Current view: Text account
Site description (2015 baseline):
Site location and context
Dunlop Island, McMurdo Sound, lies ~400 m off the coast of Cape Dunlop and the Wilson Piedmont Glacier, southern Victoria Land. The island is mainly ice free, is roughly triangular in shape, and rises to an elevation of ~10 m. The island is ~1.8 km long by up to 1.2 km wide.
The IBA qualifies on the basis of the South Polar Skua (
Catharacta maccormicki) colony present at the site and comprises all of Dunlop Island.
The nearest permanent scientific stations are Scott Base (NZL) and McMurdo (USA) situated ~100 km to the southeast on Hut Point Peninsula, Ross Island.
South Polar Skuas breed on Dunlop Island, with ~88 breeding pairs estimated in 1982 (Ainley
et al. 1986). No recent information on the colony is available, and no other birds are known to breed in the area.
Non-bird biodiversity: None known.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
None known.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Dunlop Island (Antarctica). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/dunlop-island-iba-antarctica on 23/11/2024.
