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Just published: The effect of the 2023 bird flu outbreak on the population biology of Common Guillemots on Skomer Island by Birkead and Hatchwell - Tim Birkhead has been monitoring Skomer Island for decades now, and this is a really interesting read.
British BirdsThe effect of the 2023 bird flu outbreak on the population biology of Common Guillemots on Skomer IslandAbstract The outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI, ‘bird flu’) first detected in the UK in 2021 has resulted in the deaths of millions of birds, both domesticated and wild, and is a major conservation threat to seabirds. During the summer of 2023, HPAI killed many Common Guillemots Uria aalge in Britain. Amongst the birds killed on Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire, were a number of ringed individuals from a long-term population study there.
Guillemots were already suffering from food shortages and winter storms when they were hit by the HPAI outbreak, which may have killed 20% - 30% of the population. However, like with the Gannet paper I shared the other day, there was an influx of birds from the non-breeding population to fill in the colony gaps, as Guillemots don't normally breed until 7 years old.