• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Map
• Reference and further resources

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
Red-tailed Tropicbird Phaethon rubricauda	LC	breeding (2002)	200 nests	A4ii
Black-footed Albatross Phoebastria nigripes	NT	breeding (2005)	16 nests	A1
Laysan Albatross Phoebastria immutabilis	NT	breeding (2003)	28 nests	A1
Wedge-tailed Shearwater Ardenna pacifica	LC	breeding (2002)	23,000 nests	A4ii
Newell's Shearwater Puffinus newelli	CR	breeding (2002–2004)	present	A1
Brown Booby Sula leucogaster	LC	breeding (2003)	521 nests	A4ii
A4iii Species group - seabirds	n/a	breeding (2002–2005)	25,500 nests	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 (2009) is shown below.

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 of popul­ation/area (>90%)	slow decline (1–10% over 3 gener­ations)	high
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	Unknown	Substantive conservation measures are being implemented, but these are not compre­hensive and are limited by resources and capacity	low

Year	Protected Area	Designation (management category)	% coverage of IBA
-	Offshore Island, Lehua Rock	Seabird Sanctuary (V)	100

Habitat	% of IBA	Habitat detail
Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks)	50	Rocky flats & barrens
Grassland	30
Shrubland	20	Arid lowland scrub

Land use	% of IBA
nature conservation and research	100

Lehua Islet is completely owned by the U.S. Coast Guard, but it is managed by the State of Hawaii as a seabird sanctuary.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Lehua Islet (USA). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/lehua-islet-iba-usa on 23/12/2024.