The Oa (United Kingdom) IBA | Details | BirdLife International

UK221

The Oa

Current view: Data table and detailed info

IBA Justification

The site was identified as internationally important for bird conservation in 2007 because it was regularly supporting significant populations of the species listed below, meeting ('triggering') IBA criteria.

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

Species	Red List	Season (year/s of estimate)	Size	IBA criteria
Greater White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons	LC	winter (1988–1989)	1,490 birds	B1i, C2, C3, C6
Red-billed Chough Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax	LC	resident (2006)	7 pairs	C6

IBA Conservation

Ideally the conservation status of the IBA will have been checked regularly since the site was first identified in 2007. The most recent assessment (2007) is shown below.

IBA conservation assessment
Year of assessment	State	Pressure	Response
2007	good	medium	low
Whole site assessed?	State assessed by	Accuracy of information
yes	population	good

State (condition of the trigger species' populations)
Species	Actual vs Reference (units)	% remaining	Result
Red-billed Chough Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax	7 / 7 (pairs)	100	good

Pressure (threats to the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Agricultural expansion and intensification	happening now	some of population/area (10–49%)	slow decline (1–10% over 3 generations)	medium

Response (conservation actions taken for the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Designation	Planning	Action	Result
Some of area covered (10–49%)	A management plan exists, but it is out of date or not comprehensive	Substantive conservation measures are being implemented, but these are not comprehensive and are limited by resources and capacity	low

IBA Protection

Year	Protected Area	Designation (management category)	% coverage of IBA
-	The Oa	RSPB Reserve (-)	49
1999	The Oa	Nature Reserve (IV)	48
2006	The Oa	Site of Special Scientific Interest (UK) (IV)	42

Habitats

Habitat	% of IBA	Habitat detail
Artificial/Terrestrial	-	Arable land
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	-
Shrubland	-	Heathland
Wetlands (inland)	-	Blanket bogs

Land use

Land use	% of IBA
agriculture	95
forestry	5

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: The Oa (United Kingdom). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/the-oa-iba-united-kingdom on 23/12/2024.