Bird Island Seychelles

AKA "Ile aux Vaches" it's the only one among the Seychelles
Islands, which officially bears two different unrelated names

Bird Island Seychelles, a tiny island and the most northerly at the end of the 155-island chain, is easily accessible by visitors to the Seychelles. You can get there in 30 minutes by light twin-prop aircraft from Mahe's international airport. You could also charter a helicopter for the trip or go our favourite way - by sea.

The Island hasn't changed much since I first discovered this charming little sand cay (also key) in the late 1960's. At that time the island had just changed hands. It is privately owned by one family who has been running a small lodge with two-dozen small bungalows since the early 1970's. You won't find anything fancy on Bird Island - just cosy, nice and comfortable. There is no pretence here. If you're looking for luxury you'll have to go elsewhere.

But for bird-watching holidays in the Seychelles the fist place that comes to mind is Bird Island. Although if you have a special fascination for birds and Seychelles birds in particular then you should try visit other islands too especially Aride and Cousin islands both near Praslin.

For bird watching you could also make special arrangement to visit Desnoeufs and Aldabra, the latter being very difficult to get to though. And where you'll see the last flightless birds of the Indian Ocean among other species. And Desnoeufs Island is where you'll be mesmerized by the mother of all seabird colonies - mostly noddy and sooty terns. But Bird Island is catching up fast.

AKA "Ile aux Vaches" it's the only one among the 155 Seychelles Islands, which officially bears two different unrelated names, but the name, Bird, seems more fitting when you consider that over two million birds now call it home. These are mostly semi-migratory seabirds of the sooty tern variety that travel back thousands of miles to breed on Bird Island year after year.

The breeding season is from May to September, but they may start arriving and landing on the island as early as April. The sooty terns start laying in May and by October they will all have left the island with their offspring. And they'll be away at sea for 6 months. When the birds leave it's now the turn of the sea turtles to start nesting in the soft sands of Ile aux Vaches.

Bird Island Seychelles - During the non-breeding season of the sooty terns

Incidentally its other name has to do with the fact that there used to be great abundance of sea cows around its shores but alas for these gentle sea creatures they are now non-existent in the area due to relentless exploitation in the distant past. But the story of Ile aux Vaches has a happier ending. It is a modern-day conservation success story for the seabirds and sea turtles.

It is not only a nesting ground for millions of sooty terns, but you will also find on Bird Island thousands of other birds of many different species including the land-based seabirds like the common noddy and the beautiful fairy terns. But the latter nest high up in the tall trees while the noddies and sooties nest right on the ground, and it's the large number of sooty terns that makes it so amazing.

Avian flu concerns:

What of avian flu? The risk is very low, as always in Seychelles due to the shear distances involved - its isolation tends to make Seychelles safe.

Note that there are no true migratory birds in Seychelles. The sooty terns that do seem migratory in nature, actually just follow their food source and remain at sea for 6 months of the year, so the risk of contamination by birds from the outside world is low.

Having said that you should always follow WHO advice and your own government's directives with regard to your health...

Sea turtles also breed without fear on Bird Island's talcum-powder-like, white, sandy beaches. These huge heavy creatures, the Hawksbill and the Green turtles, which are not well adapted on land and can measure well over one metre, lumber up the beach making great effort dragging themselves up with their flippers. The females beach themselves usually under cover of darkness.

Seychelles Bird Island beach - 5 km long
Where the beach is most beautiful

Find Seychelles hotel deals
Search here... and Save on your hotel

They dig up the sand just beyond high-water mark and lay some 100 eggs at a time. Then they cover the nest and head off to sea. Their job is done, for now, so they leave it to nature to take care of the rest. But they will return to the same beach again and again at a few months interval over the years to lay more.

On Ile aux Vaches these activities are closely monitored and logged, with regular beach patrols that are at hand to help the turtles should they get entangled in the beach undergrowth. And it happens often, as these creatures are more suited to an aquatic environment.

Without help they would just succumb to their fate and perish. Nests are marked and numbered. And sometimes they are relocated when it appears that the turtle has made a poor judgement call - perhaps the nest gets threatened by high tides.

When the baby turtles hatch several weeks later, they all scuttle down the beach together and head off straight to sea, usually again under cover of darkness, so as not to fall prey to birds and beach crabs on the way. But they may sometimes emerge from the nest during the day too, on the cooler days, like when it rains.

For them the cycle of life has just begun and those that survive will come back to the same beach to start breeding some 25 to 30 years later. As you can see the success of conservation of this species can only be seen in the long term.

 

It must be pointed out that in the recent decades the new owners of private islands in Seychelles have all moved away from exploitation to embrace conservation whole-heartedly to the benefit of the Seychelles as a whole.

And it has been reported that Bird Island's turtle population is on the increase with more adult beaching. And if you go scuba diving or snorkelling there you will see a lot more young turtles. So the efforts are starting to pay off.

The hawksbill turtles and the green turtles are now protected species in Seychelles, and Bird Island is one place where you can witness turtles beaching regularly...and if you wish, you too may take active part in nature conservation - like joining a beach patrol and helping with marking nests, nest relocation when necessary and watching over nests keeping them safe from predators as well as making sure the adult turtle returns to sea safely.

And in the event that the baby turtles emerge from their nest in daylight you can help keep them safe for release under cover of darkness when danger from predators are minimum Talk of unusual holidays!

All this can be fun and it makes for an exotic holiday. I love this little island of 180 acres and the millions of birds. And here on the next page I want to tell you how I discovered it and all about my first trip to Bird Island Seychelles with its wonderful soft silky beach - yes, just one single beach 5 km long that encircles the island completely.

---

Don't forget to bookmark this page, so you can find it again :).
- Use your preferred social bookmark and also share it below...

To top of page... Seychelles Bird

Click here below to go back to...