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The site was identified as important in 2009 because it was regularly supporting significant populations of the species listed below, meeting ('triggering') IBA criteria.

Populations meeting IBA criteria ('trigger species') at the site:

Species	Red List1	Season	Year(s)	Size	IBA criteria
White-faced Storm-petrel Pelagodroma marina	LC	resident	1991-2006	4,227-17,995 nests	A4ii
Wedge-tailed Shearwater Ardenna pacifica	LC	resident	1991-2006	630,000-1,100,000 nests	A4ii
Little Shearwater Puffinus assimilis	LC	resident	1991-2006	30,555-60,356 nests	A4ii
Brown Noddy Anous stolidus	LC	resident	1991-2006	161,400-163,980 breeding pairs	A4i
Lesser Noddy Anous tenuirostris	LC	resident	1991-2006	28,839-70,000 breeding pairs	A4i
Pacific Gull Larus pacificus	LC	resident	1991-2006	40-138 breeding pairs	A4i
Sooty Tern Onychoprion fuscatus	LC	resident	1991-2006	105,000-455,200 breeding pairs	A4i
Bridled Tern Onychoprion anaethetus	LC	resident	1991-2006	2,274-6,368 breeding pairs	A4i
Fairy Tern Sternula nereis	VU	resident	1991-2006	400-547 breeding pairs	A1, A4i
Roseate Tern Sterna dougallii	LC	resident	1991-2006	3,000-5,530 breeding pairs	A4i
A4iii Species group - seabirds	n/a	resident	1991-2006	660,555-1,160,356 breeding pairs	A4iii
A4iii Species group - waterbirds	n/a	resident	1991-2006	73,240-511,755 breeding pairs	A4iii

1. The current IUCN Red List category. The category at the time of the IBA criteria assessment (2009) may differ.

Ideally the conservation status of the IBA will have been checked regularly since the site was first identified in 2009. The most recent assessment (2018) is shown below.

Pressure (threats to the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Human intrusions and disturbance	happening now	small area/few individuals (<10%)	no or imperceptible deterioration	low

Response (conservation actions taken for the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Protected areas	Management plan	Other action	Result
Whole area of site (>90%) covered by appropriate conservation designation	A management plan exists but it is out of date or not comprehensive	Very little or no conservation action taking place	low

Habitat1	Habitat detail	% of IBA
Marine Coastal/Supratidal		90
Shrubland	Other shrublands	10
Forest	Mangroves	minor (<10)
Marine Intertidal		minor (<10)

1. IUCN Habitat classification.

Land use	% of IBA
nature conservation and research	75
fisheries/aquaculture	20
tourism/recreation	5

Federal Government - Current reservation for flora and fauna conservation, tourism and fishing industry, managed by WA Department of Fisheries.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Houtman Abrolhos (Australia). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/houtman-abrolhos-iba-australia on 22/11/2024.