The birds of Heard Island

Meet the birds of Heard Island – one of the most remote places on earth

With the potential outbreak of H5 bird flu on Heard Island, we take a look at some of the special birds which live there.

The suspected arrival of H5 bird flu on Australia’s Heard Island has thrust this spectacular volcanic outcrop – 4000 kilometres south-west of Perth, in the Southern Ocean – into the limelight. Although Heard Island is far from the Australian mainland, if the presence of bird flu is confirmed there, it will be the first time that this virulent disease has been recorded in an Australian territory.

So many penguins!

Heard Island, and its neighbour McDonald Island, support prodigious populations of seabirds, particularly penguins. Thousands of King, Macaroni, Southern Rockhopper and Gentoo Penguins all breed in bustling colonies there.

Rather than nesting on the black sands of the beach, Heard Island’s population of perhaps a million breeding pairs of Macaroni Penguins waddle inland slightly to nest in a vast, noisy colony situated on the surprisingly steep volcanic slopes, with each nest situated just beyond the pecking reach of its neighbours. Unusually for penguins, they lay two eggs in a shallow scrape in the ground, which is lined with small rocks. There’s a similarly huge colony on nearby McDonald Island. The Macaroni colonies on these islands are among the largest anywhere in the world, with more than a fifth of the global population of this vulnerable species nesting on these two tiny specks in the ocean.

Other incredible seabirds

Apart from penguins, Heard Island also hosts numerous other breeding seabirds, from the elegant Light-mantled Sooty Albatross, which plies the southern seas, to Common and South Georgia Diving-Petrels (sometimes referred to irreverently as ‘flying potatoes’), to Wilson’s Storm-Petrels, diminutive and graceful, which appear to dance on top of the waves as they forage for small fish and other seafood.

There’s also an endemic species of cormorant which lives on the island – the Heard Island Cormorant – which occurs nowhere else on Earth. They breed in colonies, sometimes at the periphery of penguin colonies, each consisting of a collection of dozens of nests, each one a smooth mound on the ground, made from tussock grass, mud and guano.

And where there are nesting colonies of seabirds, there are also often scavengers. Heard Island’s scavengers are large seabirds which act as a clean-up crew, much like the ecological role that vultures play in warmer regions of the world. Southern Giant Petrels, Brown Skuas and Black-faced Sheathbills are ever present at bird breeding colonies, scavenging on dead and dying birds and snatching the occasional chick.  These birds also consume the carcasses of dead seals and their pups.

If testing confirms that H5 bird flu is present on the island these seabirds may likely play a role in the further spread of the virus (as well as being at risk of contracting the disease themselves), as scavenging the remains of animals infected with H5 bird flu has been identified by researchers as a key transmission pathway.

Most susceptible to H5 bird flu

Of Heard Island’s breeding birds, the King Penguin and Heard Island Cormorant are considered by BirdLife Australia’s experts to be at greatest risk from H5 bird flu with potential for mass die-offs that may affect the species as a whole. The subspecies of the Black-faced Sheathbill is endemic to the island, and is also rated as high risk. Other birds classified as high risk include Macaroni and Southern Rockhopper Penguins, Light-mantled Sooty Albatrosses, and Kelp Gulls.

The arrival of H5 bird flu on Heard Island has the potential to devastate much of the rich birdlife which inhabits this remote territory. And while it does not significantly heighten the risk of the virus  being transmitted to birds on mainland Australia, some of Heard Island’s seabirds do fly with the aid of the westerly gales known as the Roaring Forties to waters off Australia – another reminder that Australia must remain vigilant and prepared for the likely arrival of this virus that has devastated wildlife around the world.

BirdLife Australia is helping monitor and prepare for a potential outbreak of H5 bird flu in Australia. To find out more, including the latest news and practical steps you can take now, visit our dedicated H5 bird flu webpage.