 This value places Fowlsheugh as the second largest seabird colony in Britain and surpasses the criterion of 20,000 birds to qualify as a protected area of international seabird importance under European Union Directive 79/409.Bird species present are primarily auks and gulls, which feed in nearby offshore waters as well as more distant North Sea reaches.Most of the nests are constructed on precarious perches nestled in the virtually vertical cliffs of the basalt and conglomerate.