Current view: Text account
Site description (2000 baseline):
Site location and context
A shallow sea area with a sandy bay, estuaries and a mosaic of hard-bottom banks. The area given here is of the Danish part only; 180,000 ha (17% of the total transboundary area) are within Swedish territory.
This is an exceptionally important area for wintering seaduck and pelagic species (divers and auks), with hundreds of thousands of birds wintering at the site. Seaduck are mainly within Danish waters and the pelagic species mainly in the Swedish part. This is the most important wintering area in north-west Europe for
Somateria mollissima (>13% of the north-west European population),
Melanitta nigra (>38% of the north-west European population) and
Alca torda (>10% of the north-west European population).
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
The IBA encompasses the seawater areas of six Special Protection Areas and five Ramsar Sites. Furthermore, four offshore Baltic Sea Protected Areas have been proposed, overlapping with, or identical to, existing protected areas.
National Partial
International High12,635 ha of IBA covered by Ramsar Site (Anholt Island (waters north of), 12,720 ha). 480 ha of IBA covered by Ramsar Site (Hirsholmene, 480 ha). 62,880 ha of IBA covered by Ramsar Site (Læsø, 67,840 ha). 2,923 ha of IBA covered by Ramsar Site (Nordre Ronner, 2,923 ha). 35,200 ha of IBA covered by Ramsar Site (Randers and Mariager Fjords and adjacent coastal waters, 41,440 ha). 3,740 ha of IBA covered by Special Protection Area (Hirsholmene, 3,740 ha). 2,920 ha of IBA covered by Special Protection Area (Nordre Rønner, 2,920 ha). 35,200 ha of IBA covered by Special Protection Area (Randers and Mariager Fjord and ålborg Bugt, 39,040 ha). 11,520 ha of IBA covered by Special Protection Area (Sea area north of Anholt, 11,520 ha). 62,880 ha of IBA covered by Special Protection Area (South Læsø and adjacent sea, 66,380 ha). 21,500 ha of IBA covered by Special Protection Area (ålborg Bugt, 31,460 ha).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Northern Kattegat (Denmark). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/northern-kattegat-iba-denmark on 22/11/2024.
