Photo by Anina Huber
Puffins have returned to nest on the Isle of Muck Nature Reserve off Islandmagee, County Antrim, for the first time in 25 years, marking a significant milestone in Northern Ireland’s seabird recovery efforts.
The discovery represents the first time the vulnerable seabird has been recorded on the tiny island since Ulster Wildlife took over management of the seabird sanctuary a quarter century ago. The breakthrough is the direct result of an ambitious conservation project launched in 2017 to eradicate invasive brown rats from the island – the primary threat to seabird eggs and chicks – alongside winter grazing implemented to keep vegetation low and reduce predator cover.
Five puffins were spotted prospecting the island in 2024. Then in spring this year, cameras set up as part of the rat eradication programme captured two puffins coming and going from a nesting burrow on the cliff ledges. Their behaviour, bringing food back to the nest, provided positive evidence of breeding activity, though it remains unknown whether they successfully reared a chick.
Andy Crory, Nature Reserves Manager with Ulster Wildlife, said the discovery proves that “seabird restoration works”. For Crory, tales of puffins once breeding on the Isle of Muck “felt more like folklore”, but he noted the myth is now becoming a reality.
“Seabirds face immense challenges globally, with 24 of the 25 breeding species at risk of local or global extinction,” he said. “So, while a handful of puffins on a tiny island may seem small, this moment is huge – it proves that seabird restoration works.”
The puffin sightings represent the latest in a series of positive conservation indicators on the island. Annual surveys have recorded steady year-on-year increases in eider ducks, guillemots, herring gulls and lesser black-backed gulls on and around the island.
Crory expressed hope that “the Isle of Muck will become a thriving stronghold for puffins and, in time, tempt back other lost species like the Manx shearwater.” The team is now waiting “with great excitement to see if the first ‘pufflings’ – baby puffins – appear on the cliffs next summer,” which he described as something that “truly would be the icing on the cake.”
Puffins are a priority species in Northern Ireland and red-listed in the UK, placing them in the highest conservation concern bracket due to food shortages, climate change and predation by invasive species. The seabirds spend most of their lives at sea, only returning to land to breed in spring and summer at the same nesting site with the same partner year after year. Each pair raises a single chick during the breeding season.
Ulster Wildlife noted that rats pose a major threat to eggs and chicks across many seabird islands in the UK, and similar eradication projects elsewhere have proved vital in helping colonies recover. The LIFE Raft project on Rathlin Island is expected to confirm it has rid the island of rats when it publishes its latest report soon, following a world-first project that already cleared ferrets from the island.
The ongoing rat eradication programme and species monitoring at the Isle of Muck Nature Reserve is funded by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs via Northern Ireland’s Carrier Bag Levy.
The Isle of Muck is not accessible to the public, and Ulster Wildlife hopes this isolation will help the birds return safely next summer to breed.