More than 100 species of marine birds are found in Puget Sound either year-round or seasonally. Many marine birds are at or near the top of the food web, and as such, are an important indicator of the overall health of the ecosystem.

Marine birds rely on a complex balance between healthy habitat and available food supply for survival. Those populations with serious declines are less able to adapt to changes in prey availability or habitat conditions. Scientists have hypothesized that the marine bird declines may be in part related to depressed forage fish populations.

The three main types of birds in the Puget Sound region are seabirds, sea ducks and shorebirds. The Puget Sound Partnership uses the term “marine birds” for all three types.
  • Seabirds. Seabirds, (excluding waterfowl) frequent coastal waters and the open ocean. Examples are gulls, murres, pelicans, cormorants and albatrosses.
  • Sea ducks. Sea ducks are diving ducks that frequent the sea, such as scoters, harlequins, long-tailed ducks and mergansers.
  • Shorebirds. Shorebirds are any bird that frequents the seashore such as western sandpipers and black oystercatchers.

What’s the problem?

Like salmon and orca, many populations of marine birds in the region have declined significantly.

Some startling facts:
  • 19 of the 30 most common marine bird species in northern Puget Sound decreased by 20 percent or more between 1978 and 2004.   
  • Since 1979, the total number of marine birds in the Puget Sound region has dropped 47 percent. 
  • Western grebe populations have declined by 95 percent over the last 20 years. 
Scientists do not fully know what is driving this decline but some likely factors include decreases in forage fish populations, including herring spawn at Cherry Point and Discovery Bay, changing migration patterns, predation, habitat loss, hunting, by-catch from fishing operations (including derelict fishing gear), and harm to breeding grounds in the Arctic.  

Scientists use three specific marine birds as indicators of environmental health: surf scoters, western grebes and Pigeon guillemots.  

  • Scoters. Puget Sound once attracted some of the largest wintering scoter populations on the West Coast. But since 1995, scoter populations have declined by more than half, from about 70 birds per square kilometer to a low of 35 birds per square kilometer in 2003.
  • Western grebes. Western grebes have steadily declined in Washington for the past 15 years. The Christmas bird counts conducted by Audubon Washington tracked more than 40,000 western grebes in western Washington in 1992. Recent tallies show only 7,500 grebes―a decline of 81 percent.
  • Pigeon guillemots remain abundant in Puget Sound. In fact, they are the second most abundant seabird in Puget Sound. They are an important indicator of overall ecological health because, as generalists, they forage on a wide range of food across a variety of habitats. They do not appear to have declined as severely as surf scoters and western grebes, although only limited trend data exists on this species. Some reports by Western Washington University indicate that pigeon guillemot populations increased by 20 percent since the 1970s, but more recent data from the Puget Sound Assessment and Monitoring Program suggest a stable or even modest decline. Repeating the 1999-2004 breeding surveys will give us more insight into the health of this bird population.

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What’s being done?

Unlike many other species in Puget Sound, such as orca and chinook salmon, few of the populations of marine birds in decline are protected under state or federal law. However, scientists and resource managers from government and private, nonprofit organizations are stepping up efforts to understand declines in marine bird populations.

For example:

  • Biologists from Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) are conducting ongoing monitoring and focused studies of selected marine bird populations. The data they gather will help determine if a species can qualify as a candidate for state and federal protection.
  • Audubon Washington is developing a site conservation strategy for Port Susan Bay, located on the eastern side of Camano Island. The area is considered key habitat for many marine birds.
  • Puget Sound Partnership staff are providing technical and conservation planning assistance.

>> Learn more / find resources

HIGHLIGHTS
Video chronicles marine bird decline
KPLU and Audubon's Bird Note Radio Program
IN THE NEWS
(Spring 2005) Research gathering energizes focus on marine birds (Sound Waves)
04.17.06 Disappearing birds may point to bigger problems (KPLU 88.5)

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