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The site was identified as internationally important for bird conservation in 2014 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
Fiordland Penguin Eudyptes pachyrhynchus	NT	breeding (1934–1995)	125–259 pairs	A1, A4ii
Yellow-eyed Penguin Megadyptes antipodes	EN	breeding (1940–2014)	44–100 nests	A1, A4ii
Cook's Petrel Pterodroma cookii	VU	breeding (1934–2007)	2,601–20,000 pairs	A1, A4ii
Mottled Petrel Pterodroma inexpectata	NT	breeding (1934–2006)	203,333–499,999 pairs	A1, A4ii
Sooty Shearwater Ardenna grisea	NT	breeding (2001–2006)	min 173,000 pairs	A4ii
Stewart Island Shag Leucocarbo chalconotus	VU	breeding (2011)	44–51 pairs	A1, A4i
Kakapo Strigops habroptilus	CR	resident (2007)	max 50 mature individuals	A1
New Zealand Kaka Nestor meridionalis	VU	resident (-)	present	A1
Yellowhead Mohoua ochrocephala	NT	resident (-)	present	A1
A4iii Species group - seabirds	n/a	breeding (1999)	100,000-499,999	A4iii

Ideally the conservation status of the IBA will have been checked regularly since the site was first identified in 2014. The most recent assessment (2014) is shown below.

Pressure (threats to the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Invasive and other problematic species and genes	happe­ning now	some of popul­ation/area (10–49%)	moderate decline (10–30% over 3 gener­ations)	high
Human intrusions and disturbance	likely in short term (<4 years)	few indivi­duals/small area (<10%)	slow decline (1–10% over 3 gener­ations)	low

Response (conservation actions taken for the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Designation	Planning	Action	Result
Not assessed	Not assessed	Not assessed	not assessed

Year	Protected Area	Designation (management category)	% coverage of IBA
1986	Whenua Hou	Nature Reserve (Ia)	100

Habitat	% of IBA	Habitat detail
Forest	major (>10)
Grassland	major (>10)
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	major (>10)
Marine Intertidal	major (>10)
Shrubland	major (>10)
Wetlands (inland)	minor (<10)

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Whenua Hou Codfish Island (New Zealand). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/whenua-hou-codfish-island-iba-new-zealand on 22/12/2024.