Byrd Head is a conspicuous, rocky

headland A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, John ...

on the

Mawson Coast The Mawson Coast is that portion of the coast of Mac. Robertson Land, Antarctica, lying between William Scoresby Bay, at 59°34′E, and Murray Monolith, at 66°54′E. The coast was sighted during the British Australian New Zealand Antarctic R ...

1 mi southeast of

Colbeck Archipelago Colbeck Archipelago () is an archipelago of numerous small rocky islands centered 1 mi northwest of Byrd Head, just east of Taylor Glacier, off Mawson Coast. Discovered in January 1930 and charted in February 1931 by the British Australian ...

, just west of Howard Bay. Discovered in February 1931 by the

British Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition The British Australian (and) New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition (BANZARE) was a research expedition into Antarctica between 1929 and 1931, involving two voyages over consecutive Austral summers. It was a British Commonwealth initiative, dr ...

(BANZARE) under

Douglas Mawson Sir Douglas Mawson OBE FRS FAA (5 May 1882 – 14 October 1958) was an Australian geologist, Antarctic explorer, and academic. Along with Roald Amundsen, Robert Falcon Scott, and Sir Ernest Shackleton, he was a key expedition leader during ...

, who named it for R. Admiral

Richard E. Byrd Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. (October 25, 1888 – March 11, 1957) was an American naval officer and explorer. He was a recipient of the Medal of Honor, the highest honor for valor given by the United States, and was a pioneering American aviator, p ...

, U.S. Navy (USN).

References

Headlands of Antarctica {{EAntarctica-geo-stub