Sumburgh Head Dunrøstar høfdi (Nynorsk) | |
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Headland | |
 Sumburgh Head | |
  Sumburgh Head | |
| Coordinates:59°51′15″N01°16′31″W / 59.85417°N 1.27528°W /59.85417; -1.27528 | |
| Grid position | HU 40699 07900 |
| Location | ShetlandArchipelago, Scotland |
Sumburgh Head is aheadland located at the southern tip of the main island of theShetlandArchipelago, in northernScotland. The head consists of a 100 m high rocky spur and topped by theSumburgh Head Lighthouse. In theOld Norse language, Sumburgh Head was calledDunrøstar høfdi, it means "The Head onto the loud tide-race", referring to the noise ofSumburgh Roost.Robert Stevenson was the engineer in charge of building the Sumburgh Head lighthouse. Work started on the building in 1819, and the light was first lit in 1821.
The area is now recognized as a nature reserve by theRoyal Society for the Protection of Birds. It is a popular viewing point forwhales anddolphins.[1] The cliffs are home to large numbers of seabirds with 33,000puffins being estimated in the year 2000. These numbers have declined sharply: for example only 570 of the birds were counted in 2017. The decline in Puffin numbers also appears to apply to other species native to Sumburgh Head.[2] The headland has been designated anImportant Bird Area (IBA) byBirdLife International because it supports large colonies of breedingseabirds.[3]
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