Several hundred seabirds have been killed by bird flu at a Norfolk nature reserve.
The Sandwich Tern nesting colony on Scolt Head Island near Brancaster may have lost three-quarters of its chicks due to the virus, according to specialists.
Several species, including gannets, terns, and great skuas, are being decimated by bird flu along the UK coastline.
The government verified the epidemic and stated that it was monitoring the impact of avian influenza on wild animals.
Natural England manages a nature reserve off the coast of North Norfolk that is home to approximately 4,000 breeding pairs of sandwich terns.
Its warden took to Twitter to upload photographs of bin bags filled with dead birds and posed the question, “Are we seeing the extinction of seabird colonies in the North Sea?”
The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), located in Thetford, stated that the impact of bird flu was “devastating,” especially given the length of time required for marine bird populations to recover.
In contrast to garden birds, which may lay eight to ten eggs twice a year, sea birds have only one breeding season and produce one or two eggs at most.
The British Trust for Ornithology’s Viola Ross-Smith stated, “As long-lived and slow-breeding birds, they cannot swiftly recover from such a huge extinction.”
“They are already under pressure from fishing, climate change, development, and pollution; they don’t need this, and it’s heartbreaking to see.
We likely won’t know the long-term effects for quite some time.
Along the coast, from the Shetland and Orkney Islands to East Anglia and the Channel Islands, the virus has been discovered.
Ms. Ross-Smith stated that 60 percent of the world’s breeding population of great skuas, a colony in the Shetland Islands, has been “totally decimated” by avian influenza.
Hundreds of seabirds of multiple species have perished in the northeast, with some washed up on the coast.
Ms. Ross-Smith referred to surveillance as “crucial” and advised the people to keep themselves and their dogs away from dead birds, as well as report them to the Department of Food, Environment, and Rural Affairs (Defra).
She continued, “It’s the best we can offer at the moment.”
Staff members are bagging up the deceased birds, which is particularly crucial given that other species feed on dead birds.
The RSPB’s Martin Fowlie concurred that the impact of avian influenza on seabird populations this year was “extraordinary.”
He continued, “We need the government to have a handle on this so we can conduct better testing, monitoring, and surveillance.”
Defra acknowledged that deceased sandwich terns discovered on Scolt Head Island had tested positive for avian influenza.
It stated that it was collaborating with organizations such as the RSPB and Natural England to assess its impact.
