Curtis Island (Tasmania) Explained

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 December 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]

See also

The other islands in the Curtis Group:

• Cone Islet
• Devils Tower
• Sugarloaf Rock

References

-39.4667°N 184°W

Notes and References

1. Web site: IBA: Curtis Island . 2011-06-16 . Birdata . Birds Australia . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110706102341/http://www.birdata.com.au/iba.vm . 2011-07-06 .
2. Book: Grant, James. James Grant (navigator). The narrative of a voyage of discovery, performed in His Majesty's vessel the Lady Nelson, of sixty tons burthen: with sliding keels, in the years 1800, 1801, and 1802, to New South Wales. 25 January 2012. 1803. 77. Printed by C. Roworth for T. Egerton. 978-0-7243-0036-5.
3. , cited in Bird (2006)
4. Web site: Bird . Eric . 2006-10-12 . Place Names on the Coast of Victoria . The Australian National Placename Survey (ANPS) . https://web.archive.org/web/20110218121208/http://www.anps.org.au/documents/VIC_coastal.pdf . 2011-02-18 . dead.
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.