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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)	309 pairs	B2, C6
Northern Gannet Morus bassanus	LC	breeding (1998)	5,137 pairs	A4ii, B1ii, B2, C3
European Shag Gulosus aristotelis	LC	breeding (1998)	724 pairs	B3
Atlantic Puffin Fratercula arctica	VU	breeding (1998)	59,471 pairs	B1ii, B2, C3
A4iii Species group - seabirds	n/a	breeding (1998–2001)	72,717 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	309 / 1,000 (pairs)	31	very poor
Northern Gannet Morus bassanus	5,137 / 4,890 (pairs)	100	good
European Shag Gulosus aristotelis	724 / 700 (pairs)	100	good
Atlantic Puffin Fratercula arctica	59,471 / 43,400 (pairs)	100	good
A4iii Species group - seabirds	72,717 / 63,788 (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90%) covered by appropriate conservation designation	A management plan exists, but it is out of date or not compre­hensive	Very little or no conservation action taking place	low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
1962	Sule Stack	Site of Special Scientific Interest (UK) (IV)	16
1987	Sule Skerry	Site of Special Scientific Interest (UK) (IV)	84
2011	Sule Skerry and Sule Stack	Marine Protected Area (OSPAR) (UA)	37

Habitat	% of IBA	Habitat detail
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	100

Land use	% of IBA
not utilised	95
other	5

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Sule Skerry and Sule Stack (United Kingdom). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/sule-skerry-and-sule-stack-iba-united-kingdom on 24/12/2024.