Current view: Text account
Site description (2001 baseline):
Site location and context
The site consists of two rocky islands lying 12 km west of the Algerian coastline just below the headland known as ‘Les Andalouses’ (which itself lies 45 km west of Oran). The larger island is called ‘Gharbia’ and reaches 103 m. The smaller and more easterly island is ‘Charguia’ and reaches no more than 25 m in height. Scrub vegetation includes
Ephedra fragilis,
Wthania frutescens and
Frankenia corymbosa.
See Box for key species. The colony of
Larus audouinii on the eastern side of Île Gharbia consisted of 350 individuals (including 130–150 young and at least 100 nests) in July 1989. An earlier record of 200 individuals on the islands in July 1986 was thought to comprise birds that had moved (probably due to human disturbance) from previously known colonies. Two previous colonies on Cap Falcon and l’île Plane, totalling 400 individuals, have now disappeared. Wintering numbers for the whole Algerian coastline were estimated at 824 individuals in 1978, but the key wintering sites have not been identified and it is possible that many Algerian breeding birds winter further east, from Morocco to Mauritania.
Other seabirds recorded from the site include breeding
Calonectris diomedea (27 nests),
Phalacrocorax aristotelis,
Pandion haliaetus (seven nests) and
Larus cachinnans (a colony of several hundred individuals). This latter species nests on Île Charguia and thus appears not to nest alongside
L. audouinii on the Habibas islands. This is the only IBA from which the biome-restricted
Falco eleonorae is recorded as breeding, with at least five pairs seen on the Îles Habibas and four further individuals on the coast in July 1989, and four seen along the same section of coast in June 1987.
Non-bird biodiversity: None known to BirdLife International.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
The site is considered to be relatively undisturbed because of the difficulty of access, although ‘massive’ collection of eggs of all species by local people was reported in 1992. Predation by
Larus cachinnans and small mammals may also threaten the
L. audouinii colony. The creation of a network of coastal and marine nature reserves, particularly on the Habibas islands, is the recommended conservation action for breeding
L. audouinii. Other necessary mechanisms to ensure continued protection of this species include enforcement of national wildlife legislation and control of rodents in the main breeding colonies.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Îles Habibas (Algeria). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/îles-habibas-iba-algeria on 23/12/2024.
