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The site was identified as internationally important for bird conservation in 2012 because it was regularly supporting significant populations of the species listed below, meeting IBA criteria.

Populations meeting IBA criteria ('key species') at the site:

Species	Red List	Season (year/s of estimate)	Size	IBA criteria
Gygis alba	NR	breeding (1966)	3,000 individuals	A4i

Ideally the conservation status of the IBA will have been checked regularly since the site was first identified in 2012. The most recent assessment (2012) is shown below.

State (condition of the key species' populations)
Species	Actual vs Reference (units)	% remaining	Result
Gygis alba	3,000 / 3,000 (individuals)	100	not assessed

Pressure (threats to the key species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Climate change and severe weather	likely in long term (beyond 4 years)	whole popul­ation/area (>90%)	slow deteri­oration (1–10% over 3 gener­ations)	medium
Invasive and other problematic species and genes	happen­ing now	whole popul­ation/area (>90%)	no deteri­oration (<1% over 3 gener­ations)	low
Biological resource use	happen­ing now	some of popul­ation/area (10–49%)	no deteri­oration (<1% over 3 gener­ations)	low

Response (conservation actions taken for the key species and/or their habitats)
Designation	Planning	Action	Result
Little/none of site covered (<10%)	No manage­ment planning has taken place	Very little or no conservation action taking place	very low

Year	Protected Area	Designation (management category)	% coverage of IBA
1986	National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa	National Marine Sanctuary (V)	9

Habitat	% of IBA	Habitat detail
Artificial/Terrestrial	major (>10)	Coconut plantations
Forest	major (>10)	Beach and atoll forest
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	major (>10)
Marine Neritic	major (>10)
Marine Intertidal	minor (<10)

Land use	% of IBA
not utilised	major (>10)

The customary owners of Swain's Island were the Tokelauans of Fakaofo. The island came into private ownership in 1856, when the coconut plantations were established, and remains a private estate owned by the Jennings family. The island is a sovereign (flag) possession of the U.S.A. (Volk 1993).

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2025) Important Bird Area factsheet: Swain's Atoll (American Samoa). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/swains-atoll-iba-american-samoa on 04/01/2025.