Steep Island, Australia

Steep Island, also known as Steep Head, is a 21.6 ha island in Bass Strait in south-eastern Australia. It is part of Tasmania’s Hunter Island Group and lies between north-west Tasmania and King Island. It was once used for grazing sheep but title has been transferred to the Tasmanian Aboriginal community; with an estimated 250,000 shearwater burrows present, it is principally used for muttonbirding.^[1]

The island is a breeding site for little penguins

Fauna

The island forms part of the Hunter Island Group Important Bird Area.^[2] Breeding seabirds and shorebirds include little penguin, short-tailed shearwater, common diving-petrel, Pacific gull, silver gull, sooty oystercatcher and black-faced cormorant. Tiger snakes have been introduced to the island and pose a threat to breeding seabirds.^[1]

References

1. 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
2. BirdLife International. (2011). Important Bird Areas factsheet: Hunter Island Group. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 2011-07-09.

40°34′S 144°41′E / 40.567°S 144.683°E / -40.567; 144.683