Current view: Text account
Site description (2007 baseline):
Site location and context
The proposed Sarigan Island IBA consistently harbours a relatively large population of Micronesian Megapodes, with up to 50% of the CNMI’s total megapode population. Sarigan is uninhabited and feral ungulates were removed from the island in 2000. The island serves as a mitigation site for military use of the Farallon de Medinilla. Vegetation on the island has returned rapidly since ungulate eradication.
The entire island of Sarigan is proposed as an IBA under A1 and A2 criteria. Sarigan has a large population of Micronesian Megapodes and may consistently harbour 50% of the total CNMI megapode population (Marshall, pers. comm.). The island is also home to White-throated Ground-Doves and has a small population of Grey Backed Terns, which are rare in the CNMI, as well as Micronesian Starlings, Collared Kingfishers, and Micronesian Honeyeaters. A small population of Common Buzzards was present on Sarigan (Reichel et al., 1994) during surveys in the 1980s and 1990s.
Sarigan is uninhabited.
Conservation responses/actions for key biodiversity
Ungulates were removed from the island in 1998 as mitigation for military use of Farallon de Medinilla.
The island is formally and fully protected as a Wildlife Conservation Area by the CNMI Division of Fish and Wildlife (DFW, 2007).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Sarigan Island (Northern Mariana Islands (to USA)). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/sarigan-island-iba-northern-mariana-islands-(to-usa) on 24/12/2024.
