seabirds
British seabirds: how to identify and where to see
Our guide explores some of the UK's most common types of seabird, where they live and the best places to see them.
Tern guide: UK species and how to identify them
Arctic terns, common terns and little terns grace Britain's shores in the summers months. Learn how to identify them – and other tern species – with BBC Countryfile Magazine's expert guide.
Gannet guide: how they dive, mating, identification, and where to find them
The sight of hunting northern gannets plunging into the sea at speed is one of the greatest natural spectacles in Britain. Learn more about the dramatic lifestyle of our largest seabird.
Day out: Pettico Wick, Berwickshire
Scotland’s serrated south-eastern coastline is a wildlife haven, perfect for birding and scuba diving, then watching fiery sunsets from its shores
Walk: Handa Island, Sutherland
Wrapped by brutish Atlantic swells and biting winds, this remote island off the west coast of Scotland makes for harsh living. But in spring, enduring these forces is one of north-west Europe’s largest seabird colonies
Mixed fortunes for Northern Ireland’s seabird population
The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) has released the Northern Ireland Seabird Report 2019, which revealed how the country’s 22 breeding seabird species faired last year.
Podcast: Spend an atmospheric night on a remote Shetland isle listening to storm petrels
Join naturalist James Fair as he experiences the extraordinary life a storm petrel colony in an Iron-Age fort on Mousa in Shetland.
Endangered little tern back from the brink after record breeding year
One of the UK’s smallest and rarest breeding seabirds has made a comeback, with a record number of little tern chicks fledged along the Northumberland coastline in 2019.
Record-breaking year for UK's rarest seabird: the roseate tern
Driven to near extinction, roseate tern numbers are now enjoying a resurgence thanks to specially built shingle terraces and nest boxes.
Helping Scilly seabirds by getting rid of rats
Conservationists have cleared rats from St Agnes – one of the Isles of Scilly. And without rodents to prey on them, rare seabirds are returning to nest. Mark Rowe went to see the project
UK's Arctic tern population soars
Conservation workers at a newly acquired National Trust site on the Northumberland coast recorded more than 500 Arctic tern fledglings this year – compared to just two in 2016.
Yorkshire home to UK's largest seabird colony
Increasing numbers of seabirds, including gannets, guillemots, kittiwakes, razorbills and puffins, have been recorded nesting on Flamborough and Filey Coast in Yorkshire – making it the UK's largest seabird colony.
Walk: St Abb's Head, Berwickshire
Enjoy a four-mile walk on the coastal cliffs of southern Scotland, spotting thousands of nesting seabirds, splashes of pink thrift and maybe even otters
