A European storm petrel chick has been recorded calling on the Shiant Isles for the very first time. This is an important step for the Shiant Isles Recovery Project as it’s the first known breeding of these seabirds on the islands.
The EU LIFE+ funded project played an artificial call of an adult storm petrel outside the suspected burrow nest site to record the chick’s reply call and confirm its presence.
The project, a partnership between RSPB Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage and the Nicolson family, the custodians of the islands, has been working over the last four years to make these islands, five miles off the coast of Harris, a safer place for Scotland’s globally threatened seabirds to breed.
Island restoration projects such as this one are a key part of helping Scotland’s struggling seabird populations develop resilience to ensure their long term survival.
Storm petrels were not able to breed successfully at the Shiants because of their
vulnerability to predation from the islands’ population of invasive non-
These were eradicated over the winter of 2015/16 and the islands were officially declared free of rats earlier this year.
Following the eradication, the project has been working to attract storm petrels to breed on the islands as it has ideal habitat for their nests in the many areas of boulders around the islands. These birds are little bigger than sparrows and only come to land in summer to breed. Scotland’s internationally important population currently nests at only a few offshore islands because of the presence of ground predators at other potential sites.
The their distinctive “churring” call heard from burrows gives a strong indication that the birds were attempting to breed.
However, no chicks were recorded so it was unclear whether they had been successful in hatching a chick.
Dr Charlie Main, Senior Project Manager for the Shiant Isles Recovery Project said: “It’s fantastic that this storm petrel chick has been recorded on the Shiants.
“After the adult was recorded last year we thought it highly likely that they were breeding so to have this confirmed now is great for the project and for the species in Scotland.
“It’s also another vital step for making these islands a safer place for Scotland’s internationally important seabirds, many of which are struggling to cope with the impact of climate change and a lack of suitable secure breeding sites.”
She added: “We’ve strong hopes for the future that more storm petrels will breed here and a colony will be established.
“Three other calling adults were recorded this summer suggesting that there may have been more breeding attempts.
The project is due to draw to a close this autumn and is currently focused on securing the biosecurity legacy for the islands to ensure that no other ground predators, which would threaten its special wildlife, are able to establish themselves on the Shiants.
First storm petrel chick in Shiants after rat cull
9 November 2018