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The site was identified as internationally important for bird conservation 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 List	Season (year/s of estimate)	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 pairs	A4i
Lesser Noddy Anous tenuirostris	LC	resident (1991–2006)	28,839–70,000 pairs	A4i
Pacific Gull Larus pacificus	LC	resident (1991–2006)	40–138 pairs	A4i
Sooty Tern Onychoprion fuscatus	LC	resident (1991–2006)	105,000–455,200 pairs	A4i
Bridled Tern Onychoprion anaethetus	LC	resident (1991–2006)	2,274–6,368 pairs	A4i
Fairy Tern Sternula nereis	VU	resident (1991–2006)	400–547 pairs	A1, A4i
Roseate Tern Sterna dougallii	LC	resident (1991–2006)	3,000–5,530 pairs	A4i
A4iii Species group - seabirds	n/a	resident (1991–2006)	660,555–1,160,356 pairs	A4iii
A4iii Species group - waterbirds	n/a	resident (1991–2006)	73,240–511,755 pairs	A4iii

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	few indivi­duals/small area (<10%)	no or slight decline (<1% over 3 gener­ations)	low

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90%) covered by appropriate conservation designation	A management plan exists, but it is out of date or not compre­hensive	Very little or no conservation action taking place	low

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

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 23/12/2024.