Current view: Text account
Site description (2006 baseline):
Site location and context
Conception Island is approximately 3 miles by 1.5 miles,located 25 miles west-southwest of San Salvador. It is unhabited and its pristine reefs and beaches make it an attractive destination for yachts. Conception Island is a national park under the protection of the Bahamas National Trust.
Booby Cay and South Rocks and the surrounding shallow water are not included in the protected area.
During spring and summer White-tailed Tropicbird, Audubon's Shearwaters, Bridled Terns, Sooty Terns and Brown Noddies nest on the island and its offshore rocks. Conception Island is believed to have the largest concentration of nesting Tropicbirds in the Bahamas, and Booby Cay which lies off the northeast corner has one of the largest nesting colonies of Sooty Terns and Brown Noddies.
Landbirds such as Bahama Mockingbirds, Bahama Woodstar, BananaQuits, Black-faced Grassquits, White-crowned Pigeons, Common Ground Doves, Yellow Warblers and Ospreys can be found year round. In summer Gray Kingbirds and Antillean Nighthawks are common.
Ducks, herons and shorebirds are common in the interior lagoon.
Non-bird biodiversity: Green Turtles and Hawksbill Turtles
This site is uninhabited and encompasses various habitats; beach, rocky shoreline, mangrove, saltwater wetland, low scrub and coppice.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Hunting, illegal egging by boaters and fishermen stopping over on the island can cause disturbance of birds. The mouth of the large inland creek is sometimes illegally blocked by fishermen in order to catch fish and turtles trapped in the creek.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Conception Island National Park (Bahamas). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/conception-island-national-park-iba-bahamas on 23/12/2024.
