According to the RSPB, 1,200 birds have died on their nature reserves in total in 2023, the vast majority of which are black-headed gulls, and there have been early reports of fatalities coming in from Europe.Ĭonservationists at the Wildlife Trust said they had “never seen mortality this high before” at Yorkshire’s largest black-headed gull colony at North Cave Wetlands nature reserve, where 10% of the 2,000 breeding pairs of black-headed gulls have died. However, the Guardian has studied data from devolved governments and nature organisations that shows the actual figure is at least 50,000 between October 2021 until the start of April 2023.Įxperts say this number is still likely to be a gross underestimate as there is no national monitoring and most carcasses are never found and not counted.Īlready this year, there are reports that black-headed gulls, which start nesting in early April – before most other seabirds - have been badly hit across the country. The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) estimates that “many more than 20,000” wild birds have died in the UK since the current outbreak began in October 2021.
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