Current view: Text account
Site description (2015 baseline):
Site location and context
Ginger Islands are located in Marguerite Bay, approximately 0.5 km southeast of Adelaide Island, on the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula. The IBA qualifies on the basis of the Imperial Shag (
Phalacrocorax [
atriceps]
bransfieldensis) colony present and comprises the island group and the intervening marine area.
Detailed information on the environment of the Ginger Islands is not available, and meteorological records do not exist for the site. However, at Teniente Luis Carvajal Station (CHL), located ~10 km to the southwest, the mean daily maximum temperature was 3°C in February for the period 1962-74, whilst the mean daily minimum temperature was –8°C in August for the same period. Most snowfall occurs between August and October, with light precipitation occurring through the austral summer.
Approximately 275 breeding pairs of Imperial Shag along with 2790 pairs of Adélie Penguin (
Pygoscelis adeliae) were estimated to breed on Ginger Islands in 1983 (unpublished data S. Poncet pers. comm. 2005; Poncet & Poncet 1987). More recently, Casanovas
et al. (in press) reported 504 pairs of Imperial Shag and 3334 pairs of Adélie Penguin in 2012. Information on other bird species breeding at the site is not available.
Non-bird biodiversity: None known.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
There is no known record of recent visits to the Ginger Islands. The nearest stations to Ginger Islands are Teniente Luis Carvajal Station (CHL) and Rothera Station (GBR), although access to the islands is difficult and few visits are made.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Ginger Islands (Antarctica). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/ginger-islands-iba-antarctica on 23/12/2024.
