Country/territory: Antarctica
IBA criteria met: A4i (2015)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here
Area: 102 hectares (1.02 km2)
Site description (2015 baseline)
Atriceps Island lies at the southern extremity of the Robertson Islands group, South Orkney Islands. The Robertson Islands group is separated from the southernmost point of Coronation Island by Whale Bay and The Divide, and comprises (from north to south): Matthews Island, Coffer Island, Steepholm, Skilling Island and Atriceps Island. The IBA qualifies on the basis of the Imperial Shag (Phalacrocorax [atriceps] bransfieldensis) colony present and includes all of Atriceps Island. This small ice free island has a maximum elevation of less than 250 m.
See IBA Signy Island for information on meteorological records and facilities at Signy Station (GBR), which is located 25 km to the northwest.
Key biodiversity
Approximately 524 pairs of Imperial Shag were recorded breeding on Atriceps Island in 1988 (unpublished data S. Poncet pers. comm. 2005).
Non-bird biodiversity: None known.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Atriceps Island, Robertson Islands (Antarctica). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/atriceps-island-robertson-islands-iba-antarctica on 23/12/2024.