Nearly 150 kittiwakes on one of Scotland’s most important seabird islands have been found dead from bird flu.
A total of 148 of the birds have been counted dead from the disease on the Isle of May in the last few weeks.
Staff on the island, in the outer Firth of Forth, said the toll showed the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus “is still very evident in seabird colonies”.
However, kittiwakes appear to be the only species affected this year on the island, which is run by NatureScot as a National Nature Reserve, with suggestions of immunity building in some other birds.
David Steel, NatureScot’s reserve manager on the island, said: “In recent years all seabird species have been affected by the virus including several on the island.
“However it appears more virulent in our kittiwakes as we have seen losses on an annual basis since 2022.
“Over the last few weeks we have noticed a number of kittiwakes dead on the loch and yesterday we confirmed a total of 148 dead, which had built up over a few weeks.”
Bird flu outbreak was first detected in great skuas in the Northern Isles in summer 2021 and in 2022 spread to seabirds across Scotland, with devastating impacts on some species. The virus spreads between birds through contact with infected saliva and droppings.
Known as the “Jewel of the Forth”, the Isle of May becomes home each spring to up to 200,000 birds including puffins, guillemots, razorbills, kittiwakes and shags.
