Kidney Island ( es, Isla Celebroña) so called due to its shape, is a small island with a land area of , to the east of East Falkland, not far from Stanley. It lies is at the east end of Berkeley Sound near Kidney Cove, and is separated from Port William by Menguera Point. It is a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological o ...

and, unlike most of the main islands, is still covered in tussac grass. Its wildlife includes

penguin Penguins (order Sphenisciformes , family Spheniscidae ) are a group of aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is found north of the Equator. Highly adap ...

s and

sea lion Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear flaps, long foreflippers, the ability to walk on all fours, short and thick hair, and a big chest and belly. Together with the fur seals, they make up the family Otariidae, eared seals. ...

s. It is one of only three places in the archipelago where

king penguin The king penguin (''Aptenodytes patagonicus'') is the second largest species of penguin, smaller, but somewhat similar in appearance to the emperor penguin. There are two subspecies: ''A. p. patagonicus'' and ''A. p. halli''; ''patagonicus'' ...

s breed; the others are Saunders Island and

Volunteer Point Volunteer Point is a headland on the east coast of East Falkland, in the Falkland Islands, north-northeast of Stanley, and east of Johnson's Harbour and Berkeley Sound. It lies at the end of a narrow peninsula, which protects Volunteer Lagoon. I ...

on East Falkland.

History

During the

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial ...

, on 1 May 1982, '' Islas Malvinas GC82'', an

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, ...

Z-28 type naval patrol boat was damaged near the island by a Westland Lynx HAS.Mk.2/3 helicopter from HMS ''Alacrity''. The helicopter was also badly hit by return fire from the Argentine armed coaster ARA ''Forrest''.Mayorga, Horacio ''No Vencidos'', 1998. pp. 144-145

Important Bird Area

Kidney Island, together with the nearby and much smaller Cochon Island, has been identified by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

as an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Inte ...

(IBA). Birds for which the site is of conservation significance include Falkland steamer ducks (15 breeding pairs), southern rockhopper penguins (500 pairs), Magellanic penguins,

white-chinned petrel The white-chinned petrel (''Procellaria aequinoctialis'') also known as the Cape hen and shoemaker, is a large shearwater in the family Procellariidae. It ranges around the Southern Ocean as far north as southern Australia, Peru and Namibia, and ...

s (1000 pairs), sooty shearwaters,

blackish cinclodes The blackish cinclodes (''Cinclodes antarcticus'') is a passerine bird of the genus '' Cinclodes'' belonging to the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is native to the southern tip of South America including the Falkland Islands where it is kno ...

and Cobb's wrens.

References

Islands of the Falkland Islands Important Bird Areas of the Falkland Islands Seabird colonies Penguin colonies {{Falklands-geo-stub