RSPB Science

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Research, reports, and citizen science from the RSPB Centre for Conservation Science

Mist nets at the field study site in Portugal. A translucent net is suspended beside a cliff, forming repeating arcing loops above the sea at sunset and framing a rocky shoreline where a few people stand and watch.
Figure from the paper: Long-term decline in the hourly capture rate of European Storm-petrels in south-west Portugal. Fitted lines are model predictions (dashed lines = ±95% CI) from models without environmental variables (blue) and with environmental variables (orange). Predictions were based on median values for time of night 01:00, and Julian day 165 in both models. Model predictions with environmental variables (2006–2017) were also based on median values for wind speed 3.2 kph, wind direction 180°, sea surface temperature 14.35 °C and a moon luminosity of 0.
A small dark seabird with white at the top of its tail (European Storm-petrel) cupped in a person’s hand against a black background.
caption: Juvenile Dotterel Alt text: Speckled wading bird standing on short grass, facing right against a soft pastel pink-and-lavender sky at dusk. credit: RSPB / Ben Andrew
Caption: One of the 25 threatened species set to benefit from this new funding - Lesser Spotted Woodpecker Alt text: Small woodpecker with a red crown and black-and-white wings clinging to a pale tree trunk, against a soft green forest background. Credit: RSPB / Ben Andrew
Caption: A pair of Gannets Credit: RSPB / Chelsie Jones Alt text: Two Gannets with pale yellow heads and blue eyes touching beak tips and arching necks in a courtship display against a blurred grey sea background.
Caption: Common Swift adult in flight over new build rooftop Alt text: A single Swift flying in the foreground with a blurred background of a rooftop. Credit: Ben Andrew / RSPB
Caption: Common Swift group in flight Alt text: Ten Swifts flying left against a blue sky. Credit: Ben Andrew / RSPB
Caption: Common Swift poking its head out of a specially created nesting brick on the side of a new build house. Alt text: A red brick wall with a square sand coloured brick on it. The square brick has a horizontal opening with the head of a Swift looking out of it. Credit: Ben Andrew / RSPB
Credit: Natasha Constant Alt text: Three men in conversation in the shade of a tree.
Dartford Warbler habitat: lowland heathland. This photo shows RSPB Arne Nature Reserve in Dorset. Alt text: A sunny landscape view with flowering heather, some large pine trees and pale coloured sandy soil visible in patches.
Caption: A Dartford Warbler perched on top of heather. Alt text: A small bird - grey-brown in colour, with a distinctive red eye ring, russet breast and long tail – sitting on top of flowering heather, surrounded by pink / purple flowers.
Caption: Chicks become independent of the mother at only 12-14 days old, when they are still covered by black down. This older chick is about 18 days old and is living independently. Its brown feathers are appearing, but it will not be able to fly until it is 42 days old. Corncrake chicks are vulnerable to silage mowing throughout their flightless period. Alt text: A brown and black Corncrake chick – fluffy with feathers growing - is stood on a brown mat surrounded by leafy vegetation.
From figure 2 of the paper: Example of a trail camera site. This image, from late May, shows a camera located in initially short vegetation mowed for silage in the previous August. Alt text: A grassy field with a rectangular brown mat on it. A black trail camera can be seen mounted at one end of the mat.
From figure 3 of the paper: Trail camera image of four Corncrake chicks, estimated to be 11 days old, with their mother. Alt text: Four fluffy black Corncrake chicks, with long legs and large feet, are standing in the foreground whilst an adult Corncrake fans out her brown wing behind them. They are stood on a brown mat which has been laid down to stop vegetation growth from blocking the camera’s view. There is tall vegetation on either side of the photo and immediately behind the birds.
Caption: Butterfly surveys in Bedfordshire Alt text: The sky is blue and there are flowers in bloom on short grassland. In the foreground a man is looking into a butterfly net. In the background a woman is holding a butterfly net in the air.
Caption: Drone image of RSPB Ynys-hir Nature Reserve, Wales Alt text: Aerial photo of green grassland with a stream meandering through it and some ponds.
Caption: Habitat vegetation surveys in Suffolk. Alt text: Two women sitting on green leafy vegetation with a quadrat – a square white grid – between them. One is taking notes and the other is looking at a flower identification book.
Caption: RSPB biologist surveying for Storm-petrels Alt text: A night photo with rocks illuminated by the flash in the foreground and the sea in the background. Also illuminated is a scientist who is looking at a bird flying nearby her.
Figure 5 from paper: The most-used areas are closer to Mousa for 2018 and further from the colony for 2015, with distributions for 2016 and 2017 intermediate between these. There is overlap between the most-used areas for all years except 2015 and 2018.
Caption: European Storm-petrel at sea. Alt text: A small black seabird with a white rump flying low over a bright blue sea. Tts feet are almost touching the water and it has a reflection on the sea surface. Credit: Ben Porter (https://www.benporterwildlife.co.uk/, https://bsky.app/profile/bardseyben.bsky.social)
Caption: Forest being cleared in the lower hills of Montserrat Alt text: The top half of the photo is a mountain covered in lush green vegetation. The bottom half is bare red earth, with a vehicle and a small structure. Between the green vegetation and the red earth is an abrupt edge to the forest. In the foreground there are crops being grown.
Caption: The Centre Hills of Montserrat Alt text: Mountains covered in lush green vegetation, towering over a small rural settlement with a palm tree in the foreground.
Caption: Purple-throated Carib – found in Montserrat Alt text: A vibrant tropical hummingbird with a bright purple throat, green wings and a curved beak. The bird is perched on a small twig against a green forest background.
Caption: Conservation Scientist Will Kirby swabbing for signs of trichomonosis on a garden bird feeder. Alt text: Scientist wearing blue latex gloves pressing a swab against the surface of a bird feeding containing peanuts.
From figure 1 from the paper. Caption: Individual tracks showing foraging trips of Band-rumped Storm Petrels tracked with GPS loggers from St Helena between 2017 and 2019 during the cool (blue) or hot (orange) breeding seasons. The black diamond indicates the location of St Helena Island, and the black circle indicates a 200 nautical mile marine protected area for scale reference.
Caption: The research team working at the Band-rumped Storm Petrel breeding colony on Egg Island, an islet off St Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean. Alt text: A view from above of research scientists descending a steep rocky slope above the sea. Credit: Steffen Oppel
Caption: Mist-nets were used to capture Band-rumped Storm Petrels at their breeding colony on Egg Island, an islet off St Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean. Alt text: The sun is setting over the sea. Mist nets are strung between vertical poles. A Band-rumped Storm Petrel is silhouetted in flight above the net. Credit: Steffen Oppel
Paludiculture site in Netherlands growing bulrush (Typha sp.).
FWAG SW and RSPB paludiculture trials, Somerset.
A Sedge Warbler perches amongst reeds.
Bulrush (Typha sp.) being grown in the Netherlands by paludiculture.
Paludiculture site in Netherlands growing bulrush (Typha sp.)
Gough Island. Credit: Kate Lawrence.
Figure 4 from the paper. Caption: Kernel utilization distributions (KUDs) showing the combined home-range (95% UD; lighter shading) and core (50% UD; darker shading) foraging areas of tracked Tristan skuas during (a) the pre-laying exodus (green), breeding (purple), and non-breeding periods (orange) across the 2017/18 and 2018/19 seasons, overlaid on major oceanic frontal features.
Figure 3 from the paper. Caption: Time series showing the distance from the colony of GLS-tracked Tristan skuas (8) during the 2017/18 and 2018/19 breeding seasons, across key stages of the annual cycle.
A Tristan Skua (Stercorarius antarcticus hamiltoni) with a GLS device attached to its leg. Credit Jamie Cleeland.
A rainbow forms over Gough Island
A field margin at RSPB Hope Farm.
Alix in the Cumbria countryside.
Pip takes a well-earned coffee break whilst monitoring moths in the Scottish Highlands.
Susie hiking in Newfoundland, Canada.
Kirsty stands on the cliffs above a large Gannet colony.
Lynda watches for wading birds out on a wetland reserve.
Jess sits amongst high rocks with the Vietnamese countryside sprawling behind.
A homemade dictaphone is fixed to a wooden post in open grassland
Northern Rockhopper Penguins on the shore of Alex (Middle) Island with a view of Nightingale Island in the background.
A pair of wellies poke out from between tall tussock grasses as a fieldworker attempts to surveys the Northern Rockhopper Penguins breeding within.
A colony of Northern Rockhoppers on Tristan da Cunha’s rocky shoreline.
Northern Rockhopper Penguins standing in a busy looking group.
A Northern Rockhopper Penguin bends down to look quizzically at the camera.
Henderson Island coastline
12 of the 107 species studied by the RSPB Conservation Science department in 2025 are shown in a grid. Top left to bottom right they are: Pied Flycatcher, Black-tailed Godwit, Northern Rockhopper Penguin, Redshank, Razorbill, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Slender-billed Vulture, Kittiwake, Dartford Warbler, Slavonian Grebe, Lapwing and Snow Bunting.
A Redpoll looks quizically at the camera. Text reads: "Did you know? Scientists have un-discovered two species of Redpoll'.
A Stone-curlew stands in a field, it's large yellow eye clearly visible.
RSPB Geltsdale nature reserve, Cumbria
A Yellow Wagtail perches on wheat
A Bittern stares intently into the water, text reads: Did you know? Bitterns eyes are made to look down.
A Kittiwake flies, wings outstretched, across the water.
Colours show foraging paths of Kittiwakes tracked from a) Flamborough b) Filey. Outlined circle represents colony location.