RSPB Seabirds

Seabirds showcases and celebrates some of our most exciting and enigmatic bird species as vital and living components of one of our greatest natural assets: our coastline. 

Our seabird populations are of international importance, and provide some of our richest and most dramatic natural spectacles. Between them seabird species exploit every type of coastline - from flat beach and sheer cliff face to rugged moorland and busy seaside town - and show great diversity in form and behaviour, but they all depend on the coast and open sea for survival. As such, they are highly vulnerable to the many factors affecting the balance of marine life, from climate change and over-fishing to coastal development and erosion. Many of them migrate huge distances around the world outside of the breeding season, visiting the shores of far-flung countries and the open sea hundreds of miles from land, so the time they spend on our coasts is just a part of their far-reaching life stories.

Species by species, Seabirds looks in detail at their characteristics, way of life, and their conservation past and present, revealing many new insights into the lives of these familiar but mysterious birds.

About the Author
Marianne Taylor is a former editor at Christopher Helm and former sub-editor of (and regular writer for) Birdwatch magazine, now working freelance as a writer, editor, illustrator and photographer. An obsessive birder since childhood, her interest in other wildlife groups has grown steadily, and a new passion for dragonflies and damselflies has dominated her summers for the last three years.