Welcome to Bird Island in the Seychelles

I just love small islands in the middle of nowhere. Bird island is a unique bird sanctuary and private nature reserve in the Seychelles. If you like pristine nature experiences, this is the place to be.

Bird Island is not only one of the world’s top eco-holiday destinations, but as its name suggests, it is also a successful wildlife reserve. Situated in the Indian Ocean in the most northerly archipelago of the Seychelles, it has over five kilometers of the finest white sandy beaches. It is, in short, a paradise island, where visitors can appreciate the conservation of wildlife in the most beautiful, tranquil setting and escape the hassles and chaos of ordinary life!

Destination photography for Bird Island Lodge (birdislandseychelles.com/) and GoTraveling magazine (gotraveling.org/).

Send an email to jesper@anhede.se if you need kickass photos and videos of your destination.

Filmed with

• Canon 5DS R
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• Underwater housing from Aquatech
  bhphotovideo.com/c/product/859678-REG/Aqua_Tech_1065_DC_5_V3_Sport_Housing.html
• DJI Phantom 3 Professional
  bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1133098-REG/dji_phantom_3_professional_quadcopter.html
• Rhino slider
  bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1164231-REG/rhino_sku084_evo_carbon_slider_24.html

About Bird Island

Bird Island is the northernmost island in the Seychelles archipelago, 60 miles from Mahe. The 0.70 km² coral island is known for its birdlife, including sooty terns, fairy terns and common noddies, and for hawksbill and green turtles. It is now a private resort with 26 bungalows. It also contains a small weather station and a small landing strip Bird Island Airport which connects the island with Mahe.

Bird Island was formerly known as “Ile aux Vaches” due to the numerous dugongs (sea cows) that lived in nearby waters. Between 1896 and 1906, 17,000 tons of guano were removed from the island and exported to Mauritius as fertilizer. It formerly was a coconut plantation, and cash crops such as papaya and cotton were also grown.

Since 1967 it has been privately owned, and conservation measures have taken place such as protection of birdlife and hawksbill turtle nesting sites, the eradication of feral rats and rabbits and the translocation of a population ofSeychelles sunbird.

Bird Island is named in honour of its spectacular colony of around 700,000 pairs of sooty tern that nest on the island. The birds arrive from late March, laying eggs in May and remaining until October before leaving the island. Another phenomena especially in October to December, arises from the geographical location of Bird Island on the northern edge of the Seychelles Bank. This means it is the first landfall for migratory Euarasian birds and Seychelles Bird Records Committee has recorded here many species new to the country.