Current view: Text account
Site description (2008 baseline):
Site location and context
Forsyth, Passage and Gull Islands are located south of Cape Barren Island and east of Clarke Island, in the Bass Strait. Forsyth and Passage are neighbouring islands whereas Gull is some 15 km to the east. Passage Island has been heavily grazed in the past, particularly in the north. It is an elongate island with sandy soils and low vegetation. A dolerite band with broken granite slabs stretches up the east side of the island. The island has its own airstrip and also includes a hut and shed. Heavy grazing and rabbits have had an effect on the vegetation and seabird habitat. The southern end is more susceptible to disturbance because of sandy soils and shearwater colonies. Forsyth Island is oriented north to south, is elongate and scrub covered with sandy beaches against granite slabs and rocks. There is a central ridge with gently undulating vegetated dunes which run east to west. The soil is very sandy and there is sand blow in the central region. Fire could affect the vegetation and therefore the stability of the dunes which many of the birds rely on. Gull Island is a 8.5 ha granite island with shallow sandy soils. The shoreline is made up of granite slabs reaching 20m from the sea and many inland areas are composed of bare rocks and boulders in between the vegetation (Brothers et al. 2001).
Fairy Terns have nested on Gull Island but not consistently (R. Alderman & R. Gales in litt. 2008). Other birds of significance found on Passage and Forsyth Islands include Short-tailed Shearwaters with 2230 burrows on Passage Island and 6400 burrows on Forsyth Island (Skira et al. 1996), Pacific Gulls (three pairs on Passage, seven pairs on Forsyth and three pairs on Gull), Sooty Oystercatchers (10 pairs on Passage, four pairs on Forsyth and six pairs on Gull) and White-faced Storm-Petrel (4320 pairs on Gull and 100 pairs on Forsyth; Brothers et al. 2001).
Non-bird biodiversity: Blue-tongue Lizard and Tiger Snake were found on Forsyth Island while White's Skink and Metallic Skink were found on Passage Island. Forsyth Island recorded House Mouse, a trapped rat and a swamp rat; no native mammals were found on Passage Island, however, there was a rat, rabbit (numerous), cattle (30) and house mouse. Vegetation found on Forsyth Island includes Poa poiformis, Senecio sp., Stipa, Tetragonia sp., Carpobrotus rossii, Oleania axillaris, Ozothamnus turbinatus, Leptospermum laevigatum and Myoporum insulare. Passage Island supports such vegetation as Acacia sophorae, Callitris rhomboidea, Allocasuarina verticillata, Leptospermum laevigatum and Melaleuca ericifolia (Brothers et al. 2001).
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Grazing of cattle should be kept to a minimum and restricted to the north of Passage Island away from the delicate soils in the south. The status of native and introduced small mammals on both islands needs to be ascertained and then alien rats, mice and rabbits should be eradicated.
Gull Island and Forsyth Island Conservation Areas.
Tasmanian and Federal Governments.
Site access / Land-owner requests
Advice on visiting these vulnerable islands should be sought from DPIW.
The nomination was prepared by Birds Australia and Rachael Alderman and Rosemary Gales of DPIW kindly commented on the nomination.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Forsyth, Passage and Gull Islands (Australia). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/forsyth-passage-and-gull-islands-iba-australia on 23/11/2024.
