Little Scrub Island
 Location of Little Scrub Island within Anguilla | |
  Little Scrub Island  Little Scrub Island | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Atlantic Ocean |
| Coordinates | 18°17′48″N 62°57′19″W / 18.2968°N 62.9554°W |
| Archipelago | Antilles |
| Area | 1.2 ha (3.0 acres)[1] |
| Highest elevation | 16 m (52 ft)[1] |
| Administration | |
United Kingdom | |
| British Overseas Territory | Anguilla |
| Additional information | |
| Time zone | |
| ISO code | AI |
Little Scrub Island is an island in Anguilla, a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. The island is 1.3 km (0.81 mi) to the northeast of the main island of Anguilla, and 500 m (550 yd) west of Scrub Island. Despite its rocky, inhospitable environment, it is a nesting ground for various birds and home to an endemic species of lizard, the Little Scrub Island ground lizard (Pholidoscelis corax).
Geography
[edit]Little Scrub Island is a rocky island surrounded by choppy waters that contribute to making the shoreline inhospitable.[2] The island has no beaches nor bodies of freshwater.[1] It covers an area of 1.2 hectares (3.0 acres) and rises to a maximum of elevation of 16 metres (52 ft) above sea level.[1] It is located 500 m (550 yd) west of the bigger Scrub Island and 1.3 km (0.81 mi) northeast of the main island of Anguilla.[3]
Flora and fauna
[edit]The island was completely stripped of flora by Hurricane Luis in 1995 and Hurricane Lenny in 1999. Since then, the flora has recovered; morning glory (Ipomea violaceae) and prickly pear cactus (Opuntia dillenii) can be found in abundance on the island.[4] These two plants are the main food source of Pholidoscelis corax, also known as the Little Scrub Island ground lizard, which is endemic to the island.[5][6]
The island provides a nesting site for various birds, including the brown noddy, bridled tern, sooty tern, roseate tern, and the brown booby. Several dove (Zenaida aurita) nests were also identified during a 2010 survey, along with a single Sargasso shearwater nest. Brown pelicans also used the island at that time, but they were not observed to be nesting.[7]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d "A Preliminary Ecosystem Assessment of Little Scrub Island" (PDF). Joint Nature Conservation Committee. December 2011. p. 26. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 July 2011. Retrieved 14 June 2025.
- ^ Allen, Casey D. (19 July 2017). Landscapes and Landforms of the Lesser Antilles. Springer. p. 36. ISBN 978-3-319-55787-8. Retrieved 14 June 2025.
- ^ Joint Nature Conservation Committee 2011, p. 9.
- ^ Joint Nature Conservation Committee 2011, pp. 38, 52, 54.
- ^ Joint Nature Conservation Committee 2011, p. 56.
- ^ Holliday, Steve; Holliday, Gill (1 July 2025). Wildlife of the Eastern Caribbean. Princeton University Press. p. 194. ISBN 978-0-691-26991-7. Retrieved 14 June 2025.
- ^ Joint Nature Conservation Committee 2011, pp. 28, 30.