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"The site is known or thought to hold a significant component of the group of species whose breeding distributions define an Endemic Bird Area or a Secondary Area."

Under this criterion, the most important sites within "Endemic Bird Areas" and "Secondary Areas" are identified. BirdLife International defines an Endemic Bird Area as a region to which two or more restricted-range species are confined, with "restricted-range" defined as a world distribution of less than 50,000 km² (Stattersfield et al. 1998). A "Secondary Area" is defined as the location where one range-restricted species occurs. Seabirds are excluded from these lists because their distributions are thought to be influenced by different factors than those affecting terrestrial species, and their conservation is covered through the application of other criteria.

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