• Summary
• Text account
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• Reference and further resources

Site description (2015 baseline)

Cape Hunter is a rocky promontory of approximately 1 km in length and ~250 m wide on the western shore of Commonwealth Bay, George V Land, located ~13 km northwest of Cape Denison.

The IBA qualifies on the basis of the concentration of seabirds present (in particular Adélie Penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) and Antarctic Petrel (Thalassoica antarctica)) and comprises the rocky promontory, the smaller offshore islands and the intervening marine area.

There are no research stations nearby. The closest permanent station is Dumont d'Urville (FRA), ~110 km to the west in Terre Adélie.

Key biodiversity

Barbraud et al. (1999) counted 15 997 breeding pairs of Adélie Penguin in 1997/98. During the same visit 3807 pairs of Antarctic Petrel, 53 pairs of Snow Petrel (Pagodroma nivea) and six pairs of South Polar Skuas (Catharacta maccormicki) were counted. Wilson's Storm-petrels (Oceanites oceanicus) were also confirmed to breed at the site (Barbraud et al. 1999). Large numbers of Antarctic Petrels were evident in photographs taken by Frank Hurley at Cape Hunter on the Australasian Antarctic Expedition 1911-14 (Hurley 1911-14).

More recently, approximately 7709 breeding pairs (95% CI 4552, 12 841) of Adélie Penguin were present at Cape Hunter as estimated from March 2010 satellite imagery (Lynch & LaRue 2014). It is not clear whether this more recent count demonstrates change as a result of inter-seasonal fluctuations, methodological differences, or represents a real reduction in the local Adélie Penguin population. Potentially, imagery from later in the season may have yielded a lower estimate of numbers than otherwise might have been expected.

Non-bird biodiversity: None known.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Cape Hunter (Antarctica). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/cape-hunter-iba-antarctica on 29/11/2024.