3D Printed Decoy Encourages Nesting of Endangered Seabird

In late August, a fuzzy kittiwake chick hatched in an artificial nesting structure off the coast of Suffolk, England. Its neighbors? 3D printed kittiwake decoys.

Since 2020, renewable energy company Ørsted has been working on the Hornsea Project, an initiative to build four offshore wind farms in the UK’s North Sea. The size of these wind farms and their distance from the coast is record-breaking, and they have an incredible capacity to produce clean energy. The third of these farms, aptly named Hornsea 3, will be the site of the single largest commercial offshore wind farm in the world. It’s estimated to be complete by 2027, and once operational, Hornsea 3 will have a generating capacity of 2.9 GW—enough to power more than 3 million UK homes.

One of the artificial nesting structures (photo credit: Ørsted)

Hornsea wind farms are being implemented on the same coastline that’s home to kittiwakes, a vulnerable seabird species whose population is declining. Researchers attribute this decline to climate change and prey shortage, but to mitigate any additional impact the Hornsea wind farm might have, Ørsted was required to build three offshore artificial nesting structures to support the endangered birds. The nesting structures, while built in connection with Hornsea 3, are located far from the site. Each structure can accommodate around 500 breeding pairs, and on two of the three nesting structures, researchers placed decoy kittiwakes to encourage real birds to visit.