Gannet

Listen to example recordings of the main vocalisations of Gannet, provided by xeno-canto contributors.

This species can be found on the following statutory and conservation listings and schedules.

UK Birds of Conservation Concern	Amber listed
Species of European Conservation Concern	Least Concern
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (global)	Least Concern
Schedule 1 license required (to disturb)	No
Birds Directive Annex 1	No
Listed on the Annexes of	Bern(III)

Much of the world population of this species breeds in the UK or Republic of Ireland,with most colonies located on offshore islands. Gannet colonies have been censused regularly with the last Census in 2013–15 and have increased consistently since 1969–70 by around 2% per annum (JNCC 2022).

The Gannet breeding distribution map shows that birds were recorded from virtually every coastal 10-km square in Britain and Ireland, representing a combination of adult birds ranging widely on foraging trips from colonies, non-breeding adults and immature birds. Confirmed breeding was confined to 32 10-km squares. In winter, Gannets were widely recorded around the entire coastlines of Britain and Ireland, with highest concentrations around the Northern Isles, off southeast Scotland, northwest and southwest England, and southwest Ireland.

Gannets can be seen year-round, though more often recorded in the breeding season and in early autumn.

View a summary of recoveries in the Online Ringing Report.

Foreign locations of birds ringed or recovered in Britain & Ireland

View number ringed each year in the Online Ringing Report

Maximum Age from Ringing	37 years 4 months 16 days (set in 1998)
Typical Lifespan	17 years with breeding typically at 5 year
Adult Survival	0.919±0.002
Juvenile Survival	0.3 (to age 4)

Feather measurements and photos on featherbase

Ring size	K
Field Codes	2-letter: GX | 5-letter code: GANNE | Euring: 710

For information in another language (where available) click on a linked name

Causes of change

There are no clear reasons for the substantial increases in Gannet numbers. Like other seabird species, fisheries discards may have played a role in the second half of the twentieth century. Gannets have high survival rates, can fly long distances to forage and are adaptable and these factors may also have helped drive increases (JNCC 2022), which have continued (at least so far) in spite of reductions in fisheries discards which are affecting other species (Bicknell et al. 2013). However, a north American study has found that increasing sea surface temperatures (due to climate change) and over-exploitation by fisheries may be affecting productivity and causing declines at the southernmost colonies in Canada (d'Entremont et al. 2022). Hence, it is possible that similar issues could affect UK colonies in the future.