Seabirds

In summer, watch the antics of the puffins that nest in burrows on top of Staffa’s high cliffs. The path to the north of the island is perhaps the best route to follow to see them. If you sit patiently, they’ll come right up to you. 

Staffa’s puffins arrive towards the end of April. After nine months of living alone far out on the Atlantic, these birds seem excited and happy to be back, meeting with their life partners and greeting old neighbours. 

Young, non-breeding birds arrive to socialise, flirt and claim burrows of their own. These younger puffins are generally the most visible; they have little need to spend time down burrows making nests, brooding eggs or finding food for chicks. Instead, they’ll gather on the turf along the cliff tops, fly round in wide circles or sit on the sea close to the island in ‘rafts’ – all the while, feeding, socialising and generally learning the ropes.

Smaller than regular guillemots, black guillemots are Staffa’s only other breeding auk in addition to puffins. Unlike puffins, black guillemots are resident seabirds that can be seen around the Scottish coastline all year round. 

While puffins nest in burrows, black guillemots nest in rock crevices – harder to reach by gulls and other potential predators.

Staffa is a good place to learn the difference between the commonly confused shags and cormorants, as cormorants are seldom seen and don’t breed here. Shags are the smaller of the two species, sport a shaggy crest and are dark all over. Cormorants usually have a small whitish patch on their cheeks/under their bills. Up close, the shag’s plumage is not black but a dark bottle green.

Eider ducks are a common sight on the tidally exposed rocks and sea around Staffa. Like puffins, eiders return every year to where they hatched and nest in closely related extended family groups.