Data Zone
Country/territory: Antarctica
IBA criteria met: A4iii (2015)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here
Area: 500 hectares (5.00 km2)
Site description (2015 baseline)
Coulman Island lies along the Borchgrevink Coast of northern Victoria Land, ~18 km east of the Borchgrevink Glacier Tongue. The island is an elongated basaltic dome covered by a permanent ice cap. Cape Main is an ice free outcrop and moraine that lies on the eastern coast of Coulman Island.
The IBA qualifies on the basis of the concentration of seabirds present (in particular Adélie Penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae)) and comprises ice free ground and a strip of moraine that lies on the eastern coast of the island, ~3 km north of Cape Main.
The nearest permanent stations are Mario Zucchelli (ITA) and Jang Bogo (KOR), ~220 km to the southwest in Terra Nova Bay.
Key biodiversity
A large colony of Adélie Penguins is recorded breeding on ice-free ground adjacent to the ice shelf north of Cape Main, with on average 17 991 breeding pairs present from 1981 – 2012 (Lyver et al. 2014). The main nesting area lies over low ridges on a large triangular moraine (not shown on map) that extends eastward from rocky cliffs on the eastern coast of Coulman Island. A small group of nests is located on the steeper slopes just below these cliffs. Information on other bird species at the site is not available.
Non-bird biodiversity: None known.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Cape Main, Coulman Island (Antarctica). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/cape-main-coulman-island-iba-antarctica on 19/12/2024.