There are 45 bird species nesting on the islet annually, including Sedge Warbler (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus), Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea) and Whitethroat (Sylvia communis).
Inland birds are fewer in numbers, Oyster catcher (Haematopus ostralegus) (the National Bird), Curlew (Numenius), Common Snipe (Capella gallinago) and Tern (Sterna) are common on the Heather hills.
Although the genus was first described in 1832 by Johann Georg Wagler the four species in the genus were until recently retained in the larger genus Sterna, the genus that most terns are in (Bridge et al., 2005).