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Year of most recent IBA criteria assessment: 2009

Populations of IBA trigger species

Species	Current IUCN Red List Category	Season	Year(s) of estimate	Population estimate	IBA Criteria Triggered
King Penguin Aptenodytes patagonicus	LC	resident	2003-2004	80,000 breeding pairs	A4ii
Gentoo Penguin Pygoscelis papua	LC	resident	2003-2004	16,000 breeding pairs	A1, A4ii
Macaroni Penguin Eudyptes chrysolophus	VU	resident	2003-2004	1,000,000 breeding pairs	A1, A4ii
Southern Rockhopper Penguin Eudyptes chrysocome	VU	resident	2003-2004	10,000 breeding pairs	A1, A4ii
Light-mantled Albatross Phoebetria palpebrata	NT	resident	2003-2004	500 breeding pairs	A1, A4ii
Black-browed Albatross Thalassarche melanophris	LC	resident	2003-2004	600 breeding pairs	A1
Southern Giant Petrel Macronectes giganteus	LC	resident	2003-2004	2,500 breeding pairs	A4ii
South Georgia Diving-petrel Pelecanoides georgicus	LC	resident	2003-2004	10,000-100,000 breeding pairs	A4ii
Black-faced Sheathbill Chionis minor	LC	resident	2003-2004	1,000 breeding pairs	A4ii
Brown Skua Catharacta antarctica	LC	resident	2003-2004	500 breeding pairs	A4ii
A4iii Species group - seabirds	n/a	-	-	10,000 breeding pairs	A4iii

Note: This table presents the IBA criteria triggered and the species that triggered then at the time of assessment, the current IUCN Red List category may vary from that which was in place at that time.

For more information about the IBA assessment process and criteria please click here

Threats to the site (pressure)
Threat Level 1	Threat Level 2	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Biological resource use	fishing & harvesting aquatic resources - unintentional effects: large scale	happening now	some of area/population (10-49%)	no or imperceptible deterioration	low
Biological resource use	fishing & harvesting aquatic resources - unintentional effects: large scale	happening now	some of area/population (10-49%)	slow but significant deterioration	medium
Human intrusions and disturbance	recreational activities	happening now	whole area/population (>90%)	no or imperceptible deterioration	low

Condition of habitat (state)
Habitat	Habitat Detail	Reference Area (ha)	Actual Area (ha)	% of habitat remaining	% of carrying capacity (overall)	Result
Grassland	Tundra	0	0	good (> 90%)	good (> 90%)	near favourable

Conservation actions taken at site (response)
Conservation Designation	Management Planning	Conservation Action	Result
Whole area of site (>90%) covered by appropriate conservation designation	A comprehensive and appropriate management plan exists that aims to maintain or improve the populations of qualifying bird species	Unknown	medium

For more information about IBA monitoring please click here

Protection status:

Protected Area	Designation	Area (ha)	Relationship with IBA	Overlap with IBA (ha)
Heard Island and McDonald Islands	Commonwealth Marine Reserve	7,095,253	protected area contains site	0
Heard Island and McDonald Islands	Commonwealth Marine Reserve	6,465,845	protected area contains site	37,045
Heard Island and McDonald Islands	Protected Area	38,760	protected area overlaps with site	37,045
Heard and McDonald Islands	World Heritage Site (natural or mixed)	673,400	protected area contains site	37,045

IUCN Habitat	Habitat detail	Extent (% of site)
Introduced vegetation		-
Coastline	Rocky shores	-
Grassland	Subantarctic, Tundra	-
Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks)		-
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent freshwater lakes	-

For further information about the habitat classification please click here.

Land-use	Extent (% of site)
nature conservation and research	-

For further information about the land use classification please click here.

Australian Federal Government with management the responsibility of the Australian Antarctic Division.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2021) Important Bird Areas factsheet: Heard and McDonald Islands. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 22/01/2021.