Summary: Lovely rainforest island not far from Cairns with some interesting birdlife
Date of visit: Nov 18 2023
Green Island is a small island of 12 hectares in the Great Barrier Reef, accessible in around 40 minutes by ferry from Cairns. It is the only coral cay on the reef that has rainforest, and it has reliable populations of Black Noddies, Buff-Banded Rails, Ashy-Bellied White-Eyes (somewhat hybridised with Silvereyes), and several species of terns.
The island has a main walking track that leads into the National Park section, and pops you out onto the beach on the eastern side, from where you can eventually make a full circuit, as we did on our November 2023 visit.
For us the birding started straight from the ferry, where we saw various diving terns, and birds resting on posts as the boat made its way out of the marina area of Cairns and into open water. These sporadic sightings were nothing, though, compared to the seabirds that came into view as the ferry approached the Green Island jetty.
Black-Naped Terns – distinguished from the also-present Bridled Terns by their pale wings and lack of black cap – were immediately apparent and looked rather swish as they dived and flew above the water. We also saw many Silver Gulls, a Lesser Crested Tern and a Little Tern.
We counted a total of 260 Black Noddies, many of which were using the moored vessels as perching spots.
There was a constant stream of Black Noddies flying between the open water and the western side of the island (immediately to the north of the jetty). When we explored this area we found many birds within the tree canopy and lots of nests. It is very cool to be able to see these birds – which are otherwise most often spotted as distant specks flying across the ocean – up close. Such is the magic of islands (Norfolk Island comes to mind here too as another spot where you can find nesting Black Noddies).
The “civilised” part of the island includes a shop, cafe, restaurant and bar, all set within a dappled green all-encompassing rainforest canopy. We spotted some Rose-Crowned Fruit Doves high up here, along with a few Torresian Imperial Pigeons too.
One of the birds we were especially looking for on this visit was a rare vagrant called a Nicobar Pigeon; a couple of these are kept in captivity in various sites around Australia but various discussions and eBird commentary seemingly concluded this particular individual was a wild bird that had perhaps lost its way (rather than an escapee). In any case this quite large and stout pigeon was super-easy to locate right in the cafe/shop area along with a few birders taking photographs quite close.
An attractive ground-dwelling bird that is impossible to miss on the island is the Buff-Banded Rail; we counted at least two dozen of these birds, several of which were scurrying around between and under chairs and sometimes getting aggressive at each other. They have evidently achieved prime scavenger status on the island.
We even saw a partially leucistic individual.
It is hard to overstate how ubiquitous and tame these birds are on the island, which is a real treat. They will jump up on tables, and I even saw one having a little bath on the edge of the surf while I was swimming… despite the fact that there were tons of people around.
A big target bird for birding-enthusiastic visitors to Green Island – especially if you chase lifers – is undoubtedly the Ashy-Bellied White-Eye. There is a resident population of these birds here but supposedly many have hybridised with the local Silvereyes (though there appears to be some debate on this). In any case, plenty of people checklist “Ashy-Bellied White-Eye” on eBird on this island (which inevitably generates a “Rare Bird Alert”). What you’re mainly looking for is the lack of the grey mantle on the back which identifies an Ashy, along with a bright yellow chin.
There are dozens of Silvereyes/Ashies on the island, so you’re likely to be scrutinising each and every one until you (maybe, hopefully!) find one without the grey mantle. (I swear I never want to take that many photos of Silvereyes ever again…)
In the National Park section of the island, the rainforest is pretty dense and was quite dry when we were there.
Orange-Footed Megapodes (formerly named Orange-Footed Scrubfowl) were fairly common at ground level.
The more easterly you go, the drier and (relatively) sparser the vegetation becomes, until it devolves into dry scrub as you emerge onto the east beach. Despite a packed ferry transporting plenty of people to the island, the far beach was nearly deserted.
There are normally small numbers of various shorebirds on this eastern beach, and for us we saw a Ruddy Turnstone and a couple of Grey-Tailed Tattlers. The Turnstone was very confiding and actually foraged right past our feet at the water’s edge!
Eastern Reef Egrets are usually seen on the island, and we saw both the dark and white morphs of this bird.
Back in the forest, we saw a few White-Breasted Woodswallows and Torresian Kingfisher, then enjoyed a terrific encounter with a male Satin Flycatcher, its feathers shining in the midday sunlight.
When planning our trip to Green Island, we weren’t sure how long we should spend on the island (and thus which return ferry to book), but fortunately we gave ourselves plenty of time, and we ended up spending nearly four hours making our way around (how time flies when you’re having fun!). For a fairly small area there is plenty of variety in birdlife – including seabirds, shorebirds and bush birds – to keep one interested. We recorded a decent checklist of 22 species in all.
We rewarded our long birding session with a swim, and it should be noted that you can hire snorkeling gear here and check out the beautiful surrounding reef; just to the south of the jetty is a popular spot for both swimming and snorkeling.
Summary
Green Island makes for a very pleasant day trip and delivers a pretty interesting birding expedition. Walking around the island can be quite rewarding and offers a change of pace from mainland-based birding – you won’t find dozens of near-tame Buff-Banded Rails most places in mainland Australia, still less with nesting Black Noddies above! And of course you can enjoy the beaches and swimming and general island vibe as well.
eBird:
Hotspot: Green Island (167 species)
Checklist for this visit: Nov 18 2023 (22 species)
Pluses and minuses:
+ Reliable seabirds, friendly Buff-Banded Rails, and a population of Ashy-Bellied White-Eyes
+ Combination of beach and rainforest birding
+ Lovely tropical island easily reached by ferry from Cairns
– Costs money to get there
– The island can get crowded in places
AUTHOR: ANDY GEE
BIRDERS: ANDY GEE, LUKE S, K-A
Bird Spots 