Island life of the Shearwater

By Francis Gorman
BBC Newsline

A Manx Shearwater is prepared for tagging on the Copeland Islands

If you are the parent of a new-born baby you will know all about night-time feeding.

But did you know there is a seabird that has to do exactly the same thing in the wee small hours?

It is called the Manx Shearwater and thousands of them are breeding at this time of year on the Copeland Islands off the coast of Donaghadee, County Down.

Experts from all over the world are gathered on the islands this week to observe them and compare notes on the breeding and migration patterns of the birds.

Neville McKee of the Copeland Bird Observatory said: "The problem for Manx Shearwaters is that they are very, very tasty and big seagulls love eating these.

Complete darkness

"The adults have to come in at night to avoid being eaten by the gulls. The eggs and the young have to be down deep in burrows to be out of reach of all possible predators.

"There aren't really many other types of birds that only come to their breeding sites at the dead of night in complete darkness."

Because of their limited mobility, the Shearwaters breed on isolated islands and tend to avoid the mainland with its predators such as feral cats, foxes and rats.

With their young safe in the underground borrows, the adults birds make for the open sea long before first rays of dawn.