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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
Sanderling Calidris alba	LC	winter (2007)	47 individuals	C7
Purple Sandpiper Calidris maritima	LC	winter (2007)	280 individuals	C7

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
Sanderling Calidris alba	47 / 27 (individuals)	100	favourable
Purple Sandpiper Calidris maritima	280 / 415 (individuals)	68	unfavourable

Pressure (threats to the key species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
No known threats	happen­ing now	few individ­uals/small area (<10%)	no deteri­oration (<1% over 3 gener­ations)	low

Response (conservation actions taken for the key species and/or their habitats)
Designation	Planning	Action	Result
Little/none of site covered (<10%)	Unknown	Not assessed	very low

Habitat	% of IBA	Habitat detail
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	-
Marine Intertidal	-

Land use	% of IBA
not utilised	100

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2025) Important Bird Area factsheet: South Westray Coast (United Kingdom). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/south-westray-coast-iba-united-kingdom on 10/01/2025.