Discover the sights, sounds and smells of a bustling seabird colony

As day breaks, a Puffin ​flies far out to sea, 20 miles from her nesting burrow. It’s the middle of the breeding season, and she has a chick to feed. She dives and comes up with her bill full ​​​​​​​​of ​​​​​​sandeels. Satisfied with her haul, she takes off with a splash and starts her long commute back to the colony. 

As she flies, she ​joins other commuters. Lots of other birds – like Guillemots and Razorbills – have been fishing too. Their journeys merge onto a motorway-like route where thousands of birds come together to make their way towards land. 

This kind of rush hour may not involve a traffic jam on busy roads, but it’s just one of the ways that life in a seabird colony resembles that ​​of a human city. Both are full of noise, bickering, waste, smells – and ​thousands of compelling personal dramas.  

Finally, the Puffin reaches home. All the burrows might look the same to us, but she recognises hers straight away. After all, she was here last year, and the year before that.  

All kinds of species live in close quarters in this seabird city, in different types of residences and streets. Daredevil Guillemots choose narrow, exposed, high-rise ledges, while Razorbills prefer broader ones with an overhang. ​Puffins use burrows or crevices, while Cormorants live lower down on a cliff, within easy diving distance of the sea.  

The sights and sounds of the colony are so entertaining that it’s easy to forget the birds are often on the edge of danger and even disaster. Many seabirds are in trouble, with Puffins, Kittiwakes and ​​​​​​Terns all ​​​​​threatened with extinction in the UK​.

That’s why​​​​​ the RSPB is t​aking action to protect the nearly eight million seabirds ​​​​​that​ nest on ​​​​​​the UK’s coastlines. We’re restoring their precious colonies so that, like us, they can continue to live busy, noisy and exciting lives.  

​​​​​We’ve made a good start, working with partners on ​​​​projects like eradicating ​​predatory ​​​​rats on Lundy Island, which were unwittingly imported on visiting ships and shipwrecks. ​​​​Puffin numbers have now been boosted from a meagre five birds to a far healthier 848 birds ​​​​recorded in 2021. And Manx Shearwater numbers have risen from around 300 pairs to an incredible 5,500 pairs. We’ve also tagged struggling species like Roseate Terns, ​​​​tracking their movements to get valuable information that shapes our ongoing conservation ​​work.  

The RSPB is constantly working to create bigger and better protected habitats for our beloved birdlife. But there’s still so much more to be done to ensure their survival.  

The hustle and bustle of a seabird community depends on the protection of the UK’s coastlines and the ​​species that call them home. ​​By becoming an RSPB member, you’ll be ​​supporting our work to tackle the life-threatening pressures seabird colonies face, so that they can keep going strong for many years to come.