page_title: McKean Island
section_title: Flora and fauna
hierarchical_section_title: McKean Island / Flora and fauna
caption_attribution_description: English: Colony of Lesser Frigate Birds (Fregata ariel) on McKean Island, Phoenix Islands, Kiribati. Original field notes: Dominant vegetation is puncture vine (Tribulus cistoides), an extremely spiny vine which punctures not only bare feet but shoes as well! The 3-sided seeds, with tough, needle-like thorns, are adapted to attaching to bird feathers and thus effecting seed dissemination between islands. Here we have another wonderful Lesser Frigatebird colony: in the 1960's (last censuses) nos. ranged from 30,000-35,000 pairs, which makes this the largest colony in the world, along with a similar colony on nearby Phoenix Island (16,000-45,000 prs)
context_page_description: McKean Island is a small, uninhabited island in the Phoenix Islands, Republic of Kiribati.
  It is located at 3°36′S 174°07′W. Its area is 57 hectares.
  Kiribati declared the Phoenix Islands Protected Area in 2006, with the park being expanded in 2008. The 164,200-square-mile marine reserve contains eight coral atolls including McKean Island.
context_section_description: McKean is roughly oval in shape, and less than one kilometre in diameter.  It is ringed by a reef flat, with a beach ridge of coral rock and rubble surrounding the rim, rising to five metres above sea level.  The centre of the island is depressed, with a shallow, hypersaline, guano-laced lagoon.  Treeless, McKean harbours seven herbaceous species of plants, and the world's largest nesting population of lesser frigatebird (Fregata ariel) with up to 85,000 birds.  29 other species of birds have been described as visiting the island.  Historically, the only mammal was the Polynesian rat, now exterminated, which suggests pre-historic discovery by Polynesians.  There is also a species of gecko that inhabits the island.
  McKean has no sources of fresh water, and no freshwater lens.
caption: Colony of lesser frigatebirds on McKean Island
exif: {}