Bird cliffs, or nesting cliffs, are steep cliffs with numerous small shelves which serve as

nest A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold Egg (biology), eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of ...

ing locations for bird colonies. Bird cliffs are found on islands in the

North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for ...

and

Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...

, such as the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

, the

Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), previously known as Spitsbergen or Spitzbergen, is a Norway, Norwegian archipelago that lies at the convergence of the Arctic Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean. North of continental Europe, mainland Europe, it lies about midway be ...

archipelago and on islands off

Northern Norway Northern Norway (, , ; ) is a geographical region of Norway, consisting of the three northernmost counties Nordland, Troms and Finnmark, in total about 35% of the Norwegian mainland. Some of the largest towns in Northern Norway (from south to no ...

. Birds that nest in large numbers on bird cliffs include

auk Auks or alcids are birds of the family Alcidae in the order Charadriiformes. The alcid family includes the Uria, murres, guillemots, Aethia, auklets, puffins, and Brachyramphus, murrelets. The family contains 25 extant or recently extinct speci ...

s, kittiwakes,

barnacle geese The barnacle goose (''Branta leucopsis'') is a species of goose that belongs to the genus '' Branta'' of black geese, which contains species with extensive black in the plumage, distinguishing them from the grey '' Anser'' species. Despite its s ...

, and typical Old World vultures. The number of breeding couples may exhibit large variations depending on available food. Bird cliffs have often been exploited as a food resource by the local population, as well as being used by hunters and egg collectors.

Gallery

File:Dreizehenmoewen.jpg, Kittiwakes on a bird cliff at the island of

Runde Runde is an island in Herøy Municipality (Møre og Romsdal), Herøy Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The island has a population of 113 people (as of 2015), and it is connected by the Runde Bridge to the island of Remøya to th ...

. File:Uria lomvia 2.jpg, Colony of

thick-billed murre The thick-billed murre or Brünnich's guillemot (''Uria lomvia'') is a bird in the auk family (Alcidae). This bird is named after the Danish zoologist Morten Thrane Brünnich. The very deeply black North Pacific subspecies ''Uria lomvia arra'' i ...

at bird cliff of Stappen, Bear Island. File:Iceland2008-Latrabjarg.bird.cliff.JPG,

Látrabjarg Látrabjarg () is a promontory in the Westfjords of Iceland, and the westernmost point in Iceland. The cliffs are home to millions of birds, including puffins, northern gannets, guillemots and razorbill The razorbill (''Alca torda'') is a No ...

bird cliff, Iceland. File:Fleygamenn Trongisvágur.jpg, Bird hunters at the

. File:Puffin1-1.jpg,

Atlantic puffin The Atlantic puffin ('), also known as the common puffin, is a species of seabird in the auk family (biology), family. It is the only puffin native to the Atlantic Ocean; two related species, the tufted puffin and the horned puffin being found ...

at Røst.

References

Bird breeding Cliffs {{bird-stub