UK044
Morecambe Bay


Country/territory: United Kingdom

IBA criteria met: A4i, A4iii, B1i, B2, B3, C2, C3, C4, C6 (2007)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here

Area: 36,859 ha

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
IBA conservation status
Year of assessment (most recent) State (condition) Pressure (threat) Response (action)
2007 very unfavourable low low
For more information about IBA monitoring, please click here


Site description (2007 baseline)
The IBA covers Morecambe Bay and the Lune estuary, with the Leven, Kent, Keer, Lune and Wyre river channels draining through intertidal flats of sand and silt. The whole system is dynamic, with shifting channels formed by the cycle of erosion and accretion. The site also includes important saltmarshes. This area is of outstanding importance for wintering and passage wildfowl and waders, and for breeding wildfowl, gulls and terns.


Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Morecambe Bay. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/morecambe-bay-iba-united-kingdom on 19/03/2024.