Sternula antillarum -St Augustine, Florida, USA -parent and chick-8

Cove Pond is a shallow 287 ha wetland at the south-western end of the Caribbean island of

Anguilla Anguilla ( ) is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Saint Martin. The territ ...

, a British Overseas Territory. It forms part of a larger coastal lagoon from which it is separated by a causeway constructed for access to the Cap Juluca resort.

Important Bird Area

The wetland has been identified 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 Int ...

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 ...

because it provides nesting, resting, and feeding habitat for over 40 bird species, including a breeding colony of least terns and wintering

common tern The common tern (''Sterna hirundo'') is a seabird in the family Laridae. This bird has a circumpolar distribution, its four subspecies breeding in temperate and subarctic regions of Europe, Asia and North America. It is strongly migrat ...

s. Snowy and

piping plover The piping plover (''Charadrius melodus'') is a small sand-colored, sparrow-sized shorebird that nests and feeds along coastal sand and gravel beaches in North America. The adult has yellow-orange-red legs, a black band across the forehead from ...

s have been recorded, as have the

green-throated carib The green-throated carib (''Eulampis holosericeus'') is a species of hummingbird in the subfamily Polytminae. It is found in Puerto Rico and most of the Lesser Antilles.HBW and BirdLife International (2020) ''Handbook of the Birds of the Worl ...

and the

Lesser Antillean bullfinch The lesser Antillean bullfinch (''Loxigilla noctis'') is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae. It is found in Saint Barth, Saint Martin, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Montserrat, Netherland ...

References

Wetlands of Anguilla Important Bird Areas of Anguilla Seabird colonies Lagoons of Anguilla {{Anguilla-geo-stub