Skúvoy or Skúgvoy ( da, Skuø) is an island in the central
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.
They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...
, located to the south of
Sandoy
Sandoy ("Sand Island") is the first of the five southern islands that make up the Faroe chain, the fifth biggest of all the Faroe Islands, an autonomous region of the Kingdom of Denmark. It also refers to the region that includes this island alon ...
.
It is named after the large number of
great skua
The great skua (''Stercorarius skua''), sometimes known by the name bonxie in Britain, is a large seabird in the skua family Stercorariidae. It is roughly the size of a herring gull. It mainly eats fish caught at the sea surface or taken fr ...
present on the island (who have a habit of attacking intruders). There is only one settlement on the island:
Skúvoy on the east coast. There are two mountains:
Knúkur (392 m) and
Heyggjurin Mikli (391 m).
History
The
Black Death
The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...
in the 14th century killed all the inhabitants except one woman; her cottage can still be seen.
Skúvoy was also the home of
Sigmundur Brestisson
Sigmundur Brestisson (961–1005) was a Faroese Viking chieftain, and was responsible for introducing Christianity to the Faroe Islands in 999. He is one of the main characters of the Færeyinga saga.
According to the Færeyinga saga, emigrants ...
, the hero of the
Færeyinga saga
The Færeyinga saga (), the saga of the Faroe Islands, is the story of how the Faroe Islanders were converted to Christianity and became a part of Norway.
Summary
It was written in Iceland shortly after 1200. The author is unknown and the original ...
(Saga of the Faroese).
Bird habitat
There are 300–400 m cliffs along the west coast, which are home to many
guillemot
Guillemot is the common name for several species of seabird in the Alcidae or auk family (part of the order Charadriiformes). In British use, the term comprises two genera: ''Uria'' and ''Cepphus''. In North America the ''Uria'' species are ...
s. Egg harvesting takes place in early June, though this occurs in the first week only so as to allow the guillemots to lay again. The island has been identified as an
Important Bird Area
An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations.
IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Inte ...
by
BirdLife International
BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...
because of its significance as a breeding site for
seabird
Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same envir ...
s, especially
northern fulmar
The northern fulmar (''Fulmarus glacialis''), fulmar, or Arctic fulmar is a highly abundant seabird found primarily in subarctic regions of the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans. There has been one confirmed sighting in the Southern Hem ...
s (50,000 pairs),
Manx shearwater
The Manx shearwater (''Puffinus puffinus'') is a medium-sized shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. The scientific name of this species records a name shift: Manx shearwaters were called Manks puffins in the 17th century. Puffin is a ...
s (10,000 pairs),
European storm petrel
The European storm petrel, British storm petrel, or just storm petrel (''Hydrobates pelagicus'') is a seabird in the northern storm petrel family, Hydrobatidae. The small, square-tailed bird is entirely black except for a broad, white rump and ...
s (20,000 pairs),
great skua
The great skua (''Stercorarius skua''), sometimes known by the name bonxie in Britain, is a large seabird in the skua family Stercorariidae. It is roughly the size of a herring gull. It mainly eats fish caught at the sea surface or taken fr ...
s (25 pairs),
Atlantic puffin
The Atlantic puffin ('), also known as the common puffin, is a species of seabird in the auk family. It is the only puffin native to the Atlantic Ocean; two related species, the tufted puffin and the horned puffin is found in the northeastern ...
s (40,000 pairs),
common guillemot
The common murre or common guillemot (''Uria aalge'') is a large auk. It has a circumpolar distribution, occurring in low-Arctic and boreal waters in the North Atlantic and North Pacific. It spends most of its time at sea, only coming to land to ...
s (135,000 pairs) and
black guillemot
The black guillemot or tystie (''Cepphus grylle'') is a medium-sized seabird of the Alcidae family, native throughout northern Atlantic coasts and eastern North American coasts. It is resident in much of its range, but large populations from the ...
s (150 pairs), as well as 40 breeding pairs of
Eurasian whimbrel
The Eurasian whimbrel or common whimbrel (''Numenius phaeopus'') is a wader in the large family Scolopacidae. It is one of the most widespread of the curlews, breeding across much of subarctic Asia and Europe as far south as Scotland. This speci ...
s.
[BirdLife International. (2012). Important Bird Areas factsheet: Skúvoy. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 2012-02-23.]
File:Ferry Sandur-Skuvoy.JPG, The Skúvoy ferry in Sandur harbour
File:Faroe stamp 373 skuvoy.jpg, Stamp FR 373 of Postverk Føroya
Posta is the postal service of the Faroe Islands and was founded on 1 April 1976 under the Home Rule of the Faroe Islands. On 16 December 2005, it became a public joint stock company under the name P/F Postverk Føroya (retroactive from 1 Januar ...
Issued: 22 May 2000
Photo: Per á Hædd Per á Hædd is a Faroese photographer based in Tórshavn whose photographs were featured on stamps issued in 1999:
Image:Faroe_stamp_348_kalsoy.jpg, Kalsoy
Image:Faroe_stamp_349_vidoy.jpg, Viðoy
Image:Faroe_stamp_350_svinoy.jpg, Svinoy
Image:Far ...
File:Skuvoy map.jpg, Map of Skúvoy
File:Skúvoy helicopter 2019.jpg, Skúvoy village
References
External links
personal websitewith 9 aerial photos of Skúvoy
Islands of the Faroe Islands
Important Bird Areas of the Faroe Islands
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