PUFFINS have been recorded nesting on the Isle of Muck in County Antrim for the first time in a quarter of a century.
Ulster Wildlife confirmed the discovery after cameras captured two puffins repeatedly entering and leaving a burrow on the island’s cliff ledges during the summer.
This is a strong indication that the birds were attempting to breed.
The return of the vulnerable seabirds is being hailed as a milestone success for the restoration project launched in 2017 to eliminate invasive brown rats, which pose a major threat to seabird eggs and chicks.
Alongside rat eradication, winter grazing has been introduced to keep vegetation low, reducing the cover available to predators.
Andy Crory, nature reserves manager with Ulster Wildlife, said the long-awaited return of puffins was a powerful sign that habitat recovery efforts are working.
“For years, stories about puffins once nesting on the Isle of Muck felt more like folklore than fact,” Crory said, according to the BBC.
“But now, after sustained efforts to make the island safe for seabirds, that myth is turning into reality. A handful of puffins may seem insignificant, but it’s a huge moment, and it proves that seabird restoration works.”
Seabirds across the world are under severe pressure, with 24 out of 25 breeding species facing some level of extinction risk.
The progress on the Isle of Muck stands out as a rare conservation success story.
Annual surveys have shown steady increases in other species, including eider ducks, guillemots, herring gulls and lesser black-backed gulls.
The hope is that the island will eventually become a thriving refuge for puffins and may even attract the return of other lost species such as the Manx shearwater.
“For now, we’re watching with real excitement to see whether the first pufflings appear next summer,” Crory said.
“That would be the icing on the cake.”
Puffins are classified as a priority species in Northern Ireland and are red-listed in Britain due to food shortages and predation by invasive species.
They spend most of their lives at sea and return to the same nesting spot each spring, raising a single chick per year.
The Isle of Muck Nature Reserve is closed to the public, and conservationists are urging people to admire the site from a distance to give the returning birds the best chance to settle and breed undisturbed.
The restoration work and ongoing monitoring are supported by Northern Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs through the Carrier Bag Levy.
See More: Co. Antrim, Enviroment, Puffins
