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Settlement Point Viewing Platform

View Mutton birds on dusk from the viewing platform Flinders Island Tasmania
Settlement Point Shearwater Viewing Platform Flinders Island Tasmania
Settlement Point Mutton bird Viewing Platform
Shearwaters or Tasmanian Mutton bird Flinders Island Tasmania
Shearwater Rookery Viewing Platform  Flinders Island Tasmania
Shearwaters or Tasmanian Mutton bird Flinders Island Tasmania
Shearwaters over the ocean
View Short Tailed Shearwater on dusk from the viewing platform Flinders Island Tasmania
Mutton Bird chick Flinders Island Tasmania
The Settlement Point viewing platform at Emita is the ideal location to watch the Shearwaters (Mutton birds) return to their burrows at dusk, after a day of feeding far out at sea (November to April). The Short Tailed Shearwater, more commonly known as the Mutton-Bird is a member of a group of 100 medium to large seabirds in the family Procellariae. The breeding period for these birds is September through to April; they breed in burrows about 1 metre long. In November, after spending the last couple of months meeting up with their mate and tidying up their burrow, the mutton birds leave the colony for a short time to feed before returning to lay a single egg. The chicks hatch in late January with both parents participating in its feeding and care. The parents leave the down-covered chicks in early April and the chicks do not eat again until early May, so they rapidly lose weight as they acquire their flight feathers. 2-3 weeks after the parents have left the fledglings will begin their first migratory flight unassisted by experienced birds. The average life span of these birds is 15-19 years with some living to 38.

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