Birds of coast and sea

Scotland's long and convoluted shoreline, much of it relatively undeveloped, provides diverse and extensive habitats for shorebirds. Wintering waders such as oystercatcher, knot and bar-tailed godwit occur in internationally important numbers at our major estuaries like the Firth of Forth and Solway Firth, while Orkney's undisturbed rocky and sandy shores are a major wintering and migration stop-over for turnstone. Our country's rocky islands and mainland sea cliffs are the summertime home of hundreds of thousands of seabirds, providing some amazing wildlife spectacles. Sheltered coastal waters are a safe winter haven for mergansers and divers, while the productive seas of the continental shelf lie within easy foraging distance off the west coast.

Puffin

This perennially popular seabird is widely distributed on islands around Scotland's north and west coasts. Long-lived, but sensitive to changes in the numbers and distribution of their sandeel prey, puffins have come to be seen as a barometer of the health of Scotland's seas.

Storm petrel

Amazingly, this diminutive seabird spends almost all of its life out at sea. It only comes to shore to visit its nest, which is located in a burrow, in a crevice between boulders, or sometimes in dry stone dykes, and then only at night. Numerous but difficult to survey, storm petrels are normally counted by playing back a recording of a male bird's call, and then counting the number of birds that call back in response.

Eider

This beautiful seaduck is a widely distributed breeding species around Scotland's shores, and nests in nationally important numbers on the Ythan estuary in north-east Scotland. Outside the breeding season, it is mainly found in sheltered coastal waters, sometimes in flocks several hundreds strong. Mink, foxes and disturbance by dog-walkers are all problems faced by nesting eiders in Scotland, and the fondness of this species for shellfish has sometimes brought them into conflict with mussel farmers.