Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Restrictions imposed for walkers after bird flu found within manx shearwater on Isle of Rum

Manx Shearwater, (Puffinus puffinus), breed on the Isle of Rum:, but bird flu has been detected. Pic: Shutterstock
Manx Shearwater, (Puffinus puffinus), breed on the Isle of Rum:, but bird flu has been detected. Pic: Shutterstock

A threatened and remarkable bird species on a remote Hebridean island has been hit by bird flu.

More than 60,000 pairs of manx shearwaters breed on Rum.

But a bird found dead in one of the colonies has tested positive for avian flu, prompting pleas to walkers to avoid parts of Rum Cuillin to protect the wider population.

NatureScot is advising that walkers avoid the slopes and summits of Barkeval, Hallival, Askival and Trollabhal, as this is where the Manx Shearwaters nest in burrows, under scree and in cairns.

The temporary measure will run until mid-October, when the chicks have fledged and the birds have returned to sea.

The chicks fledge from the mountains of Rum before flying to their wintering grounds in South America.

Other walking routes on Rum are not affected by this advice; nor are Ainshival and Sgurr nan Gillean.

‘Best possible chance of survival’

Mountaineering Scotland was consulted on the proposal and is pleased to see restrictions are limited to where the nesting burrows are, and for the breeding season.

In a statement, the agency said: “They have evidence that H5N1 strain of avian flu which is currently killing seabirds in Scotland is present within the Manx Shearwater population on Rum.

“A bird found dead in the colony in July tested positive for this avian flu strain, and two chicks which were found dead in nests at the beginning of August are also being tested.

Manx Shearwaters will fly to South America for the winter. Pic: Shutterstock

“The Rum National Nature Reserve supports approximately a third of the global population of breeding Manx Shearwaters, which is therefore an internationally important breeding colony for this bird species. NatureScot are advising that limiting disturbance and the potential spread of the H5NI virus by people gives these special seabirds the best possible chance of survival and recovery.”

Long-living birds

Manx shearwaters are incredibly long-lived with the oldest recorded from ringing studies at 50 years, 11 months and 21 days.

However, each year some of the young birds can become disorientated by outside lights left on in Kinloch and surrounding villages, and particularly Mallaig on the mainland.

They often crash land close to the light source and many are then killed by gulls, crows, cats or dogs.

The Rum colony is unique in that it is in the high mountains of the island as this is not usually the favoured habitat of the species.

Chicks fledging this year are unlikely to return to the colony next year as they do not return until they are three years old.  They first breed at around five years old.

Conversation