Winter Migrant Seabirds
- Olivia
- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
With the weather remaining chilly and storms increasing in frequency, it’s hard to imagine that anyone would want to spend their winter in the UK. But for many winter migrant seabirds, this is exactly their goal! Amazingly, many of the birds that are currently flocking to Falmouth’s shoreline have undertaken journeys of thousands of miles from their Arctic summer homes to enjoy the comparatively warmer climes of Falmouth’s coast.
The North Atlantic Current, an extension of the Gulf Stream, means that the UK experiences a much warmer climate than landmasses at similar latitudes. This makes it an ideal place to overwinter for a host of fascinating seabirds, who can be seen feeding and resting off the Cornish coast throughout the colder months. Join us as we highlight some of these magical winter migrants!
Little auks are small, black-and-white birds belonging to the family Alcidae, which also includes puffins and guillemots. They breed in the Arctic, but can be seen spending their winters in the UK from October to February. They are somewhat elusive, spending most of their time at sea, but can occasionally be seen feeding in coastal areas. They feed primarily on copepods – tiny planktonic organisms that are one of the most abundant animals on earth. They use a unique ‘slurping’ mechanism, expanding food pouches under their tongue to suck in around 60,000 copepods per day!
At the beginning of spring, the birds begin to return to their nesting sites in the Arctic, where copepods are present in huge numbers due to the abundant marine nutrients. Little auks are socially monogamous, and reunite with their partner from the previous year in the spring. The parents take turns to collect food, regurgitating their plankton meals into the waiting mouths of their chicks.
Waders are another group of birds that overwinter in the UK, providing birders with a great opportunity to view some special and scarcely seen species. Wading birds are known for their distinctive stocky bodies, long legs, and often long bills that allow them to forage in saturated environments. Knots, curlews, and snipes are just some of the birds that return to the UK in the winter, with ornithologists recommending Hayle estuary as a great place to view them. According to the RSPB, “Every year, up to 18,000 migrant and wintering waterfowl flock to the Hayle estuary.”
One distinctive wader is known as the turnstone. Named for their distinctive foraging style, these medium-sized birds flip over rocks on the shoreline to locate prey. They are likely to be familiar to frequenters of St Ives or Padstow Harbour, gathering there in particularly high numbers. While they can be seen in small numbers year-round, it is estimated that a distinct population of 43,000 birds winter in the UK. They are also known for their patterned plumage, which changes with the seasons – in winter, they have a dark brown and black pattern on their face and breast, with a snowy white underbelly.
Despite – or perhaps because of - their infamous pasty-stealing antics, gulls are not everyone’s favourite group of birds. However, despite their reputation for mischief, keen birders look beyond the commonly-sighted herring gull for the opportunity to view some of their rarer relatives during the winter period. Far from being all the same, the term ‘seagull’ could in fact refer to any of the over 50 gull species found worldwide – several of which can be found on Cornwall’s winter coast.
The moniker ‘common gull’ is something of a misnomer in the UK. You are far more likely to encounter the similar-looking herring gull or the larger black-backed gulls than to catch a glimpse of this more elusive species. In fact, they have a red conservation status in the UK because of severe population declines due to overfishing, climate change, and the ongoing impacts of avian influenza. However, those hoping to see the species might have more luck in the winter months. When the weather becomes colder, a population of Scandinavian common gulls migrates the approximately 850 miles to the UK to escape the inhospitable conditions of their home country, and access a more bountiful food source.
Additionally, the exceedingly rare Ross’s gull has recently been spotted at Newlyn Harbour. Having only been recorded in the county 10 times, twitchers have flocked to the site in order to catch a glimpse. Ross’s gulls are considered a vagrant species in the UK, meaning that they occasionally appear outside of their normal range. Visitors such as this may have been blown off course by storms, or experienced navigational errors during migration.
One thing for certain is that Cornwall doesn’t experience a lack of nature during the winter months – quite the opposite! Although the weather may remain wet, getting out and about on our beautiful coastline is a great way to combat the winter blues, and to meet some new feathered friends. So get out and enjoy the avian amazements that this time of year has to offer – and be sure to tag @falmouthmarineconservation in any photos!
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