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The site was identified as important in 2012 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
Red-tailed Tropicbird Phaethon rubricauda	LC	breeding	2007	820-1,100 breeding pairs	A4ii
Polynesian Storm-petrel Nesofregetta fuliginosa	EN	breeding	2007	200-500 breeding pairs	A1, A4ii
Phoenix Petrel Pterodroma alba	VU	breeding	2007	2,300-3,800 breeding pairs	A1, A4ii
Christmas Shearwater Puffinus nativitatis	LC	breeding	2007	4,000-7,000 breeding pairs	A4ii
Tropical Shearwater Puffinus bailloni	LC	breeding	2007	3,100-4,100 breeding pairs	A4ii
Brown Noddy Anous stolidus	LC	breeding	2007	15,000-31,000 breeding pairs	A4i
Black Noddy Anous minutus	LC	breeding	2007	100,000 breeding pairs	A4i
Kiritimati Reed-warbler Acrocephalus aequinoctialis	EN	resident	2007	300-500 individuals	A1, A2
A4iii Species group - seabirds	n/a	breeding	2007	63,786 individuals	A4iii
A4iii Species group - waterbirds	n/a	breeding	2007	1,874,620 individuals	A4iii

1. The current IUCN Red List category. The category at the time of the IBA criteria assessment (2012) may differ.

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

State (condition of the trigger species' populations)
Species	Reference	Actual	Units	% remaining	Result
Red-tailed Tropicbird Phaethon rubricauda	8,000	2,880	individuals	36	very unfavourable
Polynesian Storm-petrel Nesofregetta fuliginosa	1,000	350	breeding pairs	35	very unfavourable
Phoenix Petrel Pterodroma alba	22,500	9,150	individuals	41	unfavourable
Christmas Shearwater Puffinus nativitatis	10,500	16,500	breeding pairs	100	favourable
Puffinus lherminieri	1,000	3,600	breeding pairs	100	favourable
Brown Noddy Anous stolidus	23,000	23,000	breeding pairs	100	not assessed
Black Noddy Anous minutus	100,000	100,000	breeding pairs	100	not assessed
Kiritimati Reed-warbler Acrocephalus aequinoctialis	400	400	individuals	100	not assessed
A4iii Species group - seabirds	63,786	63,786	individuals	100	not assessed
A4iii Species group - waterbirds	1,874,620	187,420	individuals	10	not assessed

Pressure (threats to the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Invasive and other problematic species and genes	happening now	whole area/population (>90%)	slow but significant deterioration	high
Biological resource use	happening now	majority/most of area/population (50-90%)	slow but significant deterioration	high
Climate change and severe weather	likely in long term (beyond 4 years)	whole area/population (>90%)	slow but significant deterioration	medium
Pollution	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
Some of site covered (10-49%)	A management plan exists but it is out of date or not comprehensive	Some limited conservation initiatives are in place	low

Year	Protected Area	Designation	% overlap with IBA
1999	Kiritimati Atoll (Christmas Island)	Multi/Multiple Use Conservation Area	97

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Kiritimati (Christmas Island) (Kiribati). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/kiritimati-(christmas-island)-iba-kiribati on 22/11/2024.