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The giddying cliffs of St Kilda are home to almost a million seabirds.
Copies of the most recent seabird reports can be downloaded here
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 2008 (4 Mb) |
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 No visitor can fail to be impressed by the spectacle of nearly a million seabirds wheeling around St Kilda’s awesome cliffs.
One of the largest colonies in the North-east Atlantic, St Kilda is of global importance for a great range of species:
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Largest colony of Northern Gannets in the world, holding one seventh of the total population
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Largest colony of Leach’s Storm Petrel in the EU, with 94% of the European population
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Largest colony of Atlantic puffins in the EU, holding a quarter of the UK population
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Largest colony of Northern Fulmars in the EU, more than double the size of the next largest colony
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Last Great Auk in the UK killed here in 1840
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N Fulmar
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136,896
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10,090
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22,432
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85,530
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18,718
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Manx Shearwater
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9,606
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444
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9,162
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E Storm Petrel
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2,242
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168
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1,016
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1,058
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Leach's Petrel
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90,866
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24,184
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55,408
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7,210
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4,068
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N Gannet
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119,244
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119,244
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European Shag
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38
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14
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24
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Arctic Skua
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2
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2
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Great Skua
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480
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Common Gull
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2
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2
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Herring Gull
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68
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58
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2
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8
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Lesser BB Gull
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60
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14
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14
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26
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6
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Greater BB Gull
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64
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28
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4
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8
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22
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BL Kittiwake
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3,032
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800
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1,080
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828
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324
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C Guillemot
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31,347
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7,879
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2,876
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14,610
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5,901
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Razorbill
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3,378
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343
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1,097
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1,652
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264
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Black Guillemot
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62
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34
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20
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8
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Atlantic Puffin
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284,528
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The above table shows the most up to date number of breeding individuals counted during complete surveys of the islands. Most were last counted in 1999/2000 as part of Seabird 2000. Gannets were counted in 2004 and Kittiwakes in 2006.
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Since 2005 the NTS seabird ranger has coordinated the monitoring of the colony. Click below to read summaries…
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