Scotland’s shores host around 24 regularly breeding seabird species. This guide selects 15 familiar species found at colonies or along the coast; numbering is for reference, not a national abundance ranking, since sightings vary by season and place. Start with silhouette, wing shape, bill and flight, then check habitat and season. A distant bird may be hard to identify from colour alone, and plumage changes with age and time of year. The broad groups below help narrow a first identification without suggesting that every member behaves alike. This Informatic may be downloaded here.
More details are available at the Alness Photo website.