Bird Island, South Georgia

Coordinates: 54°1′S 38°3′W / 54.017°S 38.050°W / -54.017; -38.050 Bird Island is 4.8 kilometres (3 mi) long and 800 metres (875 yd) wide, separated from the western end of South Georgia by Bird Sound. It is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom, also claimed by Argentina as part of Tierra del Fuego province.

History

It was discovered in 1775 by a British expedition under James Cook, who so named it "on account of the vast numbers [of birds] that were upon it".

In the late 1950s, the island was the subject of a number of US funded projects. Between 1959-62, a great number of the island's wandering albatross were ringed, which gave startling data about their range - one bird was found in Australia .

The island has been a station for Antarctic research since 1963, and is currently a biological research station of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) at Jordan Cove, with three resident biologists and one technician. The main focus of the research is the ecology and population of the island's seabirds and seals.

Bird Island

Bird Island may refer to:

Africa

Europe

North America

In Alaska, U.S.:

In California, U.S.:

In Minnesota, U.S.:

In the Caribbean:

In other areas of North America:

Bird Island (Tasmania)

Bird Island is an island game reserve, with an area of 43.92 ha, in Bass Strait, south-eastern Australia. It is part of Tasmania’s Hunter Island Group which lies between north-west Tasmania and King Island. It is home to about 5,000 pairs of short-tailed shearwaters, the young of which are harvested annually, and about 3,000 pairs of little penguins.

Fauna

The island forms part of the Hunter Island Group Important Bird Area. As well as the shearwaters and penguins, other breeding seabirds and shorebirds include white-faced storm-petrel, Pacific gull, silver gull and sooty oystercatcher. Reptiles include the metallic skink and abundant tiger snakes.

References

Coordinates: 40°36′S 144°43′E / 40.600°S 144.717°E / -40.600; 144.717

Bird Island (Western Australia)

Bird Island is the name of three islands in Western Australia. Two are in the Kimberley region, and the third is off the coast of Rockingham, about 2km south of Garden Island (Western Australia).

Perth region

The southernmost of the islands 32°16′42″S 115°41′17″E / 32.27833°S 115.68806°E / -32.27833; 115.68806 is about 150-200m long (E-W) and up to 100m wide, and is about 500m off the southern coast of Cape Peron. Nearby Islands to the south are Seal Island and Penguin Island, and as mentioned, Garden Island to the north.

Kimberley region

The northern pair of islands are about 60km east-west of each other. The nearest settlement is Kalumburu, the northernmost settlement in Western Australia. The islands are several hundred kilometers north-east of Broome.

The western island 14°5′7″S 125°42′41″E / 14.08528°S 125.71139°E / -14.08528; 125.71139 is one of about 3 dozen islands around the mouth of the Admiralty Gulf which include the Montesquieu group of islands, the Kingsmill Islands and the Low Rocks and Sterna Island Important Bird Area. The island is roughly circular, about 60m in diameter.

South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands

South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (SGSSI) is a British overseas territory in the southern Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote and inhospitable collection of islands, consisting of South Georgia and a chain of smaller islands known as the South Sandwich Islands. South Georgia is 165 kilometres (103 mi) long and 1 to 35 km (1 to 22 miles) wide and is by far the largest island in the territory. The South Sandwich Islands lie about 700 kilometres (430 mi) southeast of South Georgia. The total land area of the territory is 3,903 square kilometres (1,507 sq mi).

There is no native population on the islands; the present inhabitants are the British Government Officer, Deputy Postmaster, scientists, and support staff from the British Antarctic Survey who maintain scientific bases at Bird Island and at the capital, King Edward Point, as well as museum staff at nearby Grytviken.

The United Kingdom claimed sovereignty over South Georgia in 1775 and the South Sandwich Islands in 1908. The territory of "South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands" was formed in 1985; previously it had been governed as part of the Falkland Islands Dependencies. Argentina claimed South Georgia in 1927 and claimed the South Sandwich Islands in 1938.