some more real wild hatched chicks in the near future.
Chough foraging spots
Over the years it has been clear that the choughs spend a lot of time around the Les Landes area, whether that be at the Racecourse grounds, the model airfield or the tower. Les Landes provides the choughs with large stretches of semi-natural grassland to forage on; so, you can see the attraction. We’ve recently had sightings of pairs of choughs in Les Landes; namely Minty & Rey and Trevor & Noirmont. Minty &Rey may start foraging more often in this area once they start setting up their nest; but for the rest of the choughs, they’ll more likely be sticking a bit closer to the Sorel area; unless insect numbers here are too sparse. Interestingly, Lee & Cauvette, formerly almost resident at Les Landes, while undoubtedly doing well have not been seen at the Racecourse for many months.
Only one ‘wild’ nest box left!
At the end of the month, one of the nest-boxes installed on the cliffs eight years ago (in February 2015) in case there were too few natural crevices and caves available for nesting, was destroyed by the stormy weather. Our chough student, Kira, was able to pick up the pieces close to the cliffpath some distance east of where the box had been installed. Of three boxes installed on the cliffs in 2015, only one now remains and, while inspected, none have been used by the choughs! The same design of chough nest box has proven successful for nesting in other places around the Island and, although these cliff boxes haven’t persuaded a chough to use them as a nest yet, with the growing population, there is still a chance the remaining box will be used in the future – or even be used by another, grateful, bird species.
Counting birds in the garden for a good cause, as well as for fun
By Andrew Koester, Survey coordinator and Glyn Young
The Action for Wildlife Jersey and Birds On The Edge annual Great Garden Birdwatch returns this year for its 22nd year in succession and it is hoped that as many people as possible will help to build up a picture of the health of the Island’s bird population.
This year, the Great Garden Birdwatch will be held over the weekend of 4th and 5th February. The method of the count is very straight forward. Basically, you just need to grab a coffee, a comfy seat a handy garden bird guide and then look out into the garden for an hour on either Saturday or Sunday morning and write down what birds you see and the maximum number of each species at any one time.
Oh, and for one weekend a year, red squirrels are birds. We’re not sure what they think about that, we’ve tried asking but they are too busy – maybe they accept that it’s an honour.
Everyone who takes part in the count is a citizen scientist and doing their own small bit to help us understand our garden birds that bit better. Most of all though, it’s fun and will remind you how important our birds are to us and how much we need them to help us feel alive and well. And they’ll take your mind off things. So, please complete either an online form or download a copy (below) and email it on one day over the weekend and help us see how our birds are doing.
If you do see an red-billed chough, don’t be surprised and don’t forget – squirrels are birds!
Please use the online survey form Great Garden Birdwatch Survey Form 2023or download from this website here and then return the form to us by any of the following methods: By Email: afw.jersey@outlook.com or birdsote@gmail.com by Message to Action for Wildlife Jersey on Facebook
Thank you for your participation in this year’s survey.
Andrew Koester, Survey coordinator and Glyn Young, Birds On The Edge
We may not have all our chicks blood sampled and sexed yet but there are plenty of signs of relationships developing between the juveniles and a few of our young females. We’re still seeing Sallow, a (potential) male chough from Kevin & Wally’s brood, getting very friendly with Portelet, a female which was wild hatched in 2020. Birch, another potential male chough from Dusty & Chickay’s brood, is becoming acquainted with Chewbacca. As the juveniles settle into their places within the flock, more may be taking their pick of the single ladies of the group. Rocco who was wild hatched in 2020 has been seen arriving at the aviary and allopreening with Alder another potential male from Dusty & Chickay’s clutch. Without the blood sample results we cannot be one hundred percent certain yet that these are true pairs emerging, but looking at the size of these birds, and we have some weights, we have a good idea that they are. Looking at behaviours we’ve been seeing between these new acquaintances too, it could be that within the next few years, or even next year, we’ll hopefully have a few new wild hatched pairs to produce truly wild chicks!
Grazers bring the goods
The National Trust for Jersey’s shepherd is currently managing the coastal landscapes by moving sheep (the grazers) around the Island. Some of those sheep are currently in several fields around Sorel, where the choughs spend most of their time foraging alongside them. The sheep act as a natural land management tool to help restore vegetation and plant and bird communities. The sheep graze in neighbouring fields around the aviary and on the coastline giving our choughs and other bird species a good place to forage. Choughs, favour shorter length grasslands and this is typically where insect diversity is higher. But the choughs do not only forage alongside the sheep, the sheep also provide the choughs with tasty insect larvae that are found in their faeces. During the year we’ve had sightings of the choughs regularly returning to a field containing cattle in St Mary; cattle provide similar benefits to the sheep. But once the cattle were moved, it was not a shock to find that the choughs had moved on to a new foraging spot. It won’t be too long until the choughs start using the grazers for another purpose too – their wool!
Everyone deserves a present
It’s coming to the end of the year, 2022, and we all know what that means, Christmas! But it’s not only us humans who get to enjoy celebrating over the Christmas holidays; the choughs deserve a piece of the joy at Sorel as well. The keepers got creative this year by making some ‘Christmas present’ enrichment. Compared to the scary bright orange pumpkin that loomed in the field at Halloween, the choughs were much less cautious of their new ‘Christmas present’ in one of their usual foraging fields. With some insect persuasion it wasn’t long until the choughs approached their Christmas gift. Interestingly, it was not the juvenile choughs that approached the present first, it was the adults.
End of year review
The wild chough flock on the island has a population of 43 currently. To our knowledge we’ve had no adults go missing over the course of this year. We have also had our highest record of chick survival since the project began; lucky number thirteen. There may be more breeding pairs in the coming year too, not just from the juveniles, as we located our highest number of nest sites around the Island – 15 nests! Who knows, we may even have a breeding pair nest in Guernsey as we know at least two of our females enjoyed a weekend trip away. The chough team are looking forward to what the new year brings for this growing population.
The wind and rain have been battering the aviary a lot this month, so the keepers have been kept hard at work carrying out regular aviary structure checks, keeping the hatch wires tight and tying down and fixing any loose panelling. With all these strong winds, the aviary definitely has a low groan, while still standing strong. Thanks to the strong winds and heavy downpours it’s been a month of aviary surprises. As you will see in the photograph, one of our release hatches broke at the hinges – just goes to show how windy it has been! Thankfully, it wasn’t a hatch that is regularly used so it didn’t cause any harm to the keepers or the birds. The hatch was fixed but will eventually be replaced with a new one in the New Year. Considering the aviary was built almost 10 years ago, it is surprising that it doesn’t have more wear and tear and, despite the terrible weather, it is quite clear that it doesn’t stop the choughs from having fun!
Colour-rings
It has come to that time of year when colour rings start dropping off our choughs; this is most likely caused by the drastic change in temperature making the already long worn colour rings brittle enough to fall off. This in turn can bring identification concerns, but nothing a catch-up and re-ring can’t fix! If we can catch them that is. We have recently had a few of our adults fly into the aviary with colour-rings missing but thankfully these are some of our pairs and, therefore, it’s easy to know who’s who by identifying the other bird in the pair. We can just be thankful though that they’ve been lost and haven’t caused any ring-related issues. As choughs are relatively large birds, we use ‘wrap-around’ plastic rings which can, luckily very rarely, trap toes and/or claws; but in most cases, other ring options can have similar problems.
When a chough has its toe and/or claw stuck in a colour-ring, it doesn’t worry the keepers too much as this is a common occurrence for some birds. Furthermore, trapped digits are often more common in female choughs during the breeding season as their rings get stuck while they’re incubating. However, the birds generally manage to correct themselves without the keepers intervening. At the moment, however, we have a two adults in the flock that have their digits stuck in their colour rings, which we are closely monitoring. So far, they’ve not shown any signs of injury, but it may be that they will be caught up in the near future if the problem doesn’t naturally correct itself.
Juveniles catch-up
An attempt was made at the end of November to catch some adults with plastic ring issues; however, as ever, the adults outsmarted the keepers and flew away before they had a chance to set up! As we had arranged a ‘back up’ of other happy helpers to the aviary, we took the opportunity to catch some unsuspecting juveniles that let their hunger get the better of them by entering the aviary. So, five of the thirteen 2022 chicks were caught in the aviary. Although the newest additions to this wild populations have already been given names, we took blood samples from the briefly held juveniles to find out their sexes! The first five choughs caught, and blood sampled were: Willow, Liberty, Pine, Sallow & Birch. The blood samples themselves will take a few weeks to be processed and for us to receive the results. However, on visual observations, some choughs are more obvious through sexual size dimorphism than others. Male choughs are generally much heavier and larger than female choughs. On close inspection it became very clear that Sallow is a very large bird and most likely a male, it was the largest of all five caught. Portelet, a female which hatched in 2020, has been warming to Sallow of late and was spotted waiting outside the aviary for Sallow’s release. This brings great hope for a new pairing of Sallow & Portelet in the near future. Birch was quite average in size, however, but like Sallow & Portelet; Chewbacca was also seen waiting outside the aviary for its release so there could be another pair on the horizon. In the meantime, watch this space!
It has been fantastic to watch as the chicks of 2022 learn and grow their skills within the flock. Some are trying to mutually preen the adults; many are swatted away. When attempting with other chicks and/or siblings it results in a play fight until one gives in. However, there’s one chick that we’ve been keeping a close eye on lately, and that is Sallow. Sallow has been trying to preen Portelet, a female which was wild-hatched in 2020. At first, Portelet had been dismissive but, we are now noticing Sallow & Portelet arriving to the aviary together and Sallow is regularly preening Portelet with no resistance. Could this be a new pair bond blossoming? Could these two become a new breeding pair in the near future? Only time (and blood tests) will tell, but we stand hopeful.
Spooky enrichment
We’re always looking for new ideas to spice up the wild choughs’ lives at Sorel and being the month of Halloween; we had plenty of fun ideas for spooky enrichment. Our chough student, Kira, was given the task of carving out a little pumpkin for the wild chough and what a good job she did! For starters, it was placed inside the aviary but it became quite clear, however, that the choughs were slightly concerned when it came to this very bright orange object looming in their aviary as they were very reluctant to go near it. So instead, we placed it into the sloping field behind the aviary allowing them to freely decide if they wanted to advance any closer to it. With a little encouragement with tasty insects, some of the choughs did start to explore this new scary bright orange object in one of their foraging spots. The adults seemed to be the most reluctant to check out this new object. However, the 2022 chicks were the brave ones with Hazel & Birch both being the main two approaching this chough inspired pumpkin.
Aviary TLC
Apart from giving the choughs a ‘scare’, we’ve been giving the aviary some well-deserved TLC of late. With the colder and wetter weather setting into Jersey; it’s a good time to make sure the aviary is in tip top condition. This involves, and is not limited to, updating old bolts. As the aviary is situated in the elements all year round, the weather can certainly take its toll on the aviary including the metal structures such as padlocks, bolts, hatches and hinges. The keepers do their best to ensure that all the metal structures are well looked after by regularly greasing them for extra waterproofing protection. However, constant weathering over time is inevitable and metals do become rusty and must be removed and replaced. Some jobs are easier to complete than others; but that’s all part of the aviary maintenance challenge. This newly installed bolt will allow easy keeper access inside the aviary as well as keeping the door safely shut when the weather is blowing a gale – which in turn prevents any chough related accidents!
Camera trap capture success
We’ve kept our camera-trap strapped around a feeder stand in the aviary to see if we could find our hole and mound-making rodents that are obviously thriving in the aviary. We managed to capture one of the cheeky wood mice that lurk in the aviary while the keepers weren’t present. The wood mouse is a very common mouse found across the whole island. They are generally nocturnal and live in complex underground burrows where they nest and keep food stores of fruits and seeds. However, there are plenty of other small mammals such as bank voles and shrews that also use burrows. So, this wood mouse most likely isn’t the only culprit involved in creating these holes throughout the aviary, but it is definitely one of the contenders.
At around this time every year we update the list of all those bird species recorded in the Channel Islands. Records will have been verified by each island’s ornithological committees. Where once birds may have been shot to confirm ID, records of new species and rarities became submitted through detailed notes and, today, they are often shown to us in high quality photos that leave little doubt about identification. We still like the notes.
Interestingly, while our overall bird list and those of the islands continue to increase, there have also been some species lost. We are always revising our opinions and, sometimes, we learn more about a species and question older records’ validity. Jersey’s first black-eared (in 1980) was scrubbed when we started to consider that it had almost certainly been a desert wheatear but that the observer was no longer confident. We also lose species to taxonomic splits.
As bird taxonomy becomes more and more detailed through use of some very fine, molecular level, ways of determining differences between species, we are often seeing traditional sub-species ‘elevated’ to species level. Then, that warbler for instance that we recorded but didn’t get a photo of may become several different warblers. But, which one was ours? Did we get sufficient detail noted to know which it was? You’ll see the problem in the full list. Especially in the warblers!
We also, well those of us of a certain age, grew up with a very set, long-established, view of the order that species occur in. We start with divers and grebes and end with crows. Well, actually that went out years ago as we learn more about relationships between birds and can even age when particular groups evolved. As a duck enthusiast, I’m pleased that they now rightly start off the CI List. They followed the pheasant, partridges and quail last year. So, species you are looking for may not always be where you expect them. They may also not be with old friends in the list and may have new company – have you got used to hawks and falcons not being related? Or that falcons and shrikes are next to each other in the list? And that grebes and divers aren’t closely related, and that crows are nowhere near the end?
So, back to the updated list. After being restricted to home over most of 2020, we began to travel again in 2021. However, the birds at home were still a draw it seems and records came in in good numbers.
We had two additions to the list which strangely went up by five! Guernsey’s Bonaparte’s gull in February and March and an October eastern olivaceous warbler in Jersey were the proper additions. The other increases came from re-organising warblers. However, as some of the older records of Bonelli’s and subalpine warbler are not identified to newer species, the list total could go down again in future.
Other notable birds were first ruddy shelduck and green-winged teal in Jersey (the former most likely from the establishing population in northern Europe) and a first rustic bunting in Alderney. Alderney saw their first corn crake in 43 years and first stone curlew in 134 years! Remarkably Alderney also saw their fourth great bustard in seven years, all from the UK reintroduction project, and the only bustards (of two European species) likely to have enjoyed their visit to the Channel Islands!
Breeding species continue to have mixed fortunes but it is very pleasing to note that short-eared owl bred in Guernsey and nightjars bred for a second year in Jersey.
And the individual islands’ totals? Jersey now has 340 recorded species, Guernsey 331, Alderney 308 and Sark 226.
This summer is proving to be a particularly hot one; one which we probably shouldn’t complain about! With rising temperatures and further limited rainfall though, the struggle for water supplies up at the Sorel aviary are beginning to show. At Sorel, it is clear how little rain we’ve received over the past month or so as the water butt, which is usually filled by Jersey’s plentiful rainwater, has been getting topped up by keepers. It may be physically challenging lugging water containers to the aviary in the recent heat but at least the choughs have clean water, and the keepers are becoming that little bit fitter! But, with rainwater being in short supply, lack of water wasn’t the only worry as the ground became hard and compact, potentially making foraging spots for choughs a little sparse; not an ideal start for the choughlets. Our Plémont pair Minty & Rey are normally rarely seen at the aviary but have been very frequent as of late; making us worry more about the state of foraging across the Island.
Bird flu, captive and wild bird devastation
The other worry on the Island is bird flu. So, what is bird flu? Bird flu is a type of influenza virus which is mainly spread amongst birds. The virus itself can be spread in two ways; directly (through contact) or indirectly (through faecal matter). It can affect mammals, but the risk is very low compared to the transmission between bird species. Bird flu was found on the Island in February this year and has caused quite a stir. This month, the number of cases seen across the Island has increased and the coasts are becoming scattered with many suspected avian flu fatalities, mostly seabirds. It is very important for us to state that the public must help prevent further spread by following the Government of Jersey Natural Environment guidelines and not picking up, touching or going near wild sick or dead birds. However, it is useful for the public to notify Natural Environment about any dead birds; especially if several dead birds are found in close proximity of each other. The most susceptible wild birds seem to be birds of prey, owls, wildfowl and seabirds. Notifying of dead birds will allow Natural Environment to test and confirm any new cases on the Island and set quarantine protocols. Although the photos below show herring gull fatalities across the cliffs at Devil’s Hole (which is very close to Sorel); we’re thankful to announce that the wild chough population is currently stable/unchanged.
Praising mother nature
The keepers couldn’t have been happier to see some much-needed rainfall and accompanying thunderstorms when they came, to clear away some of those high temperatures. We finally had a significant amount of rainfall. The ground around the aviary is still feeling pretty tough but at least it’s gained some form of hydration this month. Once we’d had a few days of rainfall, the grass in the aviary was looking a healthy green again after many months of looking very dried out and brown. But with rainfall comes plant growth, and it is truly amazing how much grass grows after a bit of rain! The keepers are now back into their routine of regularly mowing and strimming the grass inside and outside the aviary – hopefully giving the choughs another great foraging spot for tasty insects.
Choughlet update
As we came closer to the end of August, the aviary became less ‘noisy’ as the youngest chicks belonging to breeding pair Bo & Flieur were becoming independent feeders. Less ‘choughlet’ begging behaviour at their parents and more wing-begging behaviours directed at the keepers! The young choughs are now arriving in their own little flock for the supplementary feed; it’s quite fantastic to see how they’ve learnt, grown and thrive, especially with all this hot weather. Although the feeds may have become quieter in regard to chick begging behaviour, there were still plenty of social hierarchy challenges amongst the young choughs and the adults. Plenty of scrabbles between siblings, young choughs of different parents as well as between some young choughs and adult pairs – the young choughs will soon find their place within the flock’s social structure.
Chough adults
Now that the young choughs are more independent; the parents are becoming less attentive. When the chicks started to feed for themselves the parent pairs would land on a food stand, allow their chicks to join and then move themselves to another stand; almost as if to give the young birds a fighting chance of a free meal before another more dominant pair took over the stand. However, now, the parent pairs will bat away any chicks, including their own! Since the aviary has become quieter, more pairs and other adults that have rarely been seen over the breeding and fledgling season became more frequent visitors such as Corbière pair Danny & Jaune. These two, along with other adults, have been known to avoid the aviary in fledgling season; and I don’t blame them, the choughlets are very noisy and demanding from anyone who will feed them!
In October, the European Parliament will vote on a report calling for an “EU cormorant management plan”. In plain text this means, controlling their population through lethal measures. Here are five reasons why this plan is not a good solution.
Seabirds are going to… eat fish. The aquaculture industry is mad at seabirds for foraging fish. Meanwhile, almost all our waters are overfished by humans, who are also wiping out fish habitats while they are at it. The cormorant diet consists of fish. It’s as simple as that. Just like bees feed on pollen and nectar. So, it’s obvious that, when they are out foraging, cormorants will be attracted to bodies of water where fish are abundant and easy to catch. Does that mean that some of them will be attracted to aquaculture facilities? Yes. Should they be killed because of this? Absolutely not. Science suggests that reducing the overall population of cormorants will not reduce conflicts at a local scale (i.e. aquaculture facility) – unless you put an enormous destructive effort on it. If a site is popular, whatever cormorants that are left, will continue to come back – no matter how well the population is “managed”.
Cormorants (great cormorant) almost went extinct in the 1970s due to human persecution and habitat loss primarily caused by humans. Thanks to the EU Birds Directive, as of 1979 it became illegal to disturb, capture, or kill them, as well as destroying their nests or robbing their nests. That, coupled with the reduction of water pollution and a ban on some dangerous pesticides has helped the great cormorant population bounce back across Europe in the past 30 years. Surely it would be a pity to undo all this great work just because cormorants like eating fish?
We’re ignoring the real problems. It is easy for industries to blame cormorants for the decline of fish population, but the reality is much more complex. The INTERCAFE research project showed that when cormorants are identified as a problem for fisheries there’s actually a whole range of reasons why fish production is in decline, including: invasive species, climate change, impoverished water quality, pollution, or the increase of algae in waters (aka eutrophication). In short, to produce fish, the restoration of natural habitats is key. Killing off cormorants won’t change anything – restoring the natural habitats of cormorants and fish, and sustainably managing wetlands, however, can provide part of the solution to these problems.
There are other solutions! The INTERCAFE project developed a toolbox with a wide range of management actions to reduce the vulnerability of fish to predation and deter cormorants from specific sites. This includes solutions to make sites less attractive to cormorants for nesting or feeding and measures to protect the fish (e.g. artificial refuges for fish, audible and visual deterrents for cormorants, nets and overhead wires, etc.) While there is no perfect measure that will work in every situation, all these techniques have been proven useful to reduce “conflicts” and deserve additional resources, such as from the new European Maritime Fisheries and Aquaculture Funds (EMFAF), to explore, develop and test them.
It’s really not so difficult. Just listen to the science. The ongoing discussion in the European Parliament on the “necessary management” of great cormorants is not based on the latest scientific consensus. The CormoDist project (endorsed by the Commission) clearly concluded that population management does not have an effect on specific site interactions. And it is not possible to know where the reduction of the population will have an impact.
In Jersey, cormorant is considered to be threatened and is RED on the local bird redlist. Despite seeming to be common, cormorants only nest in a very small number of sites and are vulnerable to disturbance and persecution. The rapid decline of the closely related shag, once a very common bird in Jersey, should serve as a salutary reminder of how fast a bird species’ fortune can change.
By Charlotte Dean
