The Gull and Sandhill Island IBA is named for two islands but encompasses a larger archipelago in the southern end of Lake Winnipeg’s northern basin. Despite this IBA being made up of small, low elevation islands, it provides important habitat for many birds. These islands are host to patchy vegetation including deciduous trees, shrubs, and grasses, as well as sparse boulder habitat contained within their sandy shores.

This IBA is globally significant for its congregatory species and continentally significant for its shorebird and waterbird concentrations seen throughout the year. During the summer of 1998, over 3,000 American White Pelicans were recorded on Gull Island, representing ~1.75% of the species’ global population and the largest colony on Lake Winnipeg at the time. A more recent survey conducted in 2012 by Environment and Climate Change Canada which estimated 1,719 breeding pairs nesting on John’s Island, an island ~2 km north of Gull Island, paired with local ecological knowledge shared by fishers suggests that the majority of breeding pelicans may have shifted within the archipelago. Sandhill Island supported an estimate of more than 4,400 pairs of Common Terns in 1997 and, in 2012, large numbers of Double-crested Cormorants, Caspian Terns, and Ring-billed Gulls were recorded here.

Hunting, nest disturbance, and habitat loss threaten the areas within and around this IBA. Gull and Sandhill Island, along with four other islands in the archipelago, have been designated an Ecological Reserve by the provincial Government of Manitoba. Access to the Pelican Islands Ecological Reserve (and other ecological reserves) is prohibited unless written permission from the province is obtained. Additionally, being accessible only by boat means birding opportunities in this IBA are highly limited. Commissioner Island, a larger adjacent island, is home to many of the same species and is not a part of this IBA nor the Ecological Reserve, making it more accessible for birders.

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