Sule Stack or Stack Skerry is an extremely remote island or stack

Stack (geology)

A stack is a geological landform consisting of a steep and often vertical column or columns of rock in the sea near a coast, isolated by erosion. Stacks are formed through processes of coastal geomorphology, which are entirely natural. Time, wind and water are the only factors involved in the...

 in the North Atlantic off the north coast of Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. It is formed of Lewisian gneiss

Lewisian complex

The Lewisian complex or Lewisian Gneiss is a suite of Precambrian metamorphic rocks that outcrop in the northwestern part of Scotland, forming part of the Hebridean Terrane. These rocks are of Archaean and Paleoproterozoic age, ranging from 3.0–1.7 Ga. They form the basement on which the...

.

Sule Stack lies 66 kilometres west of the Orkney mainland at . Sule Stack's sole neighbour, Sule Skerry

Sule Skerry

Sule Skerry is a remote skerry in the North Atlantic off the north coast of Scotland.-Geography:Sule Skerry lies 60 kilometres west of the Orkney Mainland at . Sule Skerry's sole neighbour, Sule Stack, lies 10km to the southwest. The remote islands of Rona and Sula Sgeir lie approximately 80km...

, lies 10 km to the north east and the remote islands of Rona

North Rona

Rona is a remote Scottish island in the North Atlantic. Rona is often referred to as North Rona in order to distinguish it from South Rona . It has an area of and a maximum height of...

 and Sula Sgeir

Sula Sgeir

Sula Sgeir is a small, uninhabited Scottish island in the North Atlantic, west of North Rona...

 lie further to the west.

Sule Stack and Sule Skerry are home to thousands of Gannet

Gannet

Gannets are seabirds comprising the genus Morus, in the family Sulidae, closely related to the boobies.The gannets are large black and white birds with yellow heads. They have long pointed wings and long bills. Northern gannets are the largest seabirds in the North Atlantic, with a wingspan of up...

s and as a result are listed as a Special Protection Area

Special Protection Area

A Special Protection Area or SPA is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds.Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and certain particularly threatened birds.Together with Special...

.

Sule Stack comes within the administrative region of Orkney Islands

Orkney Islands

Orkney also known as the Orkney Islands , is an archipelago in northern Scotland, situated north of the coast of Caithness...

.
Bird species nesting on the stack include:

• Razorbill
  Razorbill
  The Razorbill is colonial seabird that will only come to land in order to breed. It is the largest living member of the Auk family. This agile bird will choose only one partner for life and females will lay one egg per year. Razorbills will nest along coastal cliffs in enclosed or slightly exposed...
  
   Alca torda
• Atlantic Puffin
  Atlantic Puffin
  The Atlantic Puffin is a seabird species in the auk family. It is a pelagic bird that feeds primarily by diving for fish, but also eats other sea creatures, such as squid and crustaceans. Its most obvious characteristic during the breeding season is its brightly coloured bill...
  
   Fratercula arctica
• Fulmar
  Fulmar
  Fulmars are seabirds of the family Procellariidae. The family consists of two extant species and two that are extinct.-Taxonomy:As members of Procellaridae and then the order Procellariiformes, they share certain traits. First, they have nasal passages that attach to the upper bill called...
  
   Fulmarus glacialis
• Great Black-backed Gull
  Great Black-backed Gull
  The Great Black-backed Gull is the largest gull in the world, which breeds on the European and North American coasts and islands of the North Atlantic...
  
   Larus marinus
• Common Shag
  Common Shag
  The European Shag or Common Shag is a species of cormorant. It breeds around the rocky coasts of western and southern...
  
    Phalacrocorax aristotelis
• Black-legged Kittiwake
  Black-legged Kittiwake
  The Black-legged Kittiwake is a seabird species in the gull family Laridae.This species was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema naturae in 1758 as Larus tridactylus....
  
   Rissa tridactyla
• Arctic Tern
  Arctic Tern
  The Arctic Tern is a seabird of the tern family Sternidae. This bird has a circumpolar breeding distribution covering the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions of Europe, Asia, and North America...
  
   Sterna paradisaea
• Northern Gannet
  Northern Gannet
  The Northern Gannet is a seabird and is the largest member of the gannet family, Sulidae.- Description :Young birds are dark brown in their first year, and gradually acquire more white in subsequent seasons until they reach maturity after five years.Adults are long, weigh and have a wingspan...
  
   Morus bassanus
• Common Guillemot
  Common Guillemot
  The Common Murre or Common Guillemot is a large auk. It is also known as the Thin-billed Murre in North America. It has a circumpolar distribution, occurring in low-Arctic and boreal waters in the North-Atlantic and North Pacific...
  
  Uria aalge

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