The Bountiful Islands are a group of small islands in the
Gulf of Carpentaria
The Gulf of Carpentaria is a sea off the northern coast of Australia. It is enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on the north by the eastern Arafura Sea, which separates Australia and New Guinea. The northern boundary ...
, northern
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, belonging to the state of
Queensland
Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
and within the
Shire of Mornington.
The islands cover an area of . They form an
Important Bird Area
An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations.
IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...
because they support more than 1% of the global population of two bird species, with up to 2,000 pairs of
roseate tern
The roseate tern (''Sterna dougallii'') is a species of tern in the family Laridae. The genus name ''Sterna'' is derived from Old English "stearn", "tern", and the specific ''dougallii'' refers to Scottish physician and collector Dr Peter McD ...
s and 26–30,000 pairs of
crested tern
The greater crested tern Retrieved 28 February 2012 (''Thalasseus bergii''), also called crested tern, swift tern, or great crested tern, is a tern in the family Laridae that nests in dense colonies on coastlines and islands in the tropical and ...
s. It is around 450 hectares or 4.5 square km in size.
See also
*
List of islands of Australia
This is a list of selected Australian islands grouped by state or territory. Australia has 8,222 islands within its maritime borders.
Largest islands
The islands larger than are:
* Tasmania (Tas) ;
* Melville Island, Northern Territory (NT ...
References
External links
Map showing the location of The Bountiful Islands on the Australian coastline
Islands of Queensland
Important Bird Areas of Queensland
Gulf of Carpentaria
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