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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
Barnacle Goose Branta leucopsis	LC	winter (2003)	435 birds	B1i, B2, C2
European Shag Gulosus aristotelis	LC	breeding (1999)	506 pairs	B3
Atlantic Puffin Fratercula arctica	VU	breeding (2000)	65,170 pairs	A4ii, B1ii, B2, C3
Razorbill Alca torda	LC	breeding (1999)	8,046 birds	A4ii, B1ii, B3, C3
A4iii Species group - seabirds	n/a	breeding (1999–2000)	86,010 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
Barnacle Goose Branta leucopsis	435 / 490 (birds)	89	moderate
European Shag Gulosus aristotelis	506 / 1,780 (pairs)	29	very poor
Atlantic Puffin Fratercula arctica	65,170 / 76,000 (pairs)	86	moderate
Razorbill Alca torda	8,046 / 10,970 (birds)	74	moderate
A4iii Species group - seabirds	86,010 / 102,614 (pairs)	84	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
Agricultural expansion and intensification	happe­ning now	some of popul­ation/area (10–49%)	slow decline (1–10% over 3 gener­ations)	medium

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90%) covered by appropriate conservation designation	A management plan exists, but it is out of date or not compre­hensive	Very little or no conservation action taking place	low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
1974	Shiant Islands	Site of Special Scientific Interest (UK) (IV)	100
2011	The Shiant Isles	Marine Protected Area (OSPAR) (UA)	26
2017	Inner Hebrides and the Minches	Site of Community Importance (Habitats Directive) (UA)	3

Habitat	% of IBA	Habitat detail
Shrubland	80	Heathland
Grassland	10	Humid grasslands
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	10

Land use	% of IBA
agriculture	90
not utilised	10

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Shiant Isles (United Kingdom). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/shiant-isles-iba-united-kingdom on 28/12/2024.