Great Bird Island (Antigua and Barbuda)
 Great Bird Island, Antigua Red-billed Tropicbirds (Phaethon aethereus). | |||||||||||
  Great Bird Island  Great Bird Island  Great Bird Island | |||||||||||
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| Location | Caribbean | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 17°08′42″N 61°43′27″W / 17.14500°N 61.72417°W | ||||||||||
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Private island
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Great Bird Island is a tiny islet lying 2.5 kilometers off the northeast coast of Antigua. Measuring just 20 acres (81,000 m2), it is smaller than most city parks. It is a private island but open to the public.[1]
Fauna
[edit]The island was named by sailors who were amazed at the number of birds that they found living and nesting there. It forms part of Antigua’s Offshore Islands Important Bird Area (IBA), designated as such by BirdLife International because it supports significant populations of various bird species, including West Indian whistling-ducks, brown pelicans, laughing gulls, and least and royal terns.[2]
The island is the only place on Earth where you can see an Antiguan racer (Alsophis antiguae) in the wild. It is also home to the near-threatened lizard Pholidoscelis griswoldi and red-billed tropicbirds.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ (in French) Great Bird Island (Antigua) www.sea-seek.com
- ^ "Offshore islands". BirdLife Data Zone. BirdLife International. 2024. Retrieved 2024-09-11.
- ^ Bob Downing Antigua offers 365 beaches full of sand, sights and water sports for travelers Akron Beacon Journal Jul 10, 2011
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