Bird island is the most northerly of the
Seychelles islands and is a coral island, resting
on the edge of the Seychelles plateau. As a small
(101 ha) coral island, all its habitats can be
described as coastal, with a strong maritime influence
on all areas. Originally the island was probably
a mixture of open habitat used by the nesting
terns and Pisonia grandis R.Br. woodland. Most of
the habitat of the island was modified in the 1900s
by the establishment of a coconut (Cocos nucifera L.)plantation. This is now abandoned and P. grandis
woodland is regenerating. The vegetation includes
many introduced species, few of which are significant
components of any habitat. The exception is
Carica papaya L. which is widely dispersed (and
increasing locally) by birds. There is no significant
agriculture or gardening and habitat management
and chemical input are restricted to seasonal burning
and insecticide spraying of one area to maintain
open habitat for the sooty tern colony. This has no
detectable impact on other parts of the island. Bird
Island has been visited by biologists on several
occasions since 1905. Available data on the island’s
biota are largely concentrated on the sooty tern
colony but scattered observations exist (Fryer
1909; Benoit 1978; Feare 1979; Stoddart and
Fosberg 1981). Surveys of the island’s ecosystems
were made in April and October 2001 and October
2002. These complement the data accumulated on
the spread of the crazy ants (Gerlach 2003) providing
an evaluation of the impact of this species on