The Marlborough Sounds Important Bird Areas are four distinct sites comprising several small, rocky islets contained within an area with a maximum linear extent of 40 km, in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. They lie close to

Cook Strait Cook Strait () is a strait that separates the North Island, North and South Islands of New Zealand. The strait connects the Tasman Sea on the northwest with the South Pacific Ocean on the southeast. It is wide at its narrowest point,McLintock, ...

in the outer

Marlborough Sounds The Marlborough Sounds (Māori language, te reo Māori: ''Te Tauihu-o-te-Waka'') are an extensive network of ria, sea-drowned valleys at the northern end of the South Island of New Zealand. The Marlborough Sounds were created by a combination ...

at the northern end of the

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

. The sites are Duffers Reef, Sentinel Rock, White Rocks and the Trio Islands. They have been identified as

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 ...

s (IBAs) 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 i ...

because they hold the only known colonies, and encompass the entire breeding range, of the vulnerable rough-faced shag (also known as the New Zealand king shag).BirdLife International. (2012). Important Bird Areas factsheets: Duffers Reef. Sentinel Rock. Trio Islands. White Rocks. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 2012-02-03.

IBAs

* Duffers Reef is the continuation of the main ridge of Forsyth Island at the entrance to Pelorus Sound / Te Hoiere. The reef is about 1 km long and consists of rocky islets up to 30 m high. 230 shags were counted in 2002. * Sentinel Rock is an isolated rock lying some 3 km east of, the Chetwode Islands. About 600 shags were present in 2002. * Trio Islands comprise three islets lying 5 km east of D'Urville Island. 211 shags were counted in 1997. * White Rocks comprise a small group of wave-washed rocks. 141 shags were counted in 2002.

References

Geography of the Marlborough District Important Bird Areas of New Zealand Marlborough Sounds {{Marlborough-geo-stub