CU008
Cayería Centro - Oriental de Villa Clara


Country/territory: Cuba

IBA criteria met: A1, A4i, B4i (2008)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here

Area: 284,091 hectares (2,840.91 km2)

Centro Nacional de Areas Protegidas

Site description (2008 baseline)
Cayería Centro-Oriental de Villa Clara IBA is located in the Sabana-Camagüey Archipelago, and represents a group of cays off the north coast of Villa Clara province. The IBA embraces several cays including Cobos, Francés, Las Brujas, Ensenachos, Fragoso, and Santa María. These are flat cays, with diverse natural features including coastal evergreen forest, coastal scrub, mangroves, coral reefs, and sandy beaches. The towns of Caibarién, Camajuaní, and Encrucijada are close to but outside of the IBA.

Key biodiversity
This IBA supports globally significant breeding colonies of Laughing Gull Larus atricilla, Royal Tern Sterna maxima, Sandwich Tern S. sandvicensis, Common Tern S. hirundo and Least Tern S. antillarum. The area is a wintering site for the Near Threatened Piping Plover Charadrius melodus and there are also unconfirmed reports of Brown Noddy Anous stolidus breeding. A wide diversity of waterbirds use this area including the Vulnerable West Indian Whistling-duck Dendrocygna arborea.

Non-bird biodiversity: The Critically Endangered eared hutia Mesocapromys auritus is endemic to Cayo Fragoso. The lizard Anolis pigmaequestris is endemic to Cayo Francés. The most diverse coral reef of the Sabana-Camagüey Archipelago is within the IBA. Of the 248 plant species present, 29 are endemic.


Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Cayería Centro - Oriental de Villa Clara (Cuba). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/cayería-centro--oriental-de-villa-clara-iba-cuba on 23/12/2024.