Nature & Biodiversity
1,517,863 species occurrence records from the NBN Atlas, covering the Isle of Man and its surrounding waters. 127+ years of wildlife recording by citizen scientists, conservation organisations, and research institutions.
Data generated: 22 Mar 2026
đī¸ Island Wildlife at a Glance
Birds Dominate the Record
700,271 bird records (46% of all data). The Isle of Man sits on Atlantic flyways â a critical stopover for migrants.
Rich Plant Diversity
419,693 flowering plant records plus 25,831 fungi observations. The island's mild oceanic climate supports species at the northern edge of their range, including rare orchids and coastal heathlands unique to the Irish Sea.
Marine Biodiversity
53,931 marine records across fish, molluscs, crustaceans, and algae. The IoM's territorial waters include 10+ Marine Protected Areas, from the Ramsey Bay MNR to the Calf of Man.
đ Recording Trends
Wildlife recording peaked in 1996 (85,713 records) before declining to a 2020s average of ~36,857/year. This doesn't mean biodiversity is falling â recording effort varies with volunteer participation, survey programmes, and funding cycles. The Calf of Man Bird Observatory alone contributed 438k records (1959-2004).
Records by Species Group (Top 15)
Records by Year
Top 15 Species by Record Count
Records by Kingdom
đ Key Species Insights
The IoM Chough
Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax â the Red-billed Chough is the Isle of Man's national bird, appearing on the island's coat of arms. With 18,000+ sightings, the IoM is one of the UK's last strongholds for this species. The island's cliff-top grasslands provide ideal foraging habitat.
No Snakes, Few Reptiles
Like Ireland, the Isle of Man has no native snakes. The 0 reptile records are mostly slow worms (Anguis fragilis) and occasional marine turtles. The 669 amphibian records include common frogs and palmate newts.
Bat Population
25,454 mammal records include significant bat survey data from the Manx Bat Group (est. 1986). Seven bat species are recorded on the island including pipistrelles, long-eared bats, and Daubenton's â all protected under the Wildlife Act 1990.
Insects & Pollinators
170,193 insect records spanning butterflies, moths, beetles, bees, and dragonflies. The UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme tracks IoM transects, and macro-moth surveys have documented 105k+ records. The island's traditional farmland supports pollinator communities increasingly rare on the UK mainland.
đĻTop 20 Bird SpeciesMost recorded species on the Isle of Man
| # | Species | Common Name | Records |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Larus argentatus | Herring Gull | 22,782 |
| 2 | Turdus merula | Eurasian Blackbird | 17,212 |
| 3 | Troglodytes troglodytes | Wren | 16,860 |
| 4 | Haematopus ostralegus | Oystercatcher | 16,494 |
| 5 | Corvus cornix | Hooded Crow | 16,344 |
| 6 | Larus marinus | Great Black-backed Gull | 16,331 |
| 7 | Erithacus rubecula | Robin | 15,916 |
| 8 | Phalacrocorax aristotelis | Shag | 15,320 |
| 9 | Anthus pratensis | Meadow Pipit | 15,280 |
| 10 | Pica pica | Magpie | 14,368 |
| 11 | Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax | Red-billed Chough | 13,920 |
| 12 | Motacilla alba | White Wagtail | 13,722 |
| 13 | Numenius arquata | Eurasian Curlew | 13,447 |
| 14 | Fringilla coelebs | Common Chaffinch | 13,277 |
| 15 | Anthus petrosus | Rock Pipit | 13,260 |
| 16 | Corvus corax | Raven | 13,183 |
| 17 | Morus bassanus | Northern Gannet | 13,013 |
| 18 | Linaria cannabina | Linnet | 12,728 |
| 19 | Saxicola rubicola | Stonechat | 12,493 |
| 20 | Sturnus vulgaris | Starling | 12,422 |
| 21 | Fulmarus glacialis | Northern Fulmar | 12,239 |
| 22 | Prunella modularis | Dunnock | 12,005 |
| 23 | Hirundo rustica | Swallow | 11,681 |
| 24 | Anas platyrhynchos | Mallard | 10,377 |
| 25 | Rissa tridactyla | Black-legged Kittiwake | 10,336 |
| 26 | Oenanthe oenanthe | Wheatear | 9,863 |
| 27 | Larus fuscus | Lesser Black-backed Gull | 9,645 |
| 28 | Coloeus monedula | Western Jackdaw | 9,568 |
| 29 | Falco tinnunculus | Kestrel | 9,567 |
| 30 | Phalacrocorax carbo | Great Cormorant | 9,489 |
đContributing DatasetsWho collects this data
IoM biodiversity data comes from professional surveys, citizen science programmes, and long-running volunteer recording schemes. The BTO/JNCC/RSPB partnership provides the largest openly-licenced bird dataset, while DASSH holds academic marine survey records.
| # | Dataset | Records |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | a451e2eb-f70f-49c4-b1ca-fe78e65bacbe | 438,338 |
| 2 | 4fa7b334-ce0d-4e88-aaae-2e0c138d049e | 171,777 |
| 3 | ca0ade5b-06fc-4b1a-93d6-09488fc6ed6a | 136,048 |
| 4 | 2c7c72b2-ac29-4be3-a95f-6b09e8f4b932 | 130,114 |
| 5 | 0d9accc4-309d-44ad-901e-f221e1d0ec80 | 119,364 |
| 6 | 29ce88ff-5cf1-47fd-af44-8477c52c910c | 106,511 |
| 7 | a86201a4-fa20-44e5-ade2-68ea3563cfa8 | 97,549 |
| 8 | 2ac4b2f0-9887-4d25-a8fa-f94391e87919 | 44,680 |
| 9 | b2e61bb2-fdaa-40a2-815d-a5aa33c606a4 | 30,444 |
| 10 | 6014992e-9970-4c51-bf16-c6762a30e58e | 24,368 |
| 11 | fe222206-bbc2-439b-8811-057e34e8fa2e | 21,619 |
| 12 | 2120e938-254a-4de9-a5d4-2e7b4d7a5493 | 21,517 |
| 13 | c45c8530-fd7d-4f30-a9e4-c6d243a4b404 | 18,795 |
| 14 | ae1c0f69-c920-4a94-94d5-4a0b08966a86 | 13,411 |
| 15 | d59ea6f3-f758-4d84-8c90-be078629127e | 13,237 |
| 16 | 219285f8-b3c9-4c34-963e-bdd3c14692fd | 9,513 |
| 17 | ad73fa3b-cc93-4709-a41d-dbac4ac3d21d | 7,404 |
| 18 | 3470d506-e667-4e3f-b178-819669684c05 | 5,919 |
| 19 | 1e266c3d-92ef-4d5a-8e4a-c04742c772c3 | 4,800 |
| 20 | Manx Verified casual occasional | 4,197 |
âī¸Data Licensing & Attribution
CC-BY-NC 4.0, CC-BY 4.0, CC0 1.0, OGL
Data Licensing & Attribution
CC-BY-NC 4.0, CC-BY 4.0, CC0 1.0, OGL
This data is sourced from the NBN Atlas and includes records under multiple Creative Commons licences. Smart Island is a non-commercial public interest platform â no data is sold or used for monetary compensation.
Licence Breakdown
- CC-BY-NC 4.0 â ~1.5M records (non-commercial use)
- OGL â ~112k records (Open Government Licence)
- CC-BY 4.0 â ~110k records (attribution required)
- CC0 1.0 â ~4k records (public domain)
Attribution
Species occurrence data provided by the NBN Atlas. Records contributed by the Manx Biological Recording Partnership, Calf of Man Bird Observatory, BTO, JNCC, RSPB, Butterfly Conservation, Manx Wildlife Trust, Manx Bat Group, Seasearch, DASSH, and many citizen scientists. Data accessed via the NBN Atlas API under the terms of the respective licences.
Also available via GBIF (1.76M records) and the NBN Atlas Isle of Man portal.
âšī¸About This Data
Data sourced from the NBN Atlas, the UK's largest biodiversity data network. The IoM portal holds records contributed by the Manx Biological Recording Partnership, Manx BirdLife, Manx Wildlife Trust, the Calf of Man Bird Observatory, and many citizen scientists.
Species occurrence data is queried within a 50km radius of the Isle of Man centre point (54.15°N, 4.5°W), which includes the island, Calf of Man, and surrounding territorial waters. Records span 127+ years.
Data source: NBN Atlas (records-ws.nbnatlas.org) | CC-BY-NC 4.0, CC-BY 4.0, CC0 1.0, OGL
