Rare Manx seabird returned in conservation mission

A group of Manx shearwater seabirds have been returned to the Isle of Canna to try and rebuild their population there.

The Isle of Canna, in the Small Isles which is just off the west of Scotland, was once home to around 3,000 of the birds.

But an infestation of rats, which hunt the birds, saw the their numbers plummet.

The rats were removed from the isle, and now conservationists from the National Trust for Scotland have re-introduced 40 young birds from the Isle of Rum to try and re-establish a population there.

Over the past two years, 40 of the seabirds have been moved from the Isle of Rum which has around a quarter of the world's breeding population in preparation for this project.

Ellie Owen who is a senior seabird officer at National Trust Scotland said it was the "seabird conservation equivalent of scaling Everest for the National Trust for Scotland".

Manx shearwaters - or to give them their scientific name Puffinus puffinus - belong to a group of birds known as 'tubenoses' and are closely related to the albatross.

The birds spend most of their lives at sea and are believed to work out where they are going using the Sun, Moon and stars.

The Wildlife Trusts say that the bird is known for its haunting call, which was once mistaken for witches by pirates off the coast of Wales.

They travel thousands of miles every year - a study in 2020 found that one had flown 7,564 miles from Scotland all the way to Argentina!