Current view: Text account
Site description (2015 baseline):
Site location and context
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).
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bransfieldensis ) breed on three small islets within the island group, with 68 breeding pairs recorded in 1990 (unpublished data S. Poncet pers.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.
Pressure/threats to key 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.
