Current view: Text account
Site description (2015 baseline):
Site location and context
Gardner Island lies ~3 km west of Broad Peninsula, southern Vestfold Hills, on the Ingrid Christensen Coast, in Prydz Bay, Princess Elizabeth Land. The island is largely ice free, ~ 1.2 km by 0.5 km, and rises to ~47 m.
The IBA qualifies on the basis of the Adélie Penguin (
Pygoscelis adeliae) colony present and comprises all of Gardner Island.
The nearest permanent station is Davis (AUS), ~3 km to the east on Broad Peninsula, Vestfold Hills.
Approximately 27 105 breeding pairs of Adélie Penguin were present at Gardner Island as estimated from February 2012 satellite imagery (unpublished data H. Lynch & M. LaRue pers. comm. 2014: CI not available). In 1981/82 the colony size was estimated at 22 180 breeding pairs (Whitehead & Johnstone 1990). Nests are widely distributed over the island. Lynch & LaRue (2014) grouped records of Adélie Penguins present on Gardner Island IBA with the unnamed island in Donskiye Islands IBA, Warriner Island IBA and Lugg, Magnetic and Turner Islands IBA, and referred to these as ‘Vestfold South'.
Snow Petrel (
Pagodroma nivea ) breeding is confirmed on Gardner Island (Australian Antarctic Data Centre 2012).
Non-bird biodiversity: None known.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Gardner Island lies close to Davis Station and local operational activities could pose potential concerns for conservation of wildlife. In particular, oil spills and aircraft operations represent potential risks to local breeding birdlife. Davis Station has comprehensive procedures in place to manage and minimise these risks (see e.g. Australian Antarctic Data Centre 2012), and station management are cognisant of locally sensitive wildlife, so risks are considered low.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Gardner Island (Antarctica). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/gardner-island-iba-antarctica on 25/11/2024.
