Scotland’s puffin population has suffered a decline in its breeding success, according to the latest figures.
Around 75% of the UK’s Atlantic puffin population lives in Scotland, with a significant number currently breeding on the Isle of May in the Firth of Forth, but the number of chicks has dwindled in recent years and puffins are now listed as vulnerable to extinction.
The colourful birds, known for their bright bills and comical behaviour, typically only produce one chick in the breeding season.
The latest figures show puffins in seven sites around Scotland’s coast fledged an average of just 0.45 chicks per pair in 2023 which is fewer than one puffling for every two pairs.
The number is well down on the high of 0.75 pufflings per pair in 1989 and a long term average of just below 0.6 since 1986.
Simon Foster, NatureScot’s Trends Analyst, said studying breeding success helped scientists understand some of the immediate factors that cause changes in numbers, such as food availability, weather events and predation.
He added: “Puffins can be affected by problems with food availability such as a lack of sandeels, while predation by rats can be disastrous in terms of holding populations back.
“In places like Canna and the Shiants we know puffin numbers have increased thanks to rat eradication.”
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