Data Zone
Country/territory: Antarctica
IBA criteria met: A4iii (2015)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here
Area: 745 hectares (7.45 km2)
Site description (2015 baseline)
Tupinier Islands lie ~4 km northwest of Cape Ducorps on Cockerell Peninsula, Trinity Peninsula, on the Antarctic Peninsula. This ice-free archipelago was first charted in 1837-40 by the French Antarctic Expedition led by Dumont D'Urville. The IBA qualifies on the basis of the large concentration of seabirds present (in particular Chinstrap Penguin (Pygoscelis antarctica)) and comprises all of the Tupinier Islands and the intervening marine area.
The nearest permanent scientific station is Bernardo O'Higgins (CHL), which has capacity for ~44 people and operates year-round ~20 km to the northeast at Cape Legoupil (COMNAP, Antarctic Facilities, accessed 20/08/2010).
Key biodiversity
A large Chinstrap Penguin colony, estimated at 14 930 pairs in 1990 (S. & J. Poncet pers. comm. cited in Woehler 1993), is distributed across the island group in five main groups ranging from 800 to 5200 pairs. A small number of Imperial Shags ( Phalacrocorax [ atriceps ] bransfieldensis ) breed on three small islets within the island group, with 68 breeding pairs recorded in 1990 (unpublished data S. Poncet pers. comm. 2005).
Non-bird biodiversity: None known.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Tupinier Islands (Antarctica). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/tupinier-islands-iba-antarctica on 18/12/2024.