Why

Seabirds?

Seabirds are Threatened

Seabirds are one of the most threatened bird groups on the planet, with approximately 30% at risk of extinction and with 84% of all species at risk from at least one threat. The primary threat to seabirds are invasive alien species that impact seabirds at breeding sites, especially through predating chicks. This problem is further compounded by other major threats both on land and at sea, including from climate change, all of which are driving extinction trends.

Dias, M.P., et al. "Threats to seabirds: a global assessment." Biological Conservation 237 (2019): 525-537

Seabird Conservation Solutions

There are solutions that promote the recovery of seabird populations and prevent extinctions, such as managing or removing non-native predators and restoring and protecting breeding habitats. In cases where seabirds do not naturally colonize a breeding site or increase in number following management, active restoration techniques are often used to accelerate restoration. This database documents such active seabird restoration efforts.


Jones, H.P., and Kress, S.W. "A review of the world's active seabird restoration projects." The Journal of wildlife management 76.1 (2012): 2-9.

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Active Seabird Restoration

Active seabird restoration is generally defined as the deliberate attraction or movement of seabirds to establish or enhance a colony. Social attraction uses stimuli such as sound and decoys to lure seabirds into a restoration site while translocation is the physical movement of seabirds from a source colony to a restoration site. In many cases, both methods are used to restore a seabird colony. The Seabird Restoration Database seeks to improve knowledge transfer among practitioners and enhance seabird conservation by documenting the methods and outcomes from social attraction and translocation activities applied to restore and recover seabird populations around the world.

Kress, S.W. "The use of decoys, sound recordings, and gull control for re-establishing a tern colony in Maine." Colonial Waterbirds (1983): 185-196.
Miskelly, C.M., et al. "Translocations of eight species of burrow-nesting seabirds (genera Pterodroma, Pelecanoides, Pachyptila and Puffinus: Family Procellariidae)." Biological conservation 142.10 (2009): 1965-1980.

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The Seabird Restoration Database

Thanks to the generous support from the Packard Marine Bird Program, and the knowledge contributions of seabird experts from around the world, we built the Seabird Restoration Database, a first of its kind conservation database documenting the global effort to restore seabirds using active restoration techniques. Between 2020-2021 we collated data from the literature, reports, databases and consulted with over 500 seabird experts to determine the species, locations, methods, and outcomes from active seabird restoration efforts. The database now contains over 800 records of ongoing, planned, complete, and incomplete active restoration efforts, including those with under achieved outcomes. Project justifications include both restoration goals and trials/experiments applied to inform future conservation activities. To learn more about the data, review our glossary.

Seabird Restoration Database Partnership

The following people and organizations developed the database and created the Seabird Restoration Database Partnership

Dena Spatz
Senior Conservation Scientist
Pacific Rim Conservation

Nick Holmes
Lead Scientist
The Nature Conservancy

Don Lyons
Director of Conservation Science
National Audubon Society

Lindsay Young
Executive Director
Pacific Rim Conservation

Holly Jones
Professor
Northern Illinois University

Colin Miskelley
Curator Vertebrates
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

Eric VanderWerf
Director of Science
Pacific Rim Conservation

Steve Kress
Founder, Project Puffin
National Audubon Society

Graeme Taylor
Scientist
Department of Conservation, New Zealand

External Contributors

We thank the following people who contributed to the development of the Seabird Restoration Database:

• Pacific Rim Conservation 2020/2021 Interns: Laura Heartwood, Claire Atkins, Sophia Lodigiani, Sheila Marie Ringor, Magali Raynaud
• Project design/thought leadership: David Will (Island Conservation), Don Croll (UC Santa Cruz), Brad Keitt (American Bird Conservancy)
• Data contributions from 350 experts from 45 countries