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The UK Bird Atlas

Gannet (Morus bassanus)Where and when to see it in the UK

Resident · reporting peaks August to October · Boobies and Gannets · BOU category AF

Records to 2026-08-16 · build 2026-08-31

Gannet (Morus bassanus)
Hobbyfotowiki, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Peak months
Gannet: relative reporting rate by 10 km square, September

Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (grid squares, place names from OS Open Names). Northern Ireland place names: OSNI Open Data, OGL v3.0. County and country boundaries: Office for National Statistics, Open Government Licence v3.0. Coastline: Natural Earth. Bird records from the data partners listed here.

Gannet has been recorded in 1,679 of the 2,971 10 km squares covering UK land (57%) in records to 2026. Resident in the UK. Its strongest squares are in Scotland, England and Wales. Reporting peaks in August to October.

Conservation status: Least Concern (IUCN Red List, LC)
View on the IUCN Red List
Relative to this species' best squares (how classes are calculated)
Very high
47% or more of visits
High
20% to 47%
Moderate
7% to 20%
Low
under 7%
Surveyed, not recorded
at least 20 qualifying visits, no record
Insufficient records
too few visits to say
Lighter fill
Few visits, lower confidence
Small dot
Occasional: a single record, or out of season

Seasonality

Reporting rate by month, relative to the peak month
MonthRelative to peakShare of visitsTypical class
January 18%2%Low
February 20%2%Low
March 29%3%Very high
April 42%4%Very high
May 56%6%Very high
June 66%7%Very high
July 79%8%Very high
August 93%10%Very high
September 100%10%Very high
October 90%9%Very high
November 44%5%Low
December 25%3%Low

Squares with the highest reporting rate in August

SquareWhereShare of visitsClass
D22Causeway Coast and Glens, Northern Ireland100%Very high
D31Mid and East Antrim, Northern Ireland100%Very high
D41Sea, off Mid and East Antrim100%Very high
HP20Sea, off Shetland Islands100%Very high
HP52Sea, off Shetland Islands100%Very high
HP62Sea, off Shetland Islands100%Very high
HT94Shetland Islands, Scotland100%Very high
HU14Shetland Islands, Scotland100%Very high
HU37Shetland Islands, Scotland100%Very high
HU53Shetland Islands, Scotland100%Very high

Spotted an error in a square? Report it and it goes into the review queue. Read the methodology for how classes, flags and sensitive-species rules work. Data to 2026.