Sites - Important Bird Areas (IBAs)

Summary Adele Island IBA supports more than 1% of the world's population of Brown Boobies, Lesser Frigatebirds, Red-necked Stint and Grey-tailed Tattler.

Ornithological information Adele Island supports large numbers of shorebirds - a total of 24,070 were recorded from 19-24 November 2004. This included high numbers of the following species: Bar-tailed Godwit (4819), Ruddy Turnstone (1250), Greater Sand Plover (2046), Little Tern (1366), Black Noddy (600) and the Masked Booby (694). Nesting birds recorded include the Lesser Frigatebird, Masked Booby, Brown Booby, Red-footed Booby, Eastern Reef Egret, Bridled Tern and Common Noddy (Boyle et al., 2006). Australian Pelican was also recorded nesting (Burbidge et al., 1987)

Site description Adele Island is a low, flat, sandy cay about 100 km north-north-east of Cape Leveque, north of Broome in Western Australia. It is 2.9 km by 1.6 km and with a maximum height of 4 m but surrounded by 25 km by 11 km of reefs and sand banks. The island is vegetated sand with a large tidal lagoon and a mast, beacon and weather station. The lowest, most frequently inundated areas support grasslands of Sporobolus virginicus, on which Brown Boobies nest, while slightly elevated soils have a dense cover of Spinifex longifolius, on which Lesser Frigatebirds nest. It has a wet-dry monsoonal climate with short, wet summers and dry autumn, winter and spring.

Populations of IBA trigger species

Protected areas

Protected area	Designation	Area (ha)	Relationship with IBA	Overlap with IBA (ha)
Adele Island	Nature Reserve	217	is identical to site	217

Habitats

Land ownership Western Australia State Government with management the responsibility of Dept of Environment & Conservation.

Land use

Other biodiversity Green Turtles have been seen mating off shore and 8 new turtle nest were discovered, they were presumed to be Green Turtle nests (Boyle et al., 2006). Polynesian Rat.

Management considerations Monitor the infestation of Polynesian Rats. Patrol to prevent unauthorised landings, especially by Indonesian fishermen, who may introduce exotic species or poach birds. Monitor Silver Gull populations as near-by island populations have increased recently leading to predation threats on nesting seabirds and turtles.

Protection status The IBA is the Adele Island Nature Reserve.

Conservation response Eradication of Polynesian Rat attempted 2004; success unknown.

Access/Land-Owner requests Apply to DEC for permission.

Acknowledgements The nomination was prepared by Andrew Burbidge with consultation with DEC.

References Boyle, A., Swann, G., Willing, T., Gale, T., and Collins, P. (2006). Adele Island Survey Report. Unpublished.

Burbidge, A.A., Fuller, P.J., Lane, J.A.K. & Moore, S.A. 1987. Counts of nesting boobies and Lesser Frigate-birds in Western Australia. Emu 87, 128-9.

Burbidge, A.A. and McKenzie, N.L. 1978. The islands of the north-west Kimberley, Western Australia. Wildlife Research Bulletin of Western Australia 7: 1-47. [Western Australian Wildlife Research Centre, Dept of Fisheries and Wildlife, Perth, WA.]

Coate, K. 1997. Adele Island, Western Australia. Corella 21: 124-128.

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Recommended citation  BirdLife International (2013) Important Bird Areas factsheet: Adele Island. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 23/05/2013

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