Nests in scattered colonies, often with other terns. Few are to be found on NTS properties.

Food: Opportunist feeder switching between prey types. Dive to a depth of between 0.2-0.3 m. Sand eels, Herring, Pollock, Haddock, Whiting, Cod, Rockling.

Nest Site: Flat rock shores, inshore islands or islets, open shingle, beaches, sand or shingle spits and salt marshes where it makes a shallow depression.

Breeding: May to mid July where mainly 3 eggs are laid.

Wintering: Down the west coast of Africa, especially off Ghana.

Distribution: Throughout UK, southern Ireland, west, north and eastern Europe.

This formidable species has been expanding its range recently with large colonies on St Kilda, Unst and Mingulay.

It has recently been recorded breeding on Canna and Staffa. Over half of the world population breeds in Scotland.

Food: Mainly fish by scavenging and piracy on seabirds. Also preys on smaller seabirds and is believed to be making a serious impact on Leach’s petrel population on St Kilda.

Nest Site: Within damp close-cropped grass on moorlands. Shallow scrape in the ground lined with small pieces of grass and other vegetation.

Breeding: Mid April to mid June where mainly 2 eggs are laid.

Wintering: Ringing recoveries of Scottish population tentatively shows wide dispersal. Canada, USA, Iceland, Faeroes, Norway, Svalbard, Atlantic, Mediterranean, West Africa and Brazil.

Distribution: Scotland, Iceland and Faeroe Islands.

Typically a species of northern and western coasts, the largest colony in Scotland is at Mingulay and Berneray with some 10% of the EU population.

Other large colonies are to be found at Fair Isle, Caithness and Handa Island. While normally nesting in crevices scattered amongst other seabirds, a single cliff face at the west end of Berneray is home to almost 5000 pairs. Predation by brown rats (at Canna) and American Mink at other sites is known to have reduced numbers.

Food: Dives normally to 2-3 m but can dive deeper. Chiefly fish (sand eels) with some invertebrates. Submersion not more than 22 s (maximum 40-52 s).

Nest Site: Rock ledges and crevices beneath rock overhang; sometimes uses old rabbit or puffin burrow.

Breeding: Mid April to mid June where 1 egg is laid and very rarely 2.

Wintering: Northern populations are mainly migratory. Scottish population south west Norway where they feed and moult, Bay of Biscay, Morocco and western Mediterranean.

Distribution: Mainly west coast of the UK, Southern Ireland, Iceland, Faeroes, Bear Island, Jan Mayen, France, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia.

Although it is a common sight around Scotland, estimating the breeding population of European Shags is difficult because of their habit of nesting under boulders and in dark, inaccessible caves.

One of the largest colonies in the UK was on Canna, though it has declined recently due to predation by rats. Other large NTS colonies are to be found at Fair Isle, St Abbs and Mingulay.

Food: Mainly fish, sometimes swallowing prey before reaching the surface. Mainly surface diver but can also plunge dive, staying under for up to 3-4 minutes.

Nest Site: Prefers more sheltered and shady overhung sites to that of cormorant on ledges, fissures, caves and under boulders. Nest material heap of vegetation such as bracken, seaweed, using grasses for finer lining

Breeding: Mid March to mid June where 1-6 eggs are laid.

Wintering: Scottish population move north to Norway and other UK populations move Irish Sea, Bristol Channel, and south to Brittany.

Distribution: UK, southern Ireland, Norway, Russia, Iceland, Faeroes, Spain and southern Europe.

Almost a sixth of the world’s population and 36% of Scotland’s population breeds on St Kilda, though numbers are growing at other colonies, such as the Bass Rock.

The only other colony on NTS property is at Fair Isle.

Food: Mainly fish, caught by diving from heights of 10-40 m and staying under from 5 – 20 s.

Nest Site: On ledges of cliffs, sea stacks where nests are evenly spaced but never touching (60-80 cm apart). : Large compact pile of seaweed, grass, feathers and earth all cemented on a substrate of excreta.

Breeding: Mid April to mid May where one egg is laid.

Wintering: Go south to sub-tropical waters sometimes into tropical waters off the coast of west Africa.

Distribution: UK, Ireland, Faeroes, Iceland and Norway.

Not common on NTS properties. Small numbers breed on the islands around Iona

Food: Terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates, fish taken by direct predation of food piracy or scavenging.

Nest Site: On small inshore rocky stacks, islets, islands, grass and rocky slopes and cliff ledges, shingle banks and sand dunes. Sites also near lochs, shingle bars, islets, pools, lochans, bogs, grassy and heather moorlands and on open ground. Nest shallow cupped structure of vegetation or seaweed.

Breeding: Mid May to mid June where 3 eggs are laid.

Wintering: Scottish birds mostly winter in the Irish Sea and Ireland.

Distribution: Scotland, western Ireland, Iceland, Faeroes, Norway and Russia, Sweden, Finland.

Barely 100 years ago, the Northern Fulmar was rare in the UK, with the only colony to be found on St Kilda.

It has expanded in range dramatically and is now found around the coast of Scotland. The largest colony is still on St Kilda with substantial numbers at Mingulay, Fair Isle and Unst.

Food: Mainly fish and fish waste from fishing boats, also carrion such as whale, seal. Can plunge dive to 4m.

Nest Site: On ledges of cliffs at all heights and also sand dunes in north of Scotland. No nest material used and lays one egg.

Breeding: May to July with young fledging August to September.

Wintering: Some move to Bay of Biscay but most west to north-east into Atlantic and Northern seas.

Distribution: UK, Ireland, Faeroes, Iceland, Norway, Spitsbergen.

Introduction

Seabirds are such a common feature of any visit to Scotland’s beautiful coast that we become blasé about them. Yet they are one of our national specialities.

Scotland is home to some 70% of all of the seabirds in the UK and the UK is home to almost a third of all of the seabirds in the European Union. For species such as the Great Skua, the Atlantic Puffin and the Northern Gannet, we hold the bulk of the world population.

The gannet’s plunge into the unfamiliar twilight of the marine environment reminds us that, though they may need rocks to nest on, they depend on the sea for their sustenance, and that the extraordinary richness Scotland’s bird colonies reflects the productivity of the surrounding seas. Seabirds are only the visible tip of the iceberg of the vast marine ecosystem.

Marine life is strongly influenced by ocean currents, which bring nutrients to refresh the surface waters exhausted by the continual effort of rearing crops of floating algae. The North-east Atlantic plays a key role in the global pattern of ocean circulation, at the pinch point where the northward-flowing North Atlantic Drift is replaced at depth by cold waters pouring out of the Arctic basin. For this reason it is one of the world’s most productive seas, sustaining a teeming broth of algae, invertebrates, fish, marine mammals and ultimately seabirds.

While, on land, climate change is measured in tenths of a degree, the sea surface temperature in the southern North Sea has risen by some 2C in the last 20 years. This has had a dramatic effect on the timing of appearance of the different species plankton, a complex choreography formerly perfectly timed to provide the food needed for the seabirds’ breeding seasons. There is increasing evidence that the alarming breeding failures of seabirds in Shetland and Orkney in 2003 and 2004 are the first signs of our impact on the world’s climate.