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

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
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

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 (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 area/population (>90%)	slow but significant deterioration	high
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	Unknown	Substantive conservation measures are being implemented but these are not comprehensive and are limited by resources and capacity	low

Year	Protected Area	Designation	% overlap with IBA
-	Offshore Island, Lehua Rock	Seabird Sanctuary	100

Habitat1	Habitat detail	% of IBA
Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks)	Rocky flats & barrens	50
Grassland		30
Shrubland	Arid lowland scrub	20

1. IUCN Habitat classification.

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 23/11/2024.