Ilhéu Branco (

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

for "white islet") is an uninhabited Resolução nº 36/2016
Estratégia e Plano Nacional de Negócios das Áreas Protegidas islet in the Barlavento group of the

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...

off the coast of north-west Africa in the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. Ilhéu Branco is flanked by the islands of Santa Luzia to the north-west and

Ilhéu Raso Ilhéu Raso is an uninhabited Resolução nº 36/2016
Estratégia e Plano Nacional de Neg� ...

to the south-east. Since 1990, the islet is part of the protected area ''Reserva Natural Integral de Santa Luzia''. Together with Santa Luzia and Ilhéu Raso, Ilhéu Branco is on the tentative list of UNESCO's

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

s.Complexe d’aires Protégées de l’île de Santa Luzia et des Ilots Branco et Raso
UNESCO Branco is a large rectangular rock, less than 4 km long by more than 1 km wide, rising steeply to a ridge running the length of the island. Its highest point, ''Topa da Berta'', is above sea level.Tactical Pilotage Chart K-0A
Perry–Castañeda Map Collection Its summit is lower than that of Santa Luzia but higher than Raso. The coast is rocky, except for an area of dunes on the west side and a small area of level ground on the east side. Seas around the island are rough throughout the year, making access difficult.

Fauna

The Cape Verde giant skink, which only occurred on Branco and Raso, has not been seen since the early twentieth century and is considered extinct. It is thought to have been wiped out through over-exploitation by humans for its skin and for food. The

giant wall gecko The giant wall gecko (''Tarentola gigas'') is a species of gecko in the Family (biology), family Phyllodactylidae. The species is Endemism, endemic to Cape Verde, where it occurs on the island of São Nicolau, Cape Verde, São Nicolau and on the n ...

(''Tarentola gigas'') is still present. The island has been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports 2500–3570 breeding pairs of

Cape Verde shearwater The Cape Verde shearwater (''Calonectris edwardsii''), or cagarra locally, is a medium-large shearwater, a seabird in the petrel family Procellariidae. It is Endemism in birds, endemic to the Cape Verde archipelago of Macaronesia in the Atlantic ...

s as well as peregrine falcons,

Iago sparrow The Iago sparrow (''Passer iagoensis''), also known as the Cape Verde or rufous-backed sparrow, is a passerine bird of the sparrow family Passeridae. It is endemic to the Cape Verde archipelago, in the eastern Atlantic Ocean near western Africa ...

s and

Cape Verde barn owl The western barn owl (''Tyto alba'') is usually considered a subspecies group and together with the American barn owl group, the eastern barn owl group, and sometimes the Andaman masked owl make up the barn owl. The cosmopolitan barn owl is reco ...

s (''Tyto alba detorta'').

References

External links

Ilhéu Branco Important Bird Area at Birdlife
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ilheu Branco Uninhabited islands of Cape Verde Important Bird Areas of Cape Verde Seabird colonies