Current view: Text account
Site description (2000 baseline):
Site location and context
A large area of rivers, streams, lakes, pools and extensive riparian marshes/mires of sedge (
Carex,
Eriophorum), c.18 km south of the Geysir hot-spring area. Tunguey is an island. Pond-weed
Potamogeton is common in pools, and
Salix bushes are common on land in the drier areas.
Hrosshagavík is important for staging waterbirds in spring and autumn. A wide variety of waterbirds breed in the area.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Predation by introduced American mink
Mustela vison poses a problem, and hunting causes disturbance to birds. The Tungufljót river, which flows into Hrosshagavík, has changed from a glacial to a freshwater river, after its glacial tributary, the Farid, was dammed in the highlands. Sediment deposition in Hrosshagavík and Pollengi has thus probably been sharply reduced, with unknown ecological consequences. Most of the IBA is protected, but important parts of the area, such as the northern parts of Pollengi and Hrosshagavík, are not protected.
National Partial
International None684 ha of IBA covered by Nature Reserve (Pollengi og Tunguey, 684 ha).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Pollengi-Hrosshagavik (Iceland). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/pollengi-hrosshagavik-iba-iceland on 23/11/2024.
