Current view: Text account
Site description (2007 baseline):
Site location and context
Aguiguan Island is an uninhabited island with patches of native forest. The island is difficult to access due to steep cliffs and visitors to the island should have permission. Naftan Rock is a small islet 1 km off the southwest coast of Aguiguan and is home to several thousand seabirds.
In 1982 Engbring et al. (1986) found that all of the CNMI’s native birds, with the exception of the Tinian Monarch, Mariana Crow, and Rota White-eye, used the small uninhabited island of Aguiguan. Craig (1999) wrote that Aguiguan was important to the Critically Endangered Golden White-Eye, which was threatened on Saipan due to the establishment of the Brown Treesnake. The entire complex of Aguiguan Island and Naftan Rock(Figure 8) is proposed as an IBA because of the presence of the Golden White-Eye and the Mariana Swiftlet (found only on Saipan and Aguiguan) and the small but consistent population of Micronesian Megapodes. Naftan Rock is a small islet 1 km off the southwest coast of Aguiguan and is home to several thousand seabirds (Table 11). Reichel (1991) reported over 600 pairs of breeding seabirds for Aguiguan, including 120 pairs of Brown Boobies and 450 pairs of Brown Noddies.
Non-bird biodiversity: Other rare, endemic, and threatened species occurring in the proposed IBA are:
• Sheath-tailed Bats
• Mariana Fruit Bat
• Langford’s Tree Snail
Aguiguan Island is an uninhabited island with patches of native forest.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
There is a large population of feral goats that disturb native flora and fauna. Rats and monitor lizards also pose a threat. Invasive weeds cover open fields on the island and may prevent the return of forest cover. Craig (1999) wrote that birds on Aguiguan are vulnerable to destruction of habitat caused by typhoons, given Aguiguan’s small size. However, typhoons are a regular occurrence in the CNMI, and birds have presumably adapted to the current typhoon regime. Changing typhoon frequency and intensity as predicted by some climate change models (Chowdhury et al., 2007) may change this balance.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Aguiguan Island and Naftan Rock (Northern Mariana Islands (to USA)). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/aguiguan-island-and-naftan-rock-iba-northern-mariana-islands-(to-usa) on 19/12/2024.
