SPA description
(information as published 2001)
Flannan Isles
The Flannan Isles are a group of six rocky islands, with
outlying skerries, which lie about 30 km west of Lewis in the Outer
Hebrides off the north-west coast of Scotland. They provide a
strategically placed nesting locality for seabirds, which feed in
the rich waters off the Western Isles. The vegetation of the
islands is predominantly maritime grassland. The islands are an
important nesting area for a variety of seabird species, especially
auks, but including Leach's Petrel Oceanodroma leucorhoa,
for which they are one of only seven known nesting localities in
the EU. The seabirds feed outside the SPA in nearby waters, as well
as more distantly in the North Atlantic
Qualifying species
For individual species accounts visit the Species
Accounts section
This site qualifies under Article 4.1 of the
Directive (79/409/EEC) by supporting populations of European
importance of the following species listed on Annex I of the
Directive:
During the breeding season
Leach's Storm-petrel Oceanodroma leucorhoa, 100 pairs
representing at least 0.2% of the breeding population in Great
Britain (Count, as at 1991)
Assemblage qualification: A seabird assemblage of
international importance
The area qualifies under Article 4.2 of the
Directive (79/409/EEC) by regularly supporting at least 20,000
seabirds
During the breeding season, the area regularly supports 50,000
individual seabirds including: Leach's Storm-petrel Oceanodroma
leucorhoa, Puffin Fratercula arctica, Razorbill
Alca torda, Guillemot Uria aalge, Kittiwake
Rissa tridactyla, Fulmar Fulmarus
glacialis.
Note:
Many designated sites are on private land: the listing of
a site in these pages does not imply any right of public
access.
Note that sites selected for waterbird species on the basis of
their occurrence in the breeding, passage or winter periods also
provide legal protection for these species when they occur at other
times of the year.