Data Zone
Country/territory: Antarctica
IBA criteria met: A4iii (2015)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here
Area: 127 ha
Site description (2015 baseline)
Cape Pigeon Rocks are twin ice free promontories of ~1.6 km in length situated on the western shoreline of Watt Bay, ~5 km south of Garnet Point, George V Land. The site was named by Sir Douglas Mawson in 1912 after the colony of Cape Petrels (Daption capense) observed at the site, which persists today. The geology appears to be of igneous origin, with widespread gneiss and basic rocks evident in dykes (Laseron 1912). The IBA qualifies on the basis of the concentration of seabirds present (in particular Adélie Penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae)) and comprises the ice free ground of Cape Pigeon Rocks, a small ice free island to the east and the intervening marine area.
The closest permanent station is Dumont d'Urville (FRA), ~180 km to the west in Terre Adélie.
Key biodiversity
Approximately 10 335 breeding pairs of Adélie Penguin were present at Cape Pigeon Rocks as estimated from January 2011 satellite imagery (unpublished data H. Lynch & M. LaRue pers. comm. 2014: CI not available). Small numbers of flying birds also breed in the region (Table 159.1). Several of the photographs by Laseron (1912) show penguins, skuas, Cape Petrels and Southern Fulmars ( Fulmarus glacialoides ) present at the site at the time of Mawson's visit.
Non-bird biodiversity: None known.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Cape Pigeon Rocks (Antarctica). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/cape-pigeon-rocks-iba-antarctica on 25/11/2024.