South Barnard Islands Important Bird Area
The South Barnard Islands Important Bird Area comprises a group of two small islands and a sand islet, with a combined area of 15 ha, on the inner Great Barrier Reef, Far North Queensland, Australia. The group lies about 6 km off the coast and 26 km south-east of Innisfail and is protected within the Barnard Island Group National Park. It is an important breeding site for terns.
Description
[edit]The group contains two forested islands, Stephens and Sisters, joined by intertidal sand. Stephens is a 12 ha rainforested island surrounded by cliffs. Sisters is 2.5 ha, covered with low, dense rainforest with fringing mangroves. Most terns nest on the grassy 0.3 ha islet.[1]
Birds
[edit]The islands have been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA) because they have supported over 1% of the world populations of lesser crested terns (with up to 1000 breeding pairs) and bridled terns (up to 10,000 breeding pairs).[2] Some 120 pairs of roseate terns bred in the IBA in 1985, and up to 1500 non-breeding black-naped terns have been recorded there.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b BirdLife International. (2011). Important Bird Areas factsheet: South Barnard Islands. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 2011-10-12.
- ^ "IBA: South Barnard Islands". Birdata. Birds Australia. Retrieved 12 October 2011.
17°44′30″S 146°09′38″E / 17.74167°S 146.16056°E
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