Seabird numbers bounce back in Solent region after 2022 avian flu wipeout
Seabird populations in the Solent region have seen a significant recovery following a devastating avian flu outbreak in 2022. Conservation efforts, including predator exclusion and habitat management, have successfully boosted breeding numbers for species like sandwich terns and black-headed gulls.
Why it matters
This demonstrates the effectiveness of targeted conservation interventions in restoring biodiversity after ecological disasters.
Two adult sandwich terns with a chick. Photograph: David Kinchin Smith/RSPB Two adult sandwich terns with a chick. Photograph: David Kinchin Smith/RSPB Birds Seabird numbers bounce back in Solent region after 2022 avian flu wipeout Conservation work by RSPB has led to recovery of terns, gulls, plovers and oystercatchers on England’s south coast
The colony of sandwich terns nesting at Pagham harbour, West Sussex, was completely wiped out by bird flu in 2022. But numbers have bounced back from zero to 756 breeding pairs in just three years after conservation work in the Solent.
Populations of breeding little terns, ringed plovers, oystercatchers and black-headed gulls have also increased along the same coastline. The turnaround comes thanks to work by RSPB staff and volunteers at the Pagham harbour nature reserve and similar efforts across 52,000 hectares (128,000 acres) of coastline and estuary between the south coast and the Isle of Wight.
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