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Site description (2007 baseline)
St Giles Islands comprise one main island and several outlying rocks about one kilometer off the northeast of Tobago. The main island is roughly 29 ha of steeply sloping land rising to just over 100m. There is no habitation on the island and the topography makes such development unlikely. Seas around the island are generally rough and landing is hazardous.

Key biodiversity
St. Giles Islands are one of the most important seabird breeding colonies in the southern West Indies. They host the only breeding colonies of Magnificent Frigatebirds and Red-footed Boobies in Trinidad and Tobago. Audubon’s Shearwaters, Brown Boobies, Brown Noddies and Red-billed Tropicbirds also breed in considerable numbers. Up to 80 masked boobies have recently started roosting on one of the outlying rocks. Recent counts of seabird breeding populations are well below what was previously recorded. The alarmingly low numbers recently recorded may in part be due to insufficient sampling effort as the terrain and rough seas make counting very difficult. Seabirds continue to nest at a number of minor sites around Tobago and it is likely that with a cessation of poaching, St. Giles should remain a major breeding colony.

Non-bird biodiversity: The terrestrial fauna of St. Giles has not been studies but it may be similar to that of Little Tobago which houses the endemic Ocellated Gecko Gonatodes ocellatus and endemic subspecies of one lizard Bachia heteropa alleni and one snake Mastigodryas boddaerti dunni.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: St Giles Islands (Trinidad and Tobago). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/st-giles-islands-iba-trinidad-and-tobago on 23/12/2024.