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The Coastal cliffs between Porto Mosquito and Baia do Inferno Important Bird Area lies on the southwest of island of Santiago in the Cape Verde archipelago off the coast of north-west Africa in the Atlantic Ocean. It covers the area west of Porto Mosquito up to Baía do Inferno southeast of Porto Rincão. Adjoining and complementing the terrestrial Important Bird Area (IBA) is an associated marine IBA that provides feeding habitat for seabirds.
Description
The 160 ha site comprises an 8 km stretch of cliffs along the south-western coast of the island, from the bay of Baia do Inferno eastwards to the village of Porto Mosquito. Although the average cliff height is 30 m, at Baia do Inferno they reach 200 m and are very steep. The site has been identified as an IBA by BirdLife International because the cliffs support 25–30 breeding pairs of red-billed tropicbirds.
The marine IBA borders the coastline and covers 13 km2 of marine waters, with a maximum depth of 244 m. It provides feeding habitat during the breeding season for 75–90 red-billed tropicbirds.