Current view: Text account
Site description (2001 baseline):
Site location and context
Bird Island is a sandy cay rising only a few metres high, situated on the northern edge of Seychelles Bank about c.100 km north-west of Mahé. It is very young, perhaps having emerged no more than 4,000 years ago. The island was sparsely vegetated and supported large numbers of seabirds until the end of the nineteenth century. Coconut-palms
Cocos nucifera were then planted over most of the island, but were partly cleared after 1967 to encourage the breeding of
Sterna fuscata. About 70% of the island is now covered with mixed woodland. This includes the remaining coconut plantation, areas planted with
Casuarina equisetifolia and
Pisonia grandis forest that has been allowed to regenerate in the centre of the island. Main human activities are tourism (there is a small hotel served by plane from Mahé), small-scale fisheries and aquaculture.
See Box for key species. The island supports a huge and increasing breeding colony of
Sterna fuscata. More than one million are present during the breeding season between April and October; the species is rare or absent the rest of the year. There is also a large colony of
Anous stolidus. Other breeding species include
Puffinus pacificus (uncommon),
Gygis alba (720 pairs),
Anous tenuirostris (300 pairs, increasing) and
Phaethon lepturus (10–20 pairs). A population of
Streptopelia picturata (30–60 individuals) is also present, with many individuals showing characteristics of
rostrata. Non-breeding visitors include more than 250
Sterna saundersi and 5,000
S. anaethetus.
Non-bird biodiversity: The island hosts one species of skink and one species of gecko endemic to Seychelles. Green turtles Chelonia mydas (EN) nest in larger numbers than elsewhere in the granitic islands and hawksbill turtles Eretmochelys imbricata (CR) also breed; numbers of both are monitored. A small number of the giant tortoise Dipsochelys dussumieri have been introduced.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
The island was declared a wildlife sanctuary by the owner in 1986, but it does not have any legal protected status. Its management is oriented towards both conservation and tourism. Grass is burnt every year in March–April to improve nesting habitat for
Sterna fuscata. The colony is not now exploited for commercial egg production, although some egg-collection by residents for personal consumption occurs. A long-term research programme on
Sterna fuscata colony began since 1972 and a study of
Anous stolidus was completed recently. Rats were eradicated in 1996 and it has been suggested the island is potentially suitable for the translocation of threatened endemics sensitive to rat predation. Unfortunately, in 1998 the island suffered an invasion of introduced crazy ants
Anoplolepis gracilipes, which infested the
Sterna fuscata colony. Programmes to eradicate the ants are being conducted. Because of its isolation, Bird Island may be the best place to maintain a population of
Streptopelia picturata of the endemic race
rostrata before it completely disappears. Beach erosion is a cause for concern.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Bird Island (Seychelles). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/bird-island-iba-seychelles on 23/11/2024.
