Difficult to survey accurately in their burrows, the largest colony in Europe is at St Kilda, with around a quarter of the European population.

Other large colonies are to be found at Fair Isle and Mingulay, though there are good opportunities to see them at Staffa and St Abbs.

Food: Sand eels, sprat, herring, mackerel, capelin, cod, haddock, whiting, saithe, pollack, rockling.  Dives not exceeding 15m and most prey caught near surface with fish stacked crosswise in bill usual load of 5-10 small fish or one large one.

Nest Site: Nests on upper area of cliffs and on sea stacks in burrows on steep talus slopes, crevices and fissures where soft croaking can be heard during breeding season.

Breeding: Mid April to mid June and 1 egg laid.

Wintering: North Sea and Bay of Biscay, Atlantic coast of Iberia, western Mediterranean, and Morocco.

Distribution: Mainly west coast of UK and southern Ireland, Russia, Norway, Bear Island, Iceland.

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