# Young manx shearwaters moved to Canna to rebuild a colony hit by rats

> Conservationists have relocated 40 young manx shearwaters from Rum to the Isle of Canna, hoping to re-establish a breeding colony that rats devastated before being cleared in 2005.

- Published: 2026-10-29 by Tickety-Boo News
- Section: Animals
- Location: Scotland, UK
- Web page: https://ticketyboonews.co.uk/stories/young-manx-shearwaters-moved-to-canna-to-rebuild-a-colony-hit-by-rats/
- Original report: [Rare manx shearwaters returned to Isle of Canna in bird conservation bid](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cr4g1577jyv6o) (BBC News (Scotland))

## In brief

- The National Trust for Scotland has moved 40 young manx shearwaters from Rum to the Isle of Canna.
- Canna once had up to 3,000 breeding adults before rats devastated the colony.
- Rats were eradicated from the Scottish island in 2005, and the birds are now being reintroduced.

A bid to bring rare manx shearwaters back to the Isle of Canna is under way, with 40 young birds now relocated there. Over two years, the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) has carried them across from the neighbouring Isle of Rum, hoping to rebuild a breeding colony that rats once devastated.

Canna, in the Small Isles off Scotland's west coast, used to support as many as 3,000 breeding adults. Rats are thought to have arrived about 100 years ago, accidentally carried over on ships from the mainland. By the 1990s they were taking a heavy toll on the island's seabirds by eating their eggs.

Clearing them was no mean feat, and trappers from New Zealand lent a hand. Rats were eradicated from Canna in 2005, and the new project builds on that work.

The young birds were taken from Rum, a true stronghold for the species. Roughly a quarter of the world's breeding population nests there, with at least 120,000 breeding pairs.

Manx shearwaters are close relatives of the albatross and spend most of their lives out at sea. They are believed to find their way by the Sun, Moon and stars.

Ellie Owen, NTS senior seabird officer, likened the project to scaling Everest in seabird conservation terms. She described it as a "really complicated process", and said the team worked through the night this summer and read up on piles of published research to work out how to go about it.

The birds have admirers on the island, too. Owen said people in Canna's village miss the eerie call of the shearwaters, which she called a vivid reminder of nature's raw power. The birds can still be heard on neighbouring Rum, and the hope is that the sound will one day return to Canna.

The project is also the subject of a film, which is set for release next year.

## Why it matters

Rats are a well-known danger to birds that nest on the ground, because they raid eggs and chicks. Removing them, as Canna's team did in 2005, is only the first step, since a lost colony will not rebuild itself overnight. Bringing in young birds from a thriving population nearby gives the island a chance to become a seabird home once more.