Seabird Numbers and Breeding Success in Britain and Ireland

This is the sixteenth annual report on the results of seabird monitoring at colonies throughout Britain and Ireland, produced jointly by JNCC, RSPB, and SOTEAG, as part of JNCC's Seabird Monitoring Programme.

Available data on seabird breeding numbers and breeding success at seabird colonies in 2004 are summarised and compared with results from previous years, primarily 2003, with an analysis of longer term trends in the context of recent findings.

One aim of the annual report is to draw attention to notable changes in seabird numbers or breeding performance, which may merit direct conservation action or further research.

It is also intended to provide feedback and encouragement for future work, to the many individuals and organisations contributing data, by placing results for individual colonies or regions in a wider context.

The results presented refer mainly to coastal or island populations of seabirds, but reference is also made to inland populations of great cormorants, gulls and terns where data are available.