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The site was identified as internationally important for bird conservation in 2007 because it was regularly supporting significant populations of the species listed below, meeting IBA criteria.

Populations meeting IBA criteria ('key species') at the site:

Species	Red List	Season (year/s of estimate)	Size	IBA criteria
European Shag Gulosus aristotelis	LC	breeding (2001)	663 breeding pairs	B3
Arctic Tern Sterna paradisaea	LC	breeding (2001)	1,254 breeding pairs	C6
Great Skua Catharacta skua	LC	breeding (2001)	143 breeding pairs	A4ii, B1ii, B3, C3
Atlantic Puffin Fratercula arctica	VU	breeding (2000)	40,000 breeding pairs	B1ii, B2, C3
Razorbill Alca torda	LC	breeding (2000)	3,599 individuals	B3
Common Murre Uria aalge	LC	breeding (1999)	39,257 individuals	B1ii, C3
A4iii Species group - seabirds	n/a	breeding (1999–2001)	90,576 breeding pairs	A4iii, C4
A4iii Species group - waterbirds	n/a	breeding (1999–2001)	10,210 breeding pairs	A4iii, C4

Ideally the conservation status of the IBA will have been checked regularly since the site was first identified in 2007. The most recent assessment (2007) is shown below.

State (condition of the key species' populations)
Species	Actual vs Reference (units)	% remaining	Result
European Shag Gulosus aristotelis	663 / 1,070 (breeding pairs)	62	unfavourable
Arctic Tern Sterna paradisaea	818 / 1,200 (breeding pairs)	69	unfavourable
Great Skua Catharacta skua	143 / 130 (breeding pairs)	100	favourable
Atlantic Puffin Fratercula arctica	40,000 / 8,700 (breeding pairs)	100	favourable
Razorbill Alca torda	3,599 / 3,060 (individuals)	100	favourable
Common Murre Uria aalge	39,257 / 37,612 (individuals)	100	favourable
A4iii Species group - seabirds	90,576 / 72,430 (breeding pairs)	100	favourable
A4iii Species group - waterbirds	10,210 / 21,911 (breeding pairs)	47	unfavourable

Pressure (threats to the key species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Climate change and severe weather	happen­ing now	whole popul­ation/area (>90%)	rapid deteri­oration (>30% over 3 gener­ations)	very high

Response (conservation actions taken for the key species and/or their habitats)
Designation	Planning	Action	Result
Whole area of site (>90%) covered by appropriate conservation designation	Unknown	Not assessed	low

Year	Protected Area	Designation (management category)	% coverage of IBA
1963	Fair Isle	Site of Special Scientific Interest (UK) (IV)	100
2011	Fair Isle	Marine Protected Area (OSPAR) (UA)	16

Habitat	% of IBA	Habitat detail
Grassland	-
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	-
Shrubland	-	Heathland

Land use	% of IBA
agriculture	major (>10)

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2025) Important Bird Area factsheet: Fair Isle (United Kingdom). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/fair-isle-iba-united-kingdom on 06/01/2025.