The bird cliffs in North-Norway have many of Europe's largest seabird colonies. The most common species in the bird cliffs are Kittiwake, Puffin, Common Guillemot, Razorbill, Gannet and Shag. These birds fetch their food in the sea and come ashore only to nest. The seabirds are very sensitive to changes in size of the fish stocks and are therefore easily affected by modern fisheries. Many seabird populations have decreased substantially since the late 1960s as a consequence of the collapse in the capelin and herring stocks. On Hjelmsøya, that formerly was the largest guillemot colony on the Norwegian mainland, the population has decreased with 99% in the period 1984 to 2006. Even with increased fish stocks, it seems unlikely that the Common Guillemot will return to the open ledges due to a much larger White-tailed Eagle population that causes too much disturbance.
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| Puffin | Brünnich's Guillemot | Shag |
