Bird Island (Tasmania)

The island is a breeding site for short-tailed shearwaters, or Tasmanian muttonbirds

Bird Island is an island game reserve, with an area of 43.92 ha, in Bass Strait, south-eastern Australia. It is part of Tasmania’s Hunter Island Group which lies between north-west Tasmania and King Island. It is home to about 5,000 pairs of short-tailed shearwaters, the young of which are harvested annually, and about 3,000 pairs of little penguins.[1]

Fauna

The island forms part of the Hunter Island Group Important Bird Area.[2] As well as the shearwaters and penguins, other breeding seabirds and shorebirds include white-faced storm-petrel, Pacific gull, silver gull and sooty oystercatcher. Reptiles include the metallic skink and abundant tiger snakes.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 Brothers, Nigel; Pemberton, David; Pryor, Helen; & Halley, Vanessa. (2001). Tasmania’s Offshore Islands: seabirds and other natural features. Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery: Hobart. ISBN 0-7246-4816-X
  2. ↑ BirdLife International. (2011). Important Bird Areas factsheet: Hunter Island Group. Downloaded from "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 10 July 2007. Retrieved 2012-09-29. on 2011-07-09.

Coordinates: 40°36′S 144°43′E / 40.600°S 144.717°E / -40.600; 144.717


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