Editing St Kilda, Scotland (section)

=== Wildlife ===
{{See also|Flora and fauna of the Outer Hebrides}}
[[File:Inselsoay.JPG|thumb|[[Soay, St Kilda|Soay]] shrouded in mist]]
St Kilda is a breeding ground for many important [[seabird]] species. One of the world's largest colonies of [[northern gannet]]s, totalling 30,000 pairs, amount to 24 per cent of the global population. There are 49,000 breeding pairs of [[Leach's storm-petrel|Leach's petrels]], up to 90 per cent of the European population; 136,000 pairs of [[Atlantic puffin]]s, about 30 per cent of the UK total breeding population, and 67,000 [[northern fulmar]] pairs, about 13 per cent of the UK total.<ref name=Benvie>Benvie, Neil (2000) ''Scotland's Wildlife''. London. Aurum Press.</ref> Dùn is home to the largest colony of [[fulmars]] in [[UK|Britain]]. Before 1828, St Kilda was their only UK breeding ground, but they have since spread and established colonies elsewhere, such as [[Fowlsheugh]].<ref>{{citation|jstor=1312|title=The Breeding Distribution, History and Population of the Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis) in the British Isles|journal=Journal of Animal Ecology|volume=10|issue=2|pages=204–272|last1=Fisher|first1=James|last2=Waterston|first2=George|year=1941|doi=10.2307/1312|bibcode=1941JAnEc..10..204F }}</ref> The last [[great auk]] (''Pinguinus impennis'') seen in Britain was killed on Stac an Armin in July 1840.<ref name=Smith/> Unusual behaviour by St Kilda's [[great skua|bonxies]] was recorded in 2007 during research into recent falls in the Leach's petrel population. Using night-vision gear, ecologists observed the skuas hunting petrels at night, a remarkable strategy for a seabird.<ref>McKenzie, Steven [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/7069755.stm "Bird night attacks may be unique"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205170312/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/7069755.stm |date=5 December 2008 }} (5 November 2007) BBC News. Retrieved on 6 November 2007.</ref> The St Kilda archipelago has been recognised as an [[Important Bird Area]] (IBA) by [[BirdLife International]] for its [[seabird]] [[bird colony|colonies]].<ref name=bli>{{cite web|url= http://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/st-kilda-iba-united-kingdom|title= St Kilda|author= <!--Not stated-->|date= 2021|website= BirdLife Data Zone|publisher= BirdLife International|access-date= 20 January 2021|archive-date= 29 November 2020|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201129103511/http://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/st-kilda-iba-united-kingdom|url-status= live}}</ref>

Two wild animal taxa are unique to St Kilda: the [[St Kilda wren]] (''Troglodytes troglodytes hirtensis''), which is a subspecies of the [[troglodytes troglodytes|Eurasian wren]], and a subspecies of [[wood mouse]] known as the [[St Kilda field mouse]] (''Apodemus sylvaticus hirtensis''). A third taxon [[Endemism|endemic]] to St Kilda, a subspecies of [[house mouse]] known as the [[St Kilda house mouse]] (''Mus musculus muralis''), vanished entirely after the departure of human inhabitants, as it was strictly associated with settlements and buildings.<ref name=Smith/> It had several traits in common with a sub-species (''Mus musculus mykinessiensis'') found on [[Mykines, Faroe Islands|Mykines]] island in the [[Faroe Islands]].<ref>[http://heima.olivant.fo/~mykines/mammalsgb.htm "The mammals on Mykines"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303233729/http://heima.olivant.fo/~mykines/mammalsgb.htm |date=3 March 2016 }} Heima.olivant.fo. Retrieved 22 May 2007.</ref> The [[gray seal|grey seal]] (''Halichoerus grypus'') now breeds on Hirta but did not do so before the 1930 evacuation.<ref name=Darling>Fraser Darling, F. and Boyd, J.M. (1969) ''Natural History in the Highlands and Islands.'' London. Bloomsbury.</ref>

The archipelago's isolation has resulted in a lack of [[biodiversity]]. The most successful [[Insect migration|colonists]] with nearly two hundred species are the [[fly|flies]] followed by [[beetle]]s with approximately 140 species. There are no [[bee]]s on the islands, so flies are probably important [[pollinator]]s of plants. One beetle, the rare and endangered [[weevil]], ''[[Ceutorhynchus insularis]]'', is known from only [[Dùn, St Kilda|Dùn]] and the [[Vestmannaeyjar|Westmann Islands]], an archipelago off the south-west coast of [[Iceland]].<ref name=Love>{{cite web|last1=Love|first1=John|title=Tèarmann Nàdair Nàiseanta St Kilda National Nature Reserve A world apart|url=http://www.snh.org.uk/pdfs/publications/designatedareas/st%20kilda.pdf|website=Scottish Natural Heritage|access-date=13 September 2014|pages=48|year=2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140913145539/http://www.snh.org.uk/pdfs/publications/designatedareas/st%20kilda.pdf|archive-date=13 September 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> Less than one hundred species of [[butterfly]] and [[moth]] occur, compared to 367 recorded on the [[Outer Hebrides|Western Isles]]. [[Vanessa atalanta|Red admiral]] (''Vanessa atalanta'') and [[Vanessa cardui|painted lady]] (''Vanessa cardui'') are two of only seven species of butterflies, both well known and common [[Lepidoptera migration|migrants]]. Common summer moths are the [[Cerapteryx graminis|antler]] (''Cerapteryx graminis''), [[dark arches]] (''Apamea monoglypha'') and the migrant [[silver Y]] (''Autographa gamma''). One unusual moth recorded is the [[Idaea rusticata|least carpet]] (''Idaea rusticata''), an occasional migrant, and in the UK, usually recorded in the south-east of England.<ref name=Love/><ref>{{cite web|last1=Kimber|first1=Ian|title=1699 Least Carpet ''Idaea rusticata''|url=https://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?bf=1699&map=true|website=UKmoths|access-date=13 September 2014|archive-date=13 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140913170332/http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?bf=1699&map=true|url-status=live}}</ref> On 4 September 2014 a rare [[Vagrancy (biology)|vagrant]] [[oleander hawk-moth]] (''Daphnis nerii'') was recorded.<ref>{{cite web|title=Flight Arrivals|url=http://www.atropos.info/flightarrivals//index.php|website=Atropos|access-date=13 September 2014|archive-date=13 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140913151023/http://www.atropos.info/flightarrivals//index.php|url-status=live}}</ref> Oleander is not found in the UK every year, and the larva has never been recorded in Britain.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Kimber|first1=Ian|title=1985 Oleander Hawk-moth ''Daphnis nerii''|url=https://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?id=6335|website=UKmoths|access-date=13 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140913150552/http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?id=6335|archive-date=13 September 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Its plant life is heavily influenced by island's natural environment such as the salt spray, strong winds and acidic [[peat]]y soils. No trees grow on the archipelago, although there are more than 130 different flowering plants, 162 species of [[fungi]] and 160 [[bryophyte]]s. Several rarities exist amongst the 194 [[lichen]] species. [[Kelp]] thrives in the surrounding seas, which contain a diversity of unusual marine invertebrates.<ref name=Smith/><ref name=UNEP/> The [[St Kilda dandelion]] (''Taraxacum pankhurstianum'') is an endemic species of [[Taraxacum|dandelion]], identified in 2012.<ref name="RBGE">{{cite web|url=http://www.rbge.org.uk/about-us/news/stories/new-dandelion-found|title=New Dandelion Found|author=Royal Botanical Garden Edinburgh|access-date=29 June 2012|archive-date=26 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170926054125/http://www.rbge.org.uk/about-us/news/stories/new-dandelion-found|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The beach at Village Bay is unusual in that its short stretch of summer sand recedes in winter, exposing the large boulders on which it rests. A survey of the beach in 1953 found only a single resident species, the crustacean [[isopod]] ''[[Eurydice pulchra]]''.<ref>Gauld, R. Bagenal, T.E. and Connell, J.H. (1953) "The marine fauna and flora of St. Kilda, 1952". ''Scottish Naturalist'' '''65''' pp 29–49, quoted in Darling and Boyd (1969) page 184.</ref>