More than 1400 pictures taken by the public of puffins carrying fish to feed their chicks are helping conservationists find out why the much-loved seabirds are declining.

The RSPB's Project Puffin asked members of the public who photographed the birds, dubbed the "puffarazzi", to send in their snaps to help scientists understand which fish puffin chicks are being fed.

More than 12,000 fish have been identified from 1402 photographs and early results suggest some puffin colonies in the north of the UK and Ireland are struggling to find an abundant supply of large nutritious fish for their young, the RSPB said.

The research aims to find out why puffins are in decline, with the seabirds listed as "vulnerable" to extinction in the face of plummeting numbers.

Photographs sent into the RSPB team from people visiting puffin breeding colonies around the UK and Ireland this summer have helped them to identify the places the birds are struggling to find good food for their young.

More than 600 people joined the puffarazzi and sent in shots of puffins with fish in their bills taken between May and August from almost 40 colonies around the UK, including the Farne Islands, Skomer and the Isle of May.

The project is supported by Heritage Lottery Fund Scotland with money raised by National Lottery players.