Current view: Text account
Site description (2015 baseline):
Site location and context
The Rauer Islands are situated between Ranvik Bay and Sørsdal Glacier Tongue, Ingrid Christensen Coast, Princess Elizabeth Land. Filla Island, the largest of the Rauer group, is up to 5.5 km long by 2.8 km wide and is ice free in summer.
The IBA qualifies on the basis of the Adélie Penguin (
Pygoscelis adeliae) colony present and comprises the western extremity of Filla Island.
The nearest permanent station is Davis (AUS), ~26 km to the north on Broad Peninsula, Vestfold Hills.
Whitehead & Johnstone (1990) estimated 15 097 breeding pairs of Adélie Penguin on Filla Island in 1981/82. This compares with 27 900 breeding pairs of Adélie Penguin present in 2010/11 as estimated from February 2011 satellite imagery (unpublished data H. Lynch & M. LaRue pers. comm. 2014: CI not available).
Substantial numbers of fulmarine petrels also breed on Filla Island, with approximately 4007 breeding pairs of Southern Fulmars (
Fulmarus glacialoides) counted in 1985 (Creuwels
et al. 2007), 1100 pairs of Antarctic Petrel (
Thalassoica antarctica) counted in 1981 (van Franeker
et al. 1999), and 100 pairs of Cape Petrel (
Daption capense) counted in 1995 (Hodum unpublished; cited in Hodum
et al. 2004).
Non-bird biodiversity: None known.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
None known.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Filla Island, Rauer Islands (Antarctica). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/filla-island-rauer-islands-iba-antarctica on 27/12/2024.
