Clipperton Island Bird Species

Clipperton Island or Ile de La Passion in French, is a 9 km² uninhabited French coral atoll in the eastern Pacific Ocean. It is located 1,120 kilometres from SW of Mexico.

The atoll is almost circular and encloses a stagnant brackish water lagoon with shallow areas over the previous coral reefs, but it also contains some deep basins of 43-72 metres deep. But the water at the top is nearly fresh. About 45% of the surface is covered with seaweed beds.
On the ten islets present in the lagoon, six are covered with vegetation.
The atoll is about three metres high in most places, with a promontory of 21 metres high with a ruined lighthouse at top. A tuna fishing station is also present on the island.

The vegetation includes sparse low scrub of spiny grass, a creeping plant of genus Ipomoea, some patches of wild tobacco and a few coconut groves. Most of the current vegetation was probably introduced by humans. But two sedges are probably native of the island, the Salt heliotrope (Heliotropium curassavicum) and the Common purslane (Portulaca oleracea).

The discovery of the island has been inconsistently reported, but it has been noted to discovered on 15 November 1528 by an expedition commissioned by Hernán Cortés (Spanish conquistador in Mexico) to find a route to the Philippines.
Another story claims that the explorer Ferdinand Magellan found the island in 1521.

The island was rediscovered on Good Friday, 3 April 1711, by French sailors. It was named Ile de La Passion, due to the special date of the discovery.

However, the name Clipperton comes from John Clipperton, an English pirate, who is said to have passed by the island during the early 18th century, in 1705.

Clipperton Island is the only French possession in the North Pacific Ocean. It has been annexed by France in 1855.

Clipperton Island has a tropical climate, with temperatures between 20 and 32°C, and is subject to tropical storms.
Thousands of seabirds and millions of land crabs are living here.
The first scientific observation reports a huge density in the numbers of seabirds. But due to the introduction of pigs by phosphate operators, the numbers fell rapidly in the early 20th century. However, the pigs were eradicated in 1958, involving a good reconstitution of the avian colonies.

The breeding seabirds, all listed as Least Concern by the IUCN (The International Union for Conservation of Nature), include several species such as the White Tern, the Masked Booby, the Sooty Tern, the Brown Booby, the Brown Noddy, the Black Noddy and the Great Frigatebird.

Several Anseriformes are reported in the lagoon, whereas migratory land birds rest on the island during their winter trips to the Southern Hemisphere.
The Masked Booby is the dominant species on the island, with up to 110,000 individuals recorded in the mid-2000s, to less than 40,000 at the last census.
Clipperton Island has been identified as an important Bird Area by Birdlife International – Data Zone.

The atoll in East Pacific Ocean is described as inhospitable as it is hard to reach. The land is barren and treacherous reefs surround the island on all sides. The place is known for hosting a massive population of crabs and seabirds. It is no longer inhabited by human settlement and is one of the least disturbed systems in the Pacific Ocean.

This island is in a way a welcome stopover for all the migratory birds that pass by. At certain times of the year, the ground is almost completely covered with nesting birds and resting migratory species.
Let them enjoy this haven of peace as long as it is not yet too much exploited by human!

Text by Nicole Bouglouan

Sources of the text:

Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia

Avibase (Denis Lepage)

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

Bibliographie de l’île de Clipperton - Île de La Passion (1711-2005)

Clipperton, environnement et biodiversité d'un microcosme océanique