Current view: Text account
Site description (2007 baseline):
Site location and context
This cay lies 5 miles north of Anguilla. It is a low, rocky island with sandy shores on the north and east coasts and heavily fissured limestone cliffs on the remaining coastline. A small pond lies behind the northern beach and the centre of the island contains areas of scrub. The island also has an inshore coral reef system that is popular with visitors from the mainland and from neighbouring St. Martin. Two restaurants are open at peak visitor times, making Prickly Pear East Anguilla’s most accessible and most visited small island. It is uninhabited and is accessed primarily by water. Prickly Pear West – The larger of the two islands, Prickly Pear West is separated from its sister island by a narrow channel. Apart from one small beach, the island is a low limestone outcrop with low cliffs; it is the more rockier and rugged of the two islands.
Prickly Pear East – This cay is important for its large breeding colony of Brown Boobies
Sula leucogaster and Laughing Gulls
Larus atricilla. Population numbers for these species in 2007 have been estimated to be as high as 700 and 39 breeding pairs, respectively. One of Anguilla’s restricted-range species (Caribbean Elaenia
Elaenia martinica) is present within the cay’s scrubland. Yellow Warblers
Dendroica petechia, Brown Noddies
Anous stolidus, and Bridled Terns
Sterna anaethetus are also found on Prickly Pear East. Prickly Pear West – This cay is important for its breeding population of Brown Boobies which numbered as high as 40 pairs in 2007. 875 pairs of Laughing Gulls have also been counted here during that period. The bushes in the centre of the island also provide an occasional nesting area for a few pairs of Red-footed Boobies
Sula sula. This is the only breeding site for this species in Anguilla.
Non-bird biodiversity: Nothing recorded.
Low-lying dense scrub woodland; cliff; beach
Cays unprotected; waters protected as a marine park
Prickly Pear East is a privately-owned island while Prickly Pear West is crown-owned. Both islands are situated within a marine park (Prickly Pear Marine Park). Marine park regulations only govern activities occurring in the water and on the beach. No protection is afforded to other areas of the islands or the seabirds that found there. At least one large scale development proposal for tourism purposes on Prickly Pear East had been submitted to the Government of Anguilla during the 1990s. The proposal was not approved and today tourism activities centre on Prickly Pear East’s white sand beach, coral reefs, and two restaurants. Anecdotal evidence suggests increased use in the area by day and overnight visitors to Anguilla. Publications about the island request that visitors not venture into the seabird breeding colonies. The Anguilla National Trust, with in-water assistance provided by the Department of Fisheries and Marine Resources, is currently working towards developing a management strategy (with stakeholder involvement) for the marine park and the islands. A count of the birds on both islands was completed in June 2007 by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Prickly Pear (East and West) (Anguilla (to UK)). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/prickly-pear-(east-and-west)-iba-anguilla-(to-uk) on 23/12/2024.
