QA003
Shara'awh island


Country/territory: Qatar

IBA criteria met: A1, B2, B3 (1994)
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Area: 22 ha

IBA conservation status
Year of assessment (most recent) State (condition) Pressure (threat) Response (action)
2013 not assessed medium not assessed
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Site description (1994 baseline)
An island 65 km due east of the mainland of Qatar, just less than 1-km long and c.500 m wide. A hill with crags, slopes and undulating sand with a good cover of salt-tolerant bushes.

Key biodiversity
See box for key species. Details of only two visits are known; breeding species in October 1973 included Phalacrocorax nigrogularis (old nests and mummified chicks found), Pandion haliaetus, Sterna bengalensis (traces of nesting) and Sterna repressa (traces of nesting). Phaethon aethereus may nest.

Non-bird biodiversity: Reptiles: Eretmochelys imbricata (E) nests, but numbers are reported to be very low.

Acknowledgements
Information compiled by M. I. Evans.


Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Shara'awh island (Qatar). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/sharaawh-island-iba-qatar on 23/11/2024.