Genetic Scorecard Indicator – Manx shearwater (Puffinus puffinus)
Resource type
Journal article
Creator (person)
Stervander, Martin
Date published
2025
Abstract
The Manx shearwater is a long-lived pelagic colonial breeder, highly philopatric to islands and some coastal sites in the North Atlantic, mainly in Europe, migrating trans-equatorially to winter off South America’s east coast (BirdLife International, 2018; Lee et al., 2023). 90–95% of the global population breed in the UK and Ireland (Bolton & Thompson, 2023). The UK breeding distribution is patchy, with 28 colonies, some of which are close to each other in clusters, but some colonies are widely separated, almost all along the west coast (Bolton & Thompson, 2023). Former 18th–20th century colonies in Orkney and Shetland (all but possibly one), as well as some colonies in the Outer Hebrides and Argyll, are extinct (Zonfrillo, 2007). Despite improved but non-comparable monitoring methods, it is clear that UK breeding numbers have increased in the early 21st century (Bolton & Thompson, 2023). While showing strong philopatry (Harris, 1966; Harris, 1972) and some degree of genetic differentiation between a Scottish and a Welsh colony (Rodràguez et al., 2020), the species is highly mobile, with documented between-colony dispersal (Harris, 1972; Brooke, 1978).
Journal title
NatureScot Genetic Scorecard Indicator
Publisher
NatureScot
Rights statement
In Copyright
Additional information
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