SPA description
(information as published 2001)
Canna and Sanday
Canna and Sanday are two adjacent basaltic islands in the Small
Isles, north-west of Rum in the Lochaber district of the Scottish
Highlands. Canna is ringed with steep cliffs and is capped by a
ridge of wet heath and maritime blanket bog. Sanday and low-lying
parts of Canna support coastal grassland and maritime heath. The
islands are particularly important for their breeding seabird
colonies (including gulls, auks and Shag Phalacrocorax a.
aristotelis). The seabirds feed outside the SPA in the nearby
waters, as well as more distantly.
Qualifying species
For individual species accounts visit the Species
Accounts section
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 21,000
individual seabirds including: Puffin Fratercula arctica,
Guillemot Uria aalge, Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla,
Herring Gull Larus argentatus, Shag Phalacrocorax
aristotelis.
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.