Feasibility Study of Large-Scale Deployment of Colour-Ringing on Black-Legged Kittiwake Populations

Background to Project This project is funded by Vattenfall and directly emerges from the work undertaken through the Offshore Wind Strategic Monitoring and Research Forum (OWSMRF) Pilot Year.

Through OWSMRF, a list of research opportunities addressing key knowledge gaps in the context of marine birds and OWFs were identified.

Uncertainty in kittiwake demographic rates was perceived as limiting our understanding of their meta-population dynamics and, hence, the level of resilience of their populations to additional mortality.

One of the research opportunities identified through OWSMRF was a feasibility study of large-scale colour-ringing of kittiwake populations in the UK to improve empirical estimates of key demographic rates and therefore help build confidence in predictions of how their populations will respond to offshore windfarm effects.

The aim of this project is to establish the amount of mark-recapture effort required to obtain reliable estimates of key demographic rates in Black-legged kittiwake populations in order to inform a realistic and feasible colour-ringing deployment plan in the UK that, if implemented, will deliver key evidence to help provide more realism in modelling population impacts of windfarm-induced mortality.