Curtis Island (Tasmania)

Map of the Curtis Group

Curtis Island is a granite island, with an area of 150 ha, in south-eastern Australia. It is part of Tasmania’s Curtis Group, lying in northern Bass Strait between the Furneaux Group and Wilsons Promontory in Victoria. It is a nature reserve and has been identified as an Important Bird Area because it supports up to 390,000 breeding pairs of Short-tailed Shearwaters or Tasmanian Muttonbirds.^[1]

It was named by lieutenant James Grant, sailing on the Lady Nelson, after Sir Roger Curtis, British governor of the Cape of Good Hope, in 1800. ^{[2] [3] [4]}

Fauna

As well as the shearwaters, recorded breeding seabird and wader species include Little Penguin, Fairy Prion, Pacific Gull and Sooty Oystercatcher. Reptiles present include White-lipped Snake, Bougainville's Skink, White's Skink and Metallic Skink.^[5]

References

1. ^ "IBA: Curtis Island". Birdata. Birds Australia. http://www.birdata.com.au/iba.vm. Retrieved 2011-06-16. 
2. ^ Grant, James (1803), The narrative of a voyage of discovery, performed in His Majesty's vessel the Lady Nelson, London: Roworth, pp. 195 , cited in Bird (2006)
3. ^ Lee, Ida (1915), The Logbooks of the Lady Nelson, London: Grafton, pp. 328, http://openlibrary.org/books/OL6580132M/, retrieved 2011-02-11 , cited in Bird (2006)
4. ^ Bird, Eric (2006-10-12). "Place Names on the Coast of Victoria" (PDF). The Australian National Placename Survey (ANPS). Archived from the original on 2011-02-09. http://www.webcitation.org/5wNhWF4B7. 
5. ^ Brothers, Nigel; Pemberton, David; Pryor, Helen; & Halley, Vanessa. (2001). Tasmania’s Offshore Islands: seabirds and other natural features. Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery: Hobart. ISBN 0-7246-4816-X

Coordinates: 39°28′S 146°38′E / 39.467°S 146.633°E / -39.467; 146.633