 Newfoundland and Labrador is home to 16 ecological reserves and two wilderness reserves. Of these, six are internationally recognized breeding sites for seabirds: Baccalieu Island Ecological Reserve, Cape St. Mary’s Ecological Reserve, Funk Island Ecological Reserve, Gannet Islands Ecological Reserve, Hare Bay Islands Ecological Reserve, Witless Bay Ecological Reserve. At these sites, it is possible for you to see, first hand, the chaotic majesty of a seabird colony in the wild.
At just over 23 km² in area (18 km² us the marine portion), Baccalieu Island Ecological reserve contains the largest seabird island in Newfoundland and Labrador. It has more types of breeding seabirds than any other seabird colony in our province, and with 3,360,000-plus pairs of Leach’s storm-petrels, it is the largest Leach’s storm-petrel colony in the world!
Baccalieu Island is just off the northwestern tip of the Avalon Peninsula, near Bay de Verde. By day and when they are feeding, storm-petrels are at sea. During the night, Baccalieu’s grassy slopes and inland forest teem with life as millions of flying and singing petrels return to their underground nesting burrows using the protective cover of darkness.
The Baccalieu Island Ecological reserve is also the second largest Atlantic puffin colony (after the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve) in North America. More than 75,000 pairs nest on Baccalieu’s grassy slopes and surrounding rock scree. Black-legged kittiwakes, common and thick-billed murres, razorbills, and Northern fulmars are also present. The island is visible from shore, but access to the seabird nest area is restricted to scientific researchers. At the Bay de Verde Heritage House Museum, in nearby Bay de Verde, interpretive exhibits explain the natural and cultural history of Baccalieu and the region.
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Cape St. Mary’s Ecological Reserve is one of the best and most accessible places in the world to see nesting seabirds. Displays and programs inside the bright interpretive centre explain the life cycles of seabirds and the nature of the marine and terrestrial environment. A hike across open meadows brings you out to within ten metres of the thousands of Northern gannets that nest each summer on the spectacular sea stack known as Bird Rock.
Located about 200 km southwest of St. John’s, the Cape is one of our province’s major seabird colonies. At 64 km² (54 km² of which is a marine portion), the reserve is home to 24,000 Northern gannets, 20,000 black-legged kittiwakes, 20,000 common murres, and 2,000 thick-billed murres. More than 100 pairs of razorbills and 60 pairs of black guillemots nest there, as well as double-crested cormorants, great cormorants, and Northern fulmars. The season to view the nesting birds is May through September.
Cape St. Mary’s lies within the Eastern hyper-oceanic Barrens eco-region, which has distinctive arctic-tundra vegetation, treeless vistas, wildflowers, tough grasses, and a variety of wildlife. The waters offshore are an important wintering site for thousands of seaducks, such as harlequins, common eiders scoters, and long-tailed ducks.
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Funk Island Ecological Reserve, 60 km east of Fogo Island, is home to more than a million common murres, and contains the largest colony of common murres in the Western North Atlantic. Seabirds nesting on this flat granite island also include Northern gannets, Northern fulmars, Atlantic puffins, razorbills, thick-billed murres, black-legged kittiwakes, as well as herring and great black-backed gulls.
In previous centuries, Funk Island was also one of the major nesting areas of the now-extinct Great auk. The island’s official name – “funk” – comes from the odour of rotting guano (bird droppings). However, due to the presence of the auk (a flightless seabird with black and white plumage) it has also been known as “penguin island”. It was this bird, named the Northern Penguin, which inspired the name of penguins in the south.
At 5.2 km² (5 km² of which is the marine component), Funk Island is the smallest seabird ecological reserve in the province, but it is one of the most important. For the protection the nesting seabirds, only scientific research activities are allowed on the island.
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Not a single Northern gannet can be found on the seven islands in this 22 km² reserve (20 km² of which is the marine component). The name comes from a 19th century British survey ship. However, there are plenty of other seabirds on this remote island group 40 km northeast of Cartwright – it is the largest and most diverse seabird breeding colony in Labrador. The Gannet Islands Ecological reserve protects the largest razorbill colony in North America – 10,000 breeding pairs – and the third-largest Atlantic puffin breeding colony (after Witless Bay and Baccalieu Island Ecological Reserves) in North America, with more than 3,800 pairs.
The islands’ interior tundra vegetation is mainly dwarf sedges, low-lying heaths, and shrubby plants. Its slopes of boulder scree, rock cliffs, and turf provide habitat for the razorbills and puffins. There are also 36,000 breeding pairs of common murres and 1,900 breeding pairs of thick-billed murres, and scores of black-legged kittiwakes, great black-backed gulls, and Northern fulmars. During the summer, the islands are a staging area for harlequin ducks preparing for their southern migration.
The low-lying, rocky Gannet Islands were used as a landmark by sailors for centuries. Today, due to the significance and sensitivity of the site, visits to the reserve are restricted to scientific researchers.
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A trio of islands – Gilliat, Spring, and Brent - on the northeastern edge of the Great Northern Peninsula near Main Brook, make up the Hare Bay Islands Ecological Reserve. Together, they protect the breeding habitat of the common eider. Currently, approximately 170 pairs of common eiders nest on Gilliat and Spring Islands.
The 31 km² reserve (26 km² of which is the marine component) also provides a summer breeding habitat for common and Arctic terns, ring-billed, herring, and great black-backed gulls, and double-crested cormorants.
In addition to Newfoundland’s avifauna, the reserve also protects many unique geological and ecological features. For example, rich beds of Early and Middle Ordovicianage fossil gastropods (about 457 million years old) occur throughout the reserve.
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Four islands teeming with bird life – Gull, Green, Great, and Pee Pee - comprise the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve, just off the east coast of the Avalon Peninsula near Witless Bay. The 31 km² reserve (29 km² is the marine component) protects the largest Atlantic puffin colony in North America – more than 260,000 pairs of the province’s official bird nest here. It is also the second largest Leach’s storm-petrel colony in the world (after Baccalieu Island Ecological reserve), with more that 620,000 pairs. Black-legged kittiwakes and common murres also appear in the thousands.
The Canadian Wildlife Services and Memorial University of Newfoundland carry out extensive research programs on these islands. Their studies of behaviour, ecology, and population trends help guide the management of the province’s seabird reserves.
licenced tour boats operate from many of the communities near Witless Bay Ecological reserve (all within easy reach from St. John’s). They provide the public with whale, iceberg, and bird watching experiences. Seabirds generally spend most of the year at sea and only return to land from May to August to breed and raise their young. Landing on the islands required a research or education permit, but a boat tour can bring you close enough for easy observation..
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The colonies listed here are among the largest and most important in the world. However, Newfoundland and Labrador boasts hundreds of additional seabird colonies, as well as many other sites and lookouts where residents and visitors can enjoy quality bird watching.
Wadham and Cabot Islands (six islands located to the southeast of Fogo near Funk Island) are home to puffins, storm-petrels, common murres, black guillemots, razorbills, common terns, Arctic terns, Caspian terns, herring gulls, ring-billed gulls, and great black-backed gulls. Small numbers of eider ducks and other seabirds may also be observed around this archipelago at the entrance to Hamilton Sound.
If Manx shearwaters are of special interest, then Middle Lawn Island off the Burin Peninsula is the best location. On several islands in Placentia Bay, small numbers of nesting cormorants can be found. A few black-headed gulls nest on small islands off Newfoundland's west coast, and puffins, storm-petrels, kittiwakes, and numerous other seabirds can be found in dozens of smaller colonies around Newfoundland and Labrador.
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Each reserve has specific rules and regulations and it is important that you are aware of what is permitted when you visit a reserve. Most reserves are open to low impact activities (such as hiking and sightseeing) and may require permits for others.
For more information about visiting a reserve, visit the Parks & Natural Areas Division website of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.
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