Current view: Text account
Site description (2010 baseline):
Site location and context
McKean Island is a low and flat, circular-shaped, coral island surrounded by a fringing reef.
A seabird colony with good numbers of a range of species.During the 1960s McLean Island was one of the flagship islands of the Phoenix group, supporting diverse and important populations of seabirds
The island is a reef-fringed, essentially sea-level or very slightly elevated emergent coral reef, with accumulations of coral or algal debris and some phosphate from seabird droppings.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Recent accidental introduction of Asian Rats is correlated with a decline in seabird numbers, and evidence of reduced seabird productivity, on the island.
Conservation responses/actions for key biodiversity
Asian Rat Rattus tanezumi was accidentally introduced to the island probably following a ship wreck in 2002. A rodent eradication programme was undertaken in 2008 - with results to be confirmed in 2010.
The island was declared a bird sanctuary in 1938. In addition it is included as part of the Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA), formally designated in 2008.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: McKean Island (Kiribati). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/mckean-island-iba-kiribati on 23/12/2024.
