The Site consists of the island of Tautra and a shallow strait between Tautra and the mainland, together with the surrounding shallow intertidal marine waters. These waters and their mud- and sandflats are particularly important as a staging area in spring and autumn for many bird species, including the globally vulnerable velvet scoter (Melanitta fusca) and long-tailed duck (Clangula hyemalis). The common eider (Somateria mollissima) and black guillemot (Cepphus grylle) breed at the Site. As of 2022, the Site has Norway’s largest colony of breeding black-headed gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus), a species considered nationally as critically endangered. The island is important for agriculture, nature conservation and as a historical area with ruins of the Tautra monastery, dating back to 1207.