Fair Island is most famous for two things: its permanent bird observatory and the traditional style of knitting, called 'fair isle'. It is the most remote inhabited island in the United Kingdom. It is the tenth largest from the one hundred islands in the Shetland group.

The bird observatory was founded by George Waterston in 1948. Many rare species of bird have been found on the island, and it is probably the best place in western Europe to see skulking Siberian passerines such as Pechora Pipit, Lanceolated Warbler and Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler.