Data Zone
Country/territory: Panama
IBA criteria met: A4i (2003)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here
Area: 779 hectares (7.79 km2)
Site description (2003 baseline)
Taboga Island (564 ha) is 10 km offshore, slightly west of the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal, and Uravá (Urabá) Island (63 ha) is 250 m to its east. The picturesque fishing and tourist town of Taboga is on the northern side of the island, while Uravá is uninhabited. Taboguilla is a steep-sided island located 2.3 km northeast of Taboga and Uravá Islands. There is an industrial plant on its northern side. Chamá (Chame) is an elongated steep islet 4.5 km south of Taboga Island.
Key biodiversity
The site is a globally important breeding site for Brown Pelican. Between 880 and 1,455 pairs have been recorded nesting on the islands of the group (Angehr and Kushlan MS, Maridueña 1979, Daguerre 2000). Brown Booby, Neotropic Cormorant, Great Egret, and Black-crowned Night-Heron also breed (Wetmore 1965, Ridgely and Gwynne 1989, Angehr and Kushlan MS). An endemic subspecies of Streaked Saltator is confined to Taboga (Wetmore et al. 1984).
Non-bird biodiversity: The lizard Sphaerodactylus lineolatus has been recorded.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Taboga Group (Panama). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/taboga-group-iba-panama on 15/12/2024.