Ruth Dunn

Thousands of dead puffins are washing up on Europe’s beaches – why it’s been such a dangerous winter for seabirds Seabirds are washing up on Europe’s beaches in large numbers after weeks of bad weather.

Thousands of dead puffins are washing up on Europe’s beaches - Dr Ruth Dunn explains why in the Conversation @lec-reefs.bsky.social @ruthedunn.bsky.social theconversation.com/thousands-of...

Excited to head to Oxford for this on Friday! 🐦

Puffins and Shags seem to have been hit hardest by recent storms, with many reports of birds washed ashore. This includes one Isle of May Puffin that was ringed as an adult in 1995, making it at least 34 years old!

#stormChandra #seabirds #winterstorms

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Thrilled to share my first PhD publication - gannets put more effort into diving when they are in groups 🐟🐟🐟

Out now in @meps-ir.bsky.social www.int-res.com/abstracts/me...

+Thanks to my coauthors who put a lot of effort into collecting the videos!

#seabirds #ornithology #animalbehaviour

Go Lila! 🎉

An individual‐based model to quantify the non‐breeding season impact of wind farms on seabirds A novel individual-based model to predict the impacts of offshore wind farms on seabirds during the non-breeding season, using long-term tracking data from SEATRACK. We demonstrate the model by simul...

✨New paper!✨
An individual‐based model to quantify the non‐breeding season impact of wind farms on #seabirds

doi.org/10.1002/2688...

@ninanatureresearch.bsky.social
@seatrackscience.bsky.social
@signecd.bsky.social
@masden.bsky.social

🚨 PhD offer (please share)
Fascinated by bird migration and movement ecology? 🦜🌍 Join us at @vogelwarte.bsky.social to study annual cycle energetics with multi-sensor loggers in multiple species

Deadline: 20 Feb 2026
Starting: June 2026
Supervision: Martins Briedis & me

Info: tinyurl.com/2dbv9nzh

Three weeks left to apply for our two PhD positions - come and join @lec-reefs.bsky.social to deliver applied research in restoration ecology and corporate sustainability! 🪸🐟🌳📊
Please do share amongst your networks, and I'm happy to meet with potential candidates to discuss the position further 👍

Join us! A great opportunity to join the @ukcehseabirds.bsky.social team working on the Isle of May. Great team, great place, great birds... what more could you want?!

#seabird #fieldwork #job #ornithology #superseabirdsunday

ShoalBase | Join, Explore, Contribute Now ShoalBase offers a global database on fish social behaviour, supporting research, conservation, and ecology through community contributions and visual data mapping.

🧵1/9 There are 35,000+ fish species, but we have formal social-behaviour classifications for a tiny fraction. Most knowledge lives in the experience of researchers, fishers, divers, aquarists, naturalists, and Indigenous communities, but almost none of it is centralised. So we built ShoalBase.org.

Nominations for #WSC4 Keynote Speakers are open! ✨🌊

Early-career voices encouraged!
📍WSC4 In-person & Hybrid: 7–11 Sept 2026, Hobart, Tasmania

🔗 bit.ly/3Jv71c9
#seabirds #ornithology

Spatial overlap alone downplays the level of interaction between a central place forager and the local fishery While spatial overlap is commonly used to quantify interactions, it may underestimate the true degree of competition between foraging predators and fishing vessels. Our alternative population-level m...

My first PhD paper is now out! We calculate overlap intensity between African penguins and the local purse seine fishery 🐧🐟

Check it out in @jappliedecology.bsky.social
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

✈️ WSC4 Travel Awards are here!
Supporting students, early-career researchers & conservation practitioners to attend the 4th World Seabird Conference.

📅 Apply 1 Oct 2025 – 15 Jan 2026
More info on the Registration page.

🔗https://bit.ly/4nAYG4j

#WSC4 #Seabirds #Research

NEW PAPER in #ornithology summarizes why #seabirds are so important to the ecosystem of #islands and what knowledge gaps remain: buff.ly/rHuNnOr

©️Photo by Quentin d’Orchymont

New paper by @entropie-marinelab.bsky.social and @iomarinescience.bsky.social is out! 🐦🌊

#Genomics uncovers striking genetic #differentiation and taxonomic uncertainties in a tropical #seabird across the Western Indian Ocean. 🧬

Learn more 👉 doi.org/10.1111/ddi....

Global study reveals seabirds as critical connectors between islands, the ocean and people - Lancaster University A new global synthesis published today in Nature Reviews Biodiversity reveals how seabirds act as powerful connectors between marine and terrestrial ecosystems and why protecting seabirds is a powerful opportunity when tackling the triple crises of climate change, failing ocean health, and biodivers...

Seabirds act as powerful connectors between marine and terrestrial ecosystems - and protecting them can help tackle the crises of climate change, failing ocean health, and biodiversity loss, according to a new study published in Nature Reviews Biodiversity 🐦

The circular seabird economy is critical for oceans, islands and people Nature Reviews Biodiversity - Seabirds are top predators and nutrient cyclers in marine island ecosystems, but are threatened by risk of extinction. This Review explores the circular seabird...

Here's a link for anyone who doesn't have access: rdcu.be/eMOUd

Schematic diagram of the influence of seabirds on temperate and tropical near-shore marine systems. Temperatre systems: - Nutrient enrichment and predation on herbivorous invertebrates can lead to increased algal production - Phytoplankton communities change, featuring more large-celled species - Intertidal organisms incorporate seabird-enriched material by grazing on detritus and biofilm in tidepools - Macroalgae biodiversity and primary production are boosted Tropical systems: - Mangrove leaf nutritional quality increases - Corals recover faster after bleaching events - Fish biomass increases across different trophic groups - Pelagic and benthic consumers' foraging behaviour shifts - Parrotfish grazing and bioerosion rates increase - Fish grow larger

New in @natrevbiodiv.nature.com: our review of the influence of #seabirds, via their nutrient transfer, on islands & adjacent marine ecosystems 🐦🏝️🪸

We highlight knowledge gaps & future directions ✨

"The circular seabird economy is critical for oceans, islands and people": doi.org/10.1038/s443...

Indian women used to be afraid of the ocean. Now, they’re turning into its strongest defenders Along India’s coastline, a rising wave of women is healing our oceans, moving beyond the margins of shore-bound roles traditionally ascribed to them

@ruchakarkarey.bsky.social is in Vogue India! Great article about India's women marine defenders www.vogue.in/content/once...

Temporal Variation in Early-Life Conditions Impacts on Later-Life Levels of Infection in Sex Specific Ways | doi.org/10.1002/ece3... | Ecology and Evolution | #ornithology 🪶

Title and author list for the synthesis paper titled "Understanding and Predicting Population Response to Anthropogenic Disturbance: Current Approaches and Novel Opportunities" published in Ecology Letters.

The latest paper from the DISCAR synthesis group is out at Ecology Letters! We discuss the key approaches to predicting human impacts on wildlife populations, highlighting avenues for incorporating indirect effects, such as energetic modelling. doi.org/10.1111/ele....

A simple landscape illustration with a grey-green ocean, a dark grey rocky islet partly covered by orange lichen and a light grey overcast sky. On and around the islet are seabirds of several species, most pictured realistically in colour. The largest bird is a now-extinct great auk, depicted as a semi-translucent white ghost figure.

#SciArtSeptember 1: Islet

Somewhere in the waves of Barents Sea, a rocky islet acts as a perch for seabirds. Puffins, guillemots, razorbills and skuas are still here, though threatened by heating oceans and spreading disease. With them sits a lonely ghost of a great auk that once roamed these seas.

Ride On Board A Red-Footed Booby As It Catches Flying Fish Above The Indian Ocean Bird-borne cameras revealed that boobies might catch more fish in the air than in the sea.

Bird-borne cameras revealed that boobies might catch more fish in the air than in the sea.

www.iflscience.com/ride-on-boar...

These Majestic Seabirds Never Stop Pooping

You know this story is going to be a good time because my editor told me the first draft had too many instances of the word "poop" www.nytimes.com/2025/08/18/s... 🧪 (featuring Leo Uesaka, @ruthedunn.bsky.social‬ and @movementecology.bsky.social)

This Superpooper Seabird Is Amazing Scientists The first detailed observation of the bathroom habits of Streaked Shearwaters at sea leave scientists with a surprising load of questions

I have a real shitshow of a science story here for all my friends: 🧪 www.scientificamerican.com/article/thes...

Homing navigation is optimized to diurnal constraints in a tropical seabird, the red-footed booby | doi.org/10.1016/j.an... | Animal Behaviour | #ornithology 🪶

A graphical abstract depicting the paper title, author list, and brief description of the paper. One images displays an adult common gullemot with one logger on each leg, next to a chick. The second image displays a close-up of a common guillemot's legs with both loggers shown. The text reads: An improved method to derive behavioural budgets and energetics from geolocator data in Common Guillemots Uria aalge Lila Buckingham, Maria Bogdanova, Francis Daunt, Robert Furness, Sophie Bennett, Ruth Dunn, David Jardine, Mark Newell, Ewan Weston & Jonathan Green We deployed two devices (time-depth recorder & geolocator) on 39 Common Guillemots for one non-breeding season. We allocated time to behaviours using 1) both devices (see Buckingham et al. 2023) and 2) only geolocators, following previous methods. We compared the behavioural budgets. We could not extract foraging behaviour (diving) when only using geolocator data. We devised an improved method for estimating behaviours and energetics in Common Guillemots using geolocator data. We also provide guidance for studies of other diving seabirds that rest at sea. Photos by Andrew Carter Seabird 37 (2025) Early Release

Do you use geolocators to estimate foraging time, behaviour, or energetics in diving seabirds? See our new paper for insights from a study of Common Guillemots.

doi.org/10.61350/sbj...

@theseabirdgroup.bsky.social

Thank you, Sal! 🤩

Tropical birds filmed catching flying fish mid-air for first time ever | Discover Wildlife When researchers fitted tiny cameras to the backs of red-footed boobies, they got an intimate view of exactly how these acrobatic seabirds hunt.

“When researchers fitted tiny cameras to the backs of two Red-footed Boobies, they got an intimate view of exactly how these acrobatic #seabirds hunt.”

Press release and link to open access paper here:
www.hw.ac.uk/news/2025/on...

www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts...