Jump to content

Elephant Cays

Coordinates:52°08′30″S59°50′30″W/ 52.14167°S 59.84167°W/-52.14167; -59.84167
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The group is the most important breeding site for southern giant petrels

TheElephant Caysare a group of small islands lying towards the southern end ofFalkland Sound,just to the north-west ofSpeedwell Island,in theFalkland Islandsof the SouthAtlantic Ocean.The group, with a collective area of 248 ha includes Golden Knob, Sandy Cay, West, Southwest and Stinker Islands. It has been identified byBirdLife Internationalas anImportant Bird Area(IBA).

Description

[edit]

The islands have goodtussaccover, but are not well known. Some may have been occasionally stocked with cattle in the 1930s and 1940s, and Stinker Island was grazed until 1985.[1]

Birds

[edit]

Counts were made in early 2005. There is no complete list of birds, but it is probable that at least 20 species breed, possibly including burrowing petrels and Storm-petrels.[2]Birds for which the site is of conservation significance includeMagellanic penguinsandstriated caracaras.The group is also the most important breeding site in the world forsouthern giant petrels,of which there are about 11,000 pairs. There are also two small colonies ofimperial shags.[1]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ab"Elephant Cays Group".Important Bird Areas factsheet.BirdLife International. 2012. Archived fromthe originalon 10 July 2007.Retrieved5 October2012.
  2. ^"BirdLife Data Zone".datazone.birdlife.org.Retrieved14 June2023.

52°08′30″S59°50′30″W/ 52.14167°S 59.84167°W/-52.14167; -59.84167