Icy Bay (26250)
USA, North America
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Year of last assessment: 2009
National site name: Icy Bay
Central coordinates: Latitude: 60.0150, Longitude: -141.3243
System: marine, terrestrial
Elevation (m): 0 to 5489
Area of KBA (km2): 199.56391
Protected area coverage (%): 0.32
KBA classification: Global/Regional TBD
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This site qualifies as a Key Biodiversity Area of international significance because it meets one or more previously established criteria and thresholds for identifying sites of biodiversity importance (including Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas, Alliance for Zero Extinction sites, and Key Biodiversity Areas)
Delineation rationale: The boundaries of the proposed IBA include all five Kittlitz’s Murrelet nest locations found in the uplands of Icy Bay and 95% of at-sea movements of breeding birds (determined using radio-telemetry). Since this imperiled species is non-colonial and spends most of its life at sea, it is difficult to protect areas that encompass both nesting and critical at-sea habitat during the breeding season (Audubon' site factsheet)