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close| Location | French Southern Territories, Îles Kerguelen |
| Central coordinates | 68o 39.00' East 48o 38.00' South |
| IBA criteria | A1, A2, A4ii, A4iii |
| Area | 24,000 ha |
| Altitude | 0 - 518m |
| Year of IBA assessment | 2001 |
Ornithological information See Box for key species. At least 25 species breed. Inventories of the site are only partial; whereas Île de Croÿ has been studied in great detail, no information is available for Île Clugny, apart from observations made at sea. The following figures are therefore underestimates. This site is of major importance both for penguins, and for albatrosses with, in 1989, five pairs of Diomedea exulans, 1,815 pairs of D. melanophris, 7,860 pairs of D. chrysostoma (98% of the population on Kerguelen and 10% of the world’s population) and the only colony of D. chlororhynchos in the archipelago (50 pairs), as well as some 20 pairs of Macronectes halli. Phalacrocorax verrucosus, Anas eatoni, and Sterna virgata all occur in, it is thought, small numbers. It is possible that numbers of breeding Phoebetria palpebrata, Pterodroma brevirostris, Pachyptila desolata, Procellaria aequinoctialis, Oceanites oceanicus, Pelecanoides urinatrix and Chionis minor exceed thresholds for the A4ii criterion, but quantitative data are lacking.
Site description This site covers several islands of varying size, located a short distance off the north-western coast of Grande Terre. The main islands of Croÿ, Roland and Ternay form the Îles Nuageuses, while the small Île Clugny is located a little to the south. The coastlines of the islands are mostly sheer cliffs. The islands are free of any introduced species and thus covered in typical subantarctic vegetation, dense up to about 200 m. The site is only rarely visited by man.
Populations of IBA trigger species
| Species | Season | Period | Population estimate | Quality of estimate | IBA Criteria | IUCN Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eaton's Pintail Anas eatoni | resident | 1989 | present [units unknown] | - | A2 | Vulnerable |
| Gentoo Penguin Pygoscelis papua | breeding | 1989 | 7,500 breeding pairs | - | A1, A4ii | Near Threatened |
| Northern Rockhopper Penguin Eudyptes moseleyi | breeding | 1989 | 35,000 breeding pairs | - | A1, A4ii | Endangered |
| Macaroni Penguin Eudyptes chrysolophus | breeding | 1989 | 500-50,000 breeding pairs | - | Vulnerable | |
| Wandering Albatross Diomedea exulans | breeding | - | present [units unknown] | - | A1 | Vulnerable |
| Black-browed Albatross Thalassarche melanophrys | breeding | 1989 | 1,815 breeding pairs | unknown | A1 | Endangered |
| Grey-headed Albatross Thalassarche chrysostoma | breeding | 1989 | 7,860 breeding pairs | - | A1,A4ii | Vulnerable |
| Northern Giant-petrel Macronectes halli | breeding | - | present [units unknown] | - | A1 | Least Concern |
| Kerguelen Tern Sterna virgata | breeding | - | present [units unknown] | - | A1 | Near Threatened |
Protected areas
| Protected area | Designation | Area (ha) | Relationship with IBA | Overlap with IBA (ha) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antarctique francaise | National Park | 36,700 | protected area contains site | 24,000 |
|
Land use
| Land-use | Extent (% of site) |
|---|---|
| nature conservation and research | - |
| not utilised | - |
Other biodiversity The flora is believed to be perfectly preserved. There is a large breeding colony of the fur seal Arctocephalus gazella (over 5,000 females). This population has probably never been exploited, which has enabled the recolonization of other sites from where it has been exterminated.
Management considerations The site is a French Antarctic National Park to which access is restricted. It has also been proposed as a Nature Reserve. There is a continuing risk of colonization by introduced mammal species.
References Cherel et al. (1996), Jouventin and Micol (1992), Jouventin et al. (1984, 1988, 1996), Mougin (1985), Weimerskirch and Jouventin (1997), Weimerskirch et al. (1989).
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Recommended citation BirdLife International (2013) Important Bird Areas factsheet: Îles Nuageuses and Île Clugny. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 24/05/2013
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