The avifauna of larger islands along the Kimberley coast, Western Australia

Abstract

Bird observations were collected opportunistically on 24 islands along the remote Kimberley coast of Western Australia between 2007 and 2010. We present a summary of our observations, along with bird data collated from other sources, to provide baseline inventories for these islands. A total of 157 species were recorded during our survey. The inclusion of other records increased the total number of bird species known from these islands to 179, with species richness for individual islands ranging from 22 to 95 taxa. We found that, in general, more bird species were observed on larger islands. Island attributes most closely correlated with observed bird assemblages included the extent of rugged habitat, the number of habitats and temperature in the warmest month of the year. No bird species or subspecies are confi ned to the Kimberley islands. Only one threatened bird species, the northern subspecies of the Masked Owl (Tyto novaehollandiae kimberli ), is known to occur on the islands we sampled. Further surveys are required to better document the avifauna of these and other Kimberley islands and to improve our understanding of the biogeographical patterns of Kimberley island birds.