Image copyright EDF Energy
Scientists working with Oystercatchers – a family of small, blue-tinged seabirds – found their body shapes had changed because of pollution.
Researchers at Lancaster University and the University of St Andrews knew long-term studies found Oystercatchers are shrinking and becoming scrawnier.
What they did not know was whether this was caused by pollution and if there was a link to the effect of weather changes and how they affected Oystercatchers’ diets.
The researchers tested air pollution levels and Oystercatcher diets to see if it was the influence of the air pollution, or the impact of the weather, that was causing the smaller birds to be shrinking.
Image copyright EDF Energy Image caption Oystercatchers in Eastern England, 2006-11
And a study published in the journal Nature Scientific Reports shows that pollution levels in eastern English waterways may be partly responsible for changes in the species’ diet.
Data analysis showed that Oystercatchers had been much more likely to gather on man-made wetlands during winter as there were more nutrients in this area that supported their growth and build-up, and less nutrients on their native river sites.
Further studies in the UK showed there were more big swallows found in wetlands during winter than on river banks, but a significant proportion of the wetlands were overgrown with “nuisance nettles”.
This may help explain why Oystercatchers and other migratory birds have been increasing in numbers in eastern England during winter.