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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 ('triggering') IBA criteria.

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

Species	Red List	Season (year/s of estimate)	Size	IBA criteria
Leach's Storm-petrel Hydrobates leucorhous	VU	breeding (2001)	1,425 pairs	B1ii, B2, C2, C6
Atlantic Puffin Fratercula arctica	VU	breeding (1998–2001)	15,761 pairs	B1ii, B2, C3
Razorbill Alca torda	LC	breeding (1998)	1,569 birds	B3
A4iii Species group - seabirds	n/a	breeding (1998–2001)	37,031 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 trigger species' populations)
Species	Actual vs Reference (units)	% remaining	Result
European Storm-petrel Hydrobates pelagicus	7 / 100 (pairs)	8	very poor
Hydrobates leucorhous	1,425 / 100 (pairs)	100	good
Atlantic Puffin Fratercula arctica	15,761 / 6,279 (pairs)	100	good
Razorbill Alca torda	1,569 / 3,889 (birds)	41	poor
A4iii Species group - seabirds	37,031 / 30,026 (pairs)	100	good

Pressure (threats to the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Climate change and severe weather	happe­ning now	whole of popul­ation/area (>90%)	slow decline (1–10% over 3 gener­ations)	high

Response (conservation actions taken for the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Designation	Planning	Action	Result
Whole area (>90%) covered by appropriate conservation designation	A management plan exists, but it is out of date or not compre­hensive	Very little or no conservation action taking place	low

Year	Protected Area	Designation (management category)	% coverage of IBA
1972	Flannan Isles	Site of Special Scientific Interest (UK) (IV)	100
2011	Flannan Isles	Marine Protected Area (OSPAR) (UA)	39

Habitat	% of IBA	Habitat detail
Grassland	90	Humid grasslands
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	10

Land use	% of IBA
not utilised	98
other	2

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Flannan Isles (United Kingdom). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/flannan-isles-iba-united-kingdom on 22/12/2024.