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The site was identified as internationally important for bird conservation in 2012 because it was regularly supporting significant populations of the species listed below, meeting IBA criteria.

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

Species	Red List	Season (year/s of estimate)	Size	IBA criteria
Piping Plover Charadrius melodus	NT	winter (2012)	min 326 individuals	A1, A4i
Short-billed Dowitcher Limnodromus griseus	VU	winter (2012)	min 2,339 individuals	A4i

Ideally the conservation status of the IBA will have been checked regularly since the site was first identified in 2012. The most recent assessment (2013) is shown below.

Pressure (threats to the key species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Climate change and severe weather	likely in long term (beyond 4 years)	whole popul­ation/area (>90%)	rapid deteri­oration (>30% over 3 gener­ations)	high
Residential and commercial development	likely in long term (beyond 4 years)	few individ­uals/small area (<10%)	moderate deteri­oration (10–30% in 3 gener­ations)	low

Response (conservation actions taken for the key species and/or their habitats)
Designation	Planning	Action	Result
Little/none of site covered (<10%)	No manage­ment plan exists, but the manage­ment planning process has begun	Some limited conservation initiatives are in place	low

Habitat	% of IBA	Habitat detail
Forest	major (>10)	Mangrove
Marine Intertidal	major (>10)
Marine Neritic	major (>10)

Land use	% of IBA
tourism/recreation	major (>10)
nature conservation and research	minor (<10)

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2025) Important Bird Area factsheet: Joulter Cays (Bahamas). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/joulter-cays-iba-bahamas on 24/01/2025.