see http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9447000/9447159.stm ===============================
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One response to “Falkland Skuas in rapid decline”
Thanks Laurie, This is an alarming study, perhaps. However, the size of the overall population and the number of breeding pairs during a single survey are not the same thing at all. At the reported rate of decline the colony will be extinct in 4 years. Declines of that magnitude are extremely rare. Declines like that are not caused by competition. Perhaps the birds are not breeding in large numbers this year due to food/sea temperatures/recovery of previous season/etc. It doesn’t seem like good science to sound the alarm when there are many alternative explanations and little information. The BBC should know better.