Plastic bags danger to wildlife

RSPB Scotland has highlighted the danger of plastic bags to wildlife after a rare red-throated diver was photographed with a plastic bag in its beak.

A tourist spotted the bird on a loch on the North Uist moor.

Jamie Boyle, site manager of the RSPB’s Uist reserves, said: “We urge people to take great care in the way they dispose of plastic bags or, indeed, any other rubbish, particularly balloons and Chinese lanterns.

“They pose a direct threat to our wildlife and it is depressing to think that plastic bags are even reaching remote lochans in a place like North Uist.”

He added: “Marine birds such as red-throated divers are particularly at risk both at sea and on their breeding grounds where they can mistake the bags for fish or mistakenly use it for nesting material.

“If it becomes entangled on their legs or heads it can prove fatal.”

The red-throated diver is the smaller of the two breeding species of diver in the UK. Its grey-brown plumage and up-tilted bill readily distinguishes it from the black-throated diver.

In summer it has a distinctive red throat. They usually jump up to dive and can stay underwater for a minute and a half. They are very ungainly on land, only coming ashore to breed. A recent moderate population decline makes them an Amber List species.

Plastic bags danger to wildlife 12/7/14