Foraging behaviour of large gulls and implications for offshore wind site selection. Work package 2: analysis of gull foraging behaviour and implications for offshore wind farm site. Final Report

The demand for renewable energy is growing rapidly, reflecting commitments to meet greenhouse gas emission targets. The Scottish government has set a target of 100% of Scottish demand for electricity to be met by renewable sources by 2020, and offshore wind is a key element in this process. However, offshore wind farms (OWF) have the potential to negatively impact on protected seabird populations, through collisions with turbines and/or displacement from important habitats This project focussed on two species, Herring gull (Larus argentatus) and Great Black-backed gull (L. marinus), which are qualifying features (in itself and as part of the seabird assemblage, respectively) of the East Caithness Cliffs SPA (NE Scotland) and are considered potentially vulnerable to collision with OWF. The objective of the study was to use habitat association modelling to quantify links between at-sea locations of these two species and key environmental variables, with the view to predicting their distribution in new areas where empirical data are lacking and thus informing appropriate locations for future OWF developments