Data Zone
Country/territory: Antarctica
IBA criteria met: A4ii (2015)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here
Area: 352 hectares (3.52 km2)
Site description (2015 baseline)
Stancomb-Wills Glacier flows into the eastern Weddell Sea between Riiser-Larsen Ice Shelf and Brunt Ice Shelf, on the Caird Coast, Dronning Maud Land. An Emperor Penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) colony breeds on fast ice on the northeastern coast of the Stancomb-Wills Glacier Tongue, ~ 60 km west of Lyddan Island.
The IBA qualifies on the basis of the Emperor Penguin colony present and is entirely marine.
There are no research stations nearby. The closest permanent station is Halley (GBR), ~190 km to the southwest on the Brunt Ice Shelf.
Key biodiversity
The colony near the Stancomb-Wills Glacier was discovered in 1986 by Hempel & Stonehouse (1987), who estimated ~6000 Emperor penguins were present. Analysis of a satellite image acquired 21 Oct 2009 (Fretwell et al. 2012) indicated that approximately 5455 Emperor Penguins were present at the colony. No other birds are known to breed in the area.
Non-bird biodiversity: None known.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Stancomb-Wills Glacier (Antarctica). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/stancomb-wills-glacier-iba-antarctica on 26/12/2024.