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Passage Island (Tasmania)
The Passage Island, part of the Passage Group within the Furneaux Group, is a granite and dolerite island, located in Bass Strait south of Cape Barren Island, in Tasmania, in south-eastern Australia. History Large numbers of fur seals were seen on the island in 1798 by Matthew Flinders and sealers were later reported visiting the island early in the 19th century. The island is a private island with leasehold tenure, with a pastoral lease that has been used for grazing cattle. Improvements on the island include airstrips and a small residence. With the Forsyth and Gull islands, the Passage Island forms part of the Forsyth, Passage and Gull Islands Important Bird Area (IBA), identified as such by BirdLife International because it supports over 1% of the world populations of little penguins and black-faced cormorants. Besides Passage Island, other islands that comprise the Passage Group include the Forsyth, Gull, Battery, and Spike islands, and the Low Islets and the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Forsyth Island
The Forsyth Island, part of the Passage Group within the Furneaux Group, is a granite island, located in Bass Strait south of Cape Barren Island, in Tasmania, in south-eastern Australia. With the Passage and Gull islands, the Forsyth Island forms part of the Forsyth, Passage and Gull Islands Important Bird Area (IBA), identified as such by BirdLife International because it supports over 1% of the world populations of little penguins and black-faced cormorants. History Matthew Flinders reported large numbers of fur seals on the island in 1798. Sealers came to the island, which they called Penguin Island, early in the 19th century. At least one was living there in December 1830, with a number of Aboriginal women, when Robinson paid a visit. Fauna Recorded breeding seabird and wader species include little penguin (147,000 pairs), short-tailed shearwater, white-faced storm-petrel, Pacific gull and sooty oystercatcher. Recorded mammals are the swamp rat and a species of small m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gull Island (Tasmania)
The Gull Island, part of the Passage Group within the Furneaux Group, is an granite island, located in Bass Strait southeast of Cape Barren Island, in Tasmania, in south-eastern Australia. The island is a conservation reserve and with the Passage and Forsyth islands, the Gull Island forms part of the Forsyth, Passage and Gull Islands Important Bird Area (IBA), identified as such by BirdLife International because it supports over 1% of the world populations of little penguins and black-faced cormorants. Fauna Recorded breeding seabird and wader species include little penguin, short-tailed shearwater, white-faced storm-petrel, Pacific gull, silver gull, sooty oystercatcher and crested tern.Brothers, Nigel; Pemberton, David; Pryor, Helen; & Halley, Vanessa. (2001). ''Tasmania’s Offshore Islands: seabirds and other natural features''. Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery: Hobart. See also * List of islands of Tasmania Tasmania is the smallest and southernmost state of Australi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pacific Gull
The Pacific gull (''Larus pacificus'') is a very large gull, native to the coasts of Australia. It is moderately common between Carnarvon in the west, and Sydney in the east, although it has become scarce in some parts of the south-east, as a result of competition from the kelp gull, which has "self-introduced" since the 1940s. Much larger than the ubiquitous silver gull, and nowhere near as common, Pacific gulls are usually seen alone or in pairs, loafing around the shoreline, steadily patrolling high above the edge of the water, or (sometimes) zooming high on the breeze to drop a shellfish or sea urchin onto rocks. Diet The gulls' diet consists of a number various fish species and invertebrates. They frequently consume crabs, most often the species ''Ovalipes australiensis'' and ''Paragrapsus gaimardii.'' They also commonly eat '' Platycephalus bassensis'' (sand flatheads) and cephalapods, both of which are sourced from their regular consumption of waste from fish which hav ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Short-tailed Shearwater
The short-tailed shearwater or slender-billed shearwater (''Ardenna tenuirostris''; formerly ''Puffinus tenuirostris''), also called yolla or moonbird, and commonly known as the muttonbird in Australia, is the most abundant seabird species in Australian waters, and is one of the few Australian native birds in which the chicks are commercially harvested. It is a migratory species that breeds mainly on small islands in Bass Strait and Tasmania and migrates to the Northern Hemisphere for the boreal summer. Taxonomy This shearwater appears to be related to the sooty and great shearwaters, which are also blunt-tailed, black-billed species, but its precise relationships are obscure (Austin, 1996; Austin ''et al.'', 2004). These are among the larger species of shearwater, which have been moved to a separate genus, ''Ardenna'' based on a phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA (Penhallurick & Wink, 2004). Ecology Each parent feeds the single chick for 2–3 days and then leaves for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Little Penguin
The little penguin (''Eudyptula minor'') is a species of penguin from New Zealand. They are commonly known as little blue penguins or blue penguins owing to their slate-blue plumage and are also known by their Māori name . The Australian little penguin (''Eudyptula novaehollandiae'') from Australia and the Otago region of New Zealand is considered a separate species by a 2016 study and a 2019 study. Taxonomy The little penguin was first described by German naturalist Johann Reinhold Forster in 1781. Several subspecies are known, but a precise classification of these is still a matter of dispute. The holotypes of the subspecies ''E. m. variabilis'' and ''Eudyptula minor chathamensis'' are in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. The white-flippered penguin (''E. m. albosignata'' or ''E. m. minor morpha albosignata'') is currently considered by most taxonomists to be a colour morph or subspecies of ''Eudyptula minor.'' In 2008, Shirihai treated th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Waterbird
A water bird, alternatively waterbird or aquatic bird, is a bird that lives on or around water. In some definitions, the term ''water bird'' is especially applied to birds in freshwater ecosystems, although others make no distinction from seabirds that inhabit marine environments. Some water birds (e.g. wading birds) are more terrestrial while others (e.g. waterfowls) are more aquatic, and their adaptations will vary depending on their environment. These adaptations include webbed feet, beaks, and legs adapted to feed in the water, and the ability to dive from the surface or the air to catch prey in water. The term ''aquatic bird'' is sometimes also used in this context. A related term that has a narrower meaning is waterfowl. Some piscivorous birds of prey, such as ospreys and sea eagles, hunt aquatic prey but do not stay in water for long and lives predominantly over dry land, and are not considered water birds. The term waterbird is also used in the context of conservation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wader
245px, A flock of Dunlins and Red knots">Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflats in order to foraging, forage for food crawling or burrowing in the mud and sand, usually small arthropods such as aquatic insects or crustaceans. The term "wader" is used in Europe, while "shorebird" is used in North America, where "wader" may be used instead to refer to long-legged wading birds such as storks and herons. There are about 210 species of wader, most of which live in wetland or coastal environments. Many species of Arctic and temperate regions are strongly migratory, but tropical birds are often resident, or move only in response to rainfall patterns. Some of the Arctic species, such as the little stint, are amongst the longest distance migrants, spending the non- breeding season in the southern hemisphere. Many of the s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seabird
Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations. The first seabirds evolved in the Cretaceous period, and modern seabird families emerged in the Paleogene. In general, seabirds live longer, breed later and have fewer young than other birds do, but they invest a great deal of time in their young. Most species nest in colonies, which can vary in size from a few dozen birds to millions. Many species are famous for undertaking long annual migrations, crossing the equator or circumnavigating the Earth in some cases. They feed both at the ocean's surface and below it, and even feed on each other. Seabirds can be highly pelagic, coastal, or in some cases spend a part of the year away from the sea entirely. Seabirds and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moriarty Rocks
The Moriarty Rocks, part of the Passage Group within the Furneaux Group, are a group of two major unpopulated granite rocks, and several smaller ones, with a combined area of , located in Bass Strait, south of Cape Barren Island, west of the Low Islets, and west of the Spike and Clarke islands, in Tasmania, in south-eastern Australia. The rocks are contained within a nature reserve. History Sealing is reported to have taken on the rocks in December 1830. Flora and fauna There is little vegetation on the rocks, due to them being frequently wave-washed. black-faced cormorants breed there, and they hold an important breeding colony of Australian fur seals, with up to about 1000 pups being born there annually.Brothers, Nigel; Pemberton, David; Pryor, Helen; & Halley, Vanessa. (2001). ''Tasmania’s Offshore Islands: seabirds and other natural features''. Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery: Hobart. See also * List of islands of Tasmania Tasmania is the smallest and southernmos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Low Islets (Tasmania)
The Low Islets, part of the Passage Group within the Furneaux Group, is a close pair of unpopulated small granite islands with a combined area of , located in Bass Strait, south of Cape Barren Island, and west of both Spike and Clarke islands, in Tasmania, in south-eastern Australia. Fauna The island is one of only three sites where pelicans breed in Tasmania. Recorded breeding seabird, wader and waterbird species include little penguin, Pacific gull, silver gull, sooty oystercatcher, black-faced cormorant, Australian pelican, Caspian tern, crested tern and white-fronted tern.Brothers, Nigel; Pemberton, David; Pryor, Helen; & Halley, Vanessa. (2001). ''Tasmania’s Offshore Islands: seabirds and other natural features''. Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery: Hobart. See also * List of islands of Tasmania Tasmania is the smallest and southernmost state of Australia. The Tasmanian mainland itself is an island, with an area of - 94.1% of the total land area of the state. The o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spike Island (Tasmania)
The Spike Island, part of the Passage Group within the Furneaux Group, is a close pair of unpopulated granite islands with a combined area of , located in Bass Strait, south of Cape Barren Island in Spike Bay just off the west coast of Clarke Island, in Tasmania, in south-eastern Australia. Fauna Recorded breeding seabird and wader species include little penguin, Pacific gull, silver gull and sooty oystercatcher.Brothers, Nigel; Pemberton, David; Pryor, Helen; & Halley, Vanessa. (2001). ''Tasmania’s Offshore Islands: seabirds and other natural features''. Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery: Hobart. See also * List of islands of Tasmania Tasmania is the smallest and southernmost state of Australia. The Tasmanian mainland itself is an island, with an area of - 94.1% of the total land area of the state. The other islands have a combined area of , for a cumulative total of 99.75% o ... References Furneaux Group Islands of North East Tasmania Islands of Bass Str ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battery Island
The Battery Island, part of the Passage Group within the Furneaux Group, is a granite island, located in Bass Strait south of Cape Barren Island, in Tasmania, in south-eastern Australia. Fauna Recorded breeding seabird and wader species include little penguin, Pacific gull, silver gull, sooty oystercatcher and Caspian tern.Brothers, Nigel; Pemberton, David; Pryor, Helen; & Halley, Vanessa. (2001). ''Tasmania’s Offshore Islands: seabirds and other natural features''. Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery: Hobart. See also * List of islands of Tasmania Tasmania is the smallest and southernmost state of Australia. The Tasmanian mainland itself is an island, with an area of - 94.1% of the total land area of the state. The other islands have a combined area of , for a cumulative total of 99.75% o ... References Furneaux Group Islands of Bass Strait Islands of North East Tasmania {{Tasmania-geo-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
