Iceland review - 2013, Side 48

46 ICELAND REVIEW
NATURE
The Atlantic Puffin is the most
common bird in Iceland. Some
seven million puffins breed in the
country, alongside 74 other spe-
cies. Over 350 bird species have
been recorded in Iceland, an
amazing total considering the small
number of breeding species.
The rarest breeding birds in
Iceland are the Common Pochard,
Snowy Owl and Eurasian Curlew
with fewer than 50 birds of each
species inhabiting the island.
No living creature on earth travels
a longer distance in its lifetime or
is exposed to as much daylight as
the Arctic Tern, living half the year
in Antarctic regions and migrating
north to the Arctic to breed.
Fewer than 1,000 Gyrfalcons
live in Iceland, preying mostly on
Ptarmigans. In medieval times, the
Gyrfalcon was considered a royal
bird, reserved for kings and nobles.
The Gannet is the largest sea-
bird in the North Atlantic with a
wingspan of up to two meters.
You find them in big colonies on
small islands around Iceland, the
largest of which is Eldey, west of
Reykjanes peninsula.

icelandic gyrfalcon