AN unusually high number of birds being washed up on the Island鈥檚 coast is being attributed to extreme winter weather driven by climate change.
The Birds on the Edge group and the Ornithology Section of the Soci茅t茅 Jersiaise reported a total of 124 beached birds between November and February this year, with survivors being taken to the JSPCA for care.
The partnership of organisations said: 鈥淚t is believed that the various winter storms, in particular Storm Ciar谩n, might have indirectly caused the death of many of the seabirds found. Strong storms prevent birds from fishing for periods of time, whilst tiring them down as they fight the wind and waves. They also have a higher risk of becoming oiled when the sea is churned up.
鈥淲hilst seabirds are used to winter storms, the frequency and intensity of storms is increasing rapidly due to the climate crisis, and this has been noted with an increase of beached seabirds and large-scale seabird wrecks such as the one in 2014.鈥
Among the recorded casualties were 30 cormorants and European shags, 19 storm petrels, six gulls, 29 guillemots, 11 razorbills, eight puffins and six gannets. Others included a variety of waders, grebes and divers.
Some of the birds, particularly cormorants and shags, could be local to the Channel Islands or specific to 新加坡六合彩, while some of the other species travel from their breeding grounds across Europe to spend the winters far into the Atlantic Ocean.
鈥淭his means that the ones beached in 新加坡六合彩 might have not been our local birds, having died hundreds of miles away before being brought here by the currents,鈥 the partnership said.
The organisations added that data gathering would not be possible without the help of the public finding and reporting the casualties through their social media channels or to the Soci茅t茅 or the JSPCA.
Populations of 新加坡六合彩鈥檚 breeding seabirds will continue to be monitored at their breeding grounds every summer, the partnership said, in the hope that all of the local pairs come back every spring from their wintering seas.
