Norfolk Island is an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, 1,412 kilometres (877 mi) directly east of Australia's Evans Head and about 900 kilometres (560 mi) from Lord Howe Island. Together with the neighbouring Phillip Island and Nepean Island, the three islands collectively form the Territory of Norfolk Island. At the 2021 census, it had 2,188 inhabitants living on a total area of about 35 km2 (14 sq mi). Its capital is Kingston.
The tree ferns are arborescent (tree-like) ferns that grow with a trunk elevating the fronds above ground level, making them trees. Many extant tree ferns are members of the order Cyatheales, to which belong the families Cyatheaceae, Dicksoniaceae, Metaxyaceae, and Cibotiaceae. It is estimated that Cyatheales originated in the early Jurassic, and is the third group of ferns known to have given rise to tree-like forms. The others are the extinct Tempskya of uncertain position, and Osmundales where the extinct Guaireaceae and some members of Osmundaceae also grew into trees. In addition there were the Psaroniaceae and Tietea in the Marattiales, which is the sister group to most living ferns including Cyatheales.
Araucaria heterophylla is a species of conifer. As its vernacular name Norfolk Island pine implies, the tree is endemic to Norfolk Island, an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia. It is not a true pine, which belong to the genus Pinus in the family Pinaceae, but instead is a member of the genus Araucaria in the family Araucariaceae, which also contains the hoop pine. Members of Araucaria occur across the South Pacific, especially concentrated in New Caledonia, where 13 closely related species of similar appearance are found. It is sometimes called a star pine, Polynesian pine, triangle tree or living Christmas tree, due to its symmetrical shape as a sapling.
The white swamphen, also known as the Lord Howe swamphen, Lord Howe gallinule or white gallinule, is an extinct species of rail which lived on Lord Howe Island, east of Australia. It was first encountered when the crews of British ships visited the island between 1788 and 1790, and all contemporary accounts and illustrations were produced during this time. Today, two skins exist: the holotype in the Natural History Museum of Vienna, and another in Liverpool's World Museum. Although historical confusion has existed about the provenance of the specimens and the classification and anatomy of the bird, it is now thought to have been a distinct species endemic to Lord Howe Island and most similar to the Australasian swamphen. Subfossil bones have also been discovered since.
The sacred kingfisher is a medium-sized woodland kingfisher that occurs in mangroves, woodlands, forests and river valleys in Australia, New Zealand and other parts of the western Pacific.
Korora oliveri, also referred to as Oliver's penguin, is a genus and species of extinct penguin from the Waitakian Stage of New Zealand. It was relatively small and slender, similar in size to one of the larger crested penguins. The penguin was described by Brian Marples in 1952 from fossil material he collected in the Hakataramea Valley, in the Canterbury region of the South Island. The genus name Korora is the Māori term for the extant little penguin. The specific epithet honours Walter Oliver (1883–1957) a former director of the Dominion Museum.
The Norfolk kākā is an extinct species of large parrot, belonging to the parrot family Nestoridae. The birds were about 38 cm long, with mostly olive-brown upperparts, reddish-orange cheeks and throat, straw-coloured breast, thighs, rump and lower abdomen dark orange and a prominent beak. It inhabited the rocks and treetops of Norfolk Island and adjacent Phillip Island. It was a relative of the New Zealand kākā.
Phillip Island is an island located 6 km (3.7 mi) south of Norfolk Island in the Southwest Pacific, and is part of the Norfolk Island group. It was named in 1788 by Lieutenant Philip Gidley King after Arthur Phillip, the first Governor of New South Wales. Phillip Island is part of the Australian external territory of Norfolk Island, and is included in Norfolk Island National Park, as is neighbouring Nepean Island and about 10 percent of Norfolk Island proper.
Norfolk Island National Park is a protected area of 6.50 km2 (2.51 sq mi) located at 29°2′0″S167°56′59″E in the South Pacific Ocean, about 1,471 kilometres off the East coast of Australia. The park’s area includes the Mount Pitt section on the namesake Norfolk Island with an area of 4.60 km2 (1.78 sq mi) / 460 ha, as well as the neighboring Phillip Island encompassing 1.90 km2 (0.73 sq mi) / 190 ha, and the much smaller Nepean Island. The Norfolk Island group is a Commonwealth of Australia external territory, and is the only place in the world where the Norfolk Island parakeet and the white-chested white-eye occur.
The austral snipes, also known as the New Zealand snipes or tutukiwi, are a genus, Coenocorypha, of tiny birds in the sandpiper family, which are now only found on New Zealand's outlying islands. There are currently three living species and six known extinct species, with the Subantarctic snipe having three subspecies, including the Campbell Island snipe discovered as recently as 1997. The genus was once distributed from Fiji, New Caledonia and Norfolk Island, across New Zealand and southwards into New Zealand's subantarctic islands, but predation by introduced species, especially rats, has drastically reduced their range.
The Norfolk parakeet, also called Tasman parakeet, Norfolk Island green parrot or Norfolk Island red-crowned parakeet, is a species of parrot in the family Psittaculidae. It is endemic to Norfolk Island.
The long-tailed triller is a species of bird in the family Campephagidae. It is found in New Caledonia, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. The Norfolk Island subspecies of the long-tailed triller, the Norfolk triller, has become extinct. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.
Abutilon julianae is a small shrub of the genus Abutilon believed endemic to Norfolk Island and nearby Phillip Island.
The Norfolk pigeon or Norfolk Island pigeon, sometimes called the wood quest, is an extinct subspecies of the New Zealand pigeon (kererū) that inhabited Norfolk Island. This population probably colonised Norfolk Island from New Zealand during the Pleistocene. It became extinct around the turn of the 20th century.
Raoul Sunday (Roy) Bell was a professional New Zealand and Australian natural history specimen collector, ornithologist, naturalist and photographer, who spent much time on Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand.
Coprosma baueri is an endangered shrub species in the plant family Rubiaceae. It is endemic to Norfolk Island, including nearby Phillip Island. Convict artist John Doody drew this species in 1792, its first record. He noted it grew only where exposed to the sea and was seldom taller than 3.7 m. He also recorded that its fruit are good to eat. Ferdinand Bauer collected the type specimen in 1804–05. In 2003 only about 228 mature plants were known. By 2009 Mills reported the number of plants on Phillip Island had increased to 446, about 170 of which were taller than one metre. Until rabbits were eradicated from Phillip Island it had been very rare there.
Phormium is a genus of two plant species in the family Asphodelaceae. One species is endemic to New Zealand and the other is native to New Zealand and Norfolk Island. The two species are widely known in New Zealand as flax or their Māori names wharariki and harakeke respectively, and elsewhere as New Zealand flax or flax lily, but they are not closely related to the Northern Hemisphere's flax, which is native to the region extending from the eastern Mediterranean to India and has been used by humans since 30,000 B.C.
Manuherikia is a genus of extinct species of ducks from the Miocene of New Zealand. It was described from fossil material of the Saint Bathans Fauna, in the lower Bannockburn Formation of the Manuherikia Group, found by the Manuherikia River in the Central Otago region of the South Island. The genus name comes from the name of the geological formation in which the fossils were found and, ultimately, from the Manuherikia River and its valley.
Platydyptes is a genus of extinct penguins from the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene of New Zealand. It was created by Brian Marples in 1952 and contains three relatively large species, all of which were described from the north Otago to south Canterbury region in the South Island. The genus name Platydyptes combines the Greek platys, alluding to the shape of the humerus, with dyptes ("diver").
