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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
European Storm-petrel Hydrobates pelagicus	LC	breeding (2001)	377 pairs	B2
Leach's Storm-petrel Hydrobates leucorhous	VU	breeding (1998)	1,137 pairs	B1ii, B2, C2, C6
Northern Gannet Morus bassanus	LC	breeding (1998)	10,703 pairs	A4ii, B1ii, B2, C3
Great Black-backed Gull Larus marinus	LC	breeding (1998)	983 pairs	B3
Razorbill Alca torda	LC	breeding (1998)	1,625 birds	B3
Common Murre Uria aalge	LC	breeding (1998)	31,374 birds	B1ii, C3
A4iii Species group - seabirds	n/a	breeding (1998–2001)	43,314 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
Northern Gannet Morus bassanus	10,703 / 10,400 (pairs)	100	good
Great Black-backed Gull Larus marinus	983 / 735 (pairs)	100	good
Razorbill Alca torda	1,625 / 1,550 (birds)	100	good
Common Murre Uria aalge	31,374 / 43,134 (birds)	73	moderate
A4iii Species group - seabirds	43,314 / 55,208 (pairs)	79	moderate

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90%) covered by appropriate conservation designation	A management plan exists, but it is out of date or not compre­hensive	Very little or no conservation action taking place	low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
1956	Rona and Sula Sgeir	National Nature Reserve (IV)	100
1960	North Rona and Sula Sgeir	Site of Special Scientific Interest (UK) (IV)	94
2005	North Rona	Marine Protected Area (OSPAR) (UA)	20
2011	North Rona and Sula Sgeir	Marine Protected Area (OSPAR) (UA)	23

Habitat	% of IBA	Habitat detail
Grassland	85
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	15

Land use	% of IBA
agriculture	major (>10)
not utilised	minor (<10)

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: North Rona and Sula Sgeir (United Kingdom). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/north-rona-and-sula-sgeir-iba-united-kingdom on 22/12/2024.