• Summary
• Text
• Details
• Map
• Resources

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
Great Skua Catharacta skua	LC	breeding (2000)	195 breeding pairs	A4ii, B1ii, B3, C3
Razorbill Alca torda	LC	breeding (2001)	16,991 individuals	A4ii, B1ii, B3, C3
Common Murre Uria aalge	LC	breeding (1998)	112,676 individuals	A4ii, B1ii, C3
A4iii Species group - seabirds	n/a	breeding (1998–2001)	91,358 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
Great Skua Catharacta skua	195 / 115 (breeding pairs)	100	favourable
Razorbill Alca torda	16,991 / 16,418 (individuals)	100	favourable
Common Murre Uria aalge	112,676 / 113,433 (individuals)	100	favourable
A4iii Species group - seabirds	91,358 / 91,064 (breeding pairs)	100	favourable

Pressure (threats to the key species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Agricultural expansion and intensification	likely in short term (within 4 years)	few individ­uals/small area (<10%)	slow deteri­oration (1–10% over 3 gener­ations)	low

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90%) covered by appropriate conservation designation	A manage­ment plan exists, but it is out of date or not compre­hensive	Substantive conservation measures are being implemented, but these are not comprehensive and are limited by resources and capacity	medium

Year	Protected Area	Designation (management category)	% coverage of IBA
-	Handa (SWT)	Reserve (-)	87
-	Handa	National Nature Reserve (-)	100
1963	Handa Island	Site of Special Scientific Interest (UK) (IV)	99
1991	Handa Island	Nature Reserve (IV)	85
2011	Handa	Marine Protected Area (OSPAR) (UA)	15

Habitat	% of IBA	Habitat detail
Grassland	-
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	-
Shrubland	-	Heathland
Wetlands (inland)	-	Standing freshwater

Land use	% of IBA
nature conservation and research	-

---

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