SUB-REGION
Southern Indian Ocean Islands
SIZE
Saint-Paul and Amsterdam are extremely isolated volcanic islands, some 80 km apart, with a combined total land area of 62 km²
BIRDS AND BIRDING
SPECIES
Diversity
Approximately 50 recorded species on Saint-Paul and Amsterdam and inshore waters
Seabirds and vagrants, with one introduced species
Endemics (E)
Amsterdam Albatross (EN)
Birds occurring in only two territories of the ABC region but not near-endemic (1/2)
Northern Rockhopper Penguin | Moseley’s Rockhopper Penguin
MacGillivray’s Prion
Other taxa of interest, including endemic subspecies (ESS)
Eurasian Whimbrel
Bar-tailed Godwit
Ruddy Turnstone
Curlew Sandpiper
Grey-tailed Tattler
Common Greenshank
Sooty Tern
Antarctic Tern (ESS sanctipauli)
Brown Skua (lonnbergi)
Wilson’s Storm Petrel
White-bellied Storm Petrel (leucogaster)
Snowy Albatross | Wandering Albatross
Sooty Albatross
Black-browed Albatross
Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross
Northern Giant Petrel
Pintado Petrel
Fairy Prion
Great-winged Petrel
White-headed Petrel
Soft-plumaged Petrel
Grey Petrel
White-chinned Petrel (aequinoctialis)
Little Shearwater
Cape Gannet
Introduced species
Common Waxbill
MAIN HABITATS
Peatbogs, tussock grasses, sedges and rushes, sea cliffs, coastal waters
BIRD AREAS
3 Important Bird Areas
BIRDING SITES
Saint-Paul Island and Roche Quille
Plateau des Tourbières and Falaises d’Entrecasteaux on Amsterdam Island
TIMING
Best to visit Nov-Feb, when it is warmer and many seabirds breed
RESOURCES
Apps
Birds of Africa
Field guides
A Complete Guide to Antarctic Wildlife: the Birds and Marine Mammals of the Antarctic Continent and the Southern Ocean by Hadoram Shirihai (2007)
Seabirds: the New Identification Guide by Peter Harrison, Martin Perrow & Hans Larsson (2021)
Further reading
French Southern Territories by Antoine Catard in Important Bird Areas in Africa and Associated Islands: Priority Sites for Conservation edited by Lincoln D C Fishpool & Michael I Evans (2001)
Albatrosses and Petrels across the World by Michael Brooke (2004)
Birds and Wildlife of the French Sub-Antarctic Territories: Crozet, Kerguelen and Amsterdam & St Paul by Olivier Duriez, Hans Jornvall & Hadoram Shirihai (2005)
Articles in Marine Ornithology, Bull. ABC, etc.
Websites
Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP)
Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises – Les îles Australes
Réserve Naturelle Nationale des Terres Australes Françaises
Institut Polaire Français – Découvrir les îles Subantarctiques
Terres et Mers Australes Françaises – UNESCO World Heritage List
ORGANISATIONS
Ligue pour la Protection des Oiseaux (LPO) is the BirdLife Partner for the Austral Islands including Saint-Paul and Amsterdam
The only known bird or conservation organisation active on Saint-Paul and Amsterdam is –
Amicale des Missions Australes et Polaires Françaises (AMAPOF)
Zone Atelier Antarctique et Terres Australes (ZATA) monitors the long-term dynamics of ecosystems of the French Antarctic and sub-Antarctic territories, including Saint-Paul and Amsterdam