Boatswain Bird Island
| Boatswain Bird Island | ||
|---|---|---|
| Waters | Atlantic Ocean | |
| Archipelago | Ascension | |
| Geographical location | 7 ° 56 ′ 9 ″ S , 14 ° 18 ′ 26 ″ W | |
|
||
| length | 340 m | |
| width | 220 m | |
| surface | 5.3 ha | |
| Highest elevation | 104 m | |
| Residents | uninhabited | |
Boatswain Bird Island is a rocky island about 280 m off the northeast coast of Ascension Island in the southern Atlantic Ocean .
The island owes its name to the red-billed tropical birds , which British sailors called boatswain birds . The island covers an area of 340 m × 220 m and consists of a 104 m high flattened rock, which has got a white color from the guano deposits . On the south coast of the island there is a natural stone arch made of lava rock. Guano was mined on Boatswain Bird Island in the 1920s.
At the beginning of the 19th century, Ascension was the habitat for millions of sea birds. When cats and rats spread on Ascension around 1815, the former abundance of birds was severely decimated. Boatswain Bird Island has become a retreat for several species such as the Madeira Hawk , Red-billed Tropical Bird , White-Tailed Tropical Bird , Lesser Noddi Tern, and Eagle Frigate Bird , where they formed new breeding colonies. In 1977 the island was declared a strictly protected bird sanctuary . It has been a nature reserve since 2014.
Web links
- Important Bird Areas factsheet: Boatswainbird Island. In: BirdLife Data Zone. BirdLife International (English).
- Boatswain Bird Island ( Memento of February 9, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (English).
- Juanita Brock: Ascension: A Zodiac Tour of Boatswainbird Island. Photos of the island. In: The Islander. South Atlantic Remote Teritories Media Association (SARTMA), August 10, 2003.
Individual evidence
- ^ Official Record for Boatswain Bird Island Sanctuary. In: Protected Planet. World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA), accessed May 20, 2017 .