Swan Island is a granite

Granite

Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...

 island, with an area of 239 ha

Hectare

The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...

 (591 ac; 0.92 mi²), in south-eastern Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. It is part of the Waterhouse Island Group, lying close to the north-eastern coast of Tasmania

Tasmania

Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...

. Part of the island is privately owned and it contains an automated lighthouse

Lighthouse

A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....

, several houses and an airstrip. It has previously been subject to grazing by livestock

Livestock

Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...

. Several shipwrecks have been recorded here of vessels passing through Banks Strait; Brenda (1832), Mystery (1850), Union (1852).

Fauna

Swan Island forms part of the Cape Portland

Cape Portland, Tasmania

Cape Portland is both a geographical feature and a location near the north eastern tip of Tasmania. It points west across Ringarooma Bay...

 Important Bird Area

Important Bird Area

An Important Bird Area is an area recognized as being globally important habitat for the conservation of bird populations. Currently there are about 10,000 IBAs worldwide. The program was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife International...

. Recorded breeding seabird

Seabird

Seabirds are birds that have adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations...

 and wader

Wader

Waders, called shorebirds in North America , are members of the order Charadriiformes, excluding the more marine web-footed seabird groups. The latter are the skuas , gulls , terns , skimmers , and auks...

 species are Little Penguin

Little Penguin

The Little Penguin is the smallest species of penguin. The penguin, which usually grows to an average of in height and in length , is found on the coastlines of southern Australia and New Zealand, with possible records from Chile.Apart from Little Penguins, they have several common names...

, Short-tailed Shearwater

Short-tailed Shearwater

The Short-tailed Shearwater or Slender-billed Shearwater , also called Yolla or Moonbird, and commonly known as the muttonbird in Australia, is the most abundant seabird species in Australian waters, and is one of the few Australian native birds in which the chicks are commercially harvested...

, Pacific Gull

Pacific Gull

The Pacific Gull is a very large gull, native to the coasts of Australia. It is moderately common between Carnarvon in the west, and Sydney in the east, although it has become scarce in some parts of the south-east, as a result of competition from the Kelp Gull, which has "self-introduced" since...

, Silver Gull

Silver Gull

The Silver Gull also known simply as "seagull" in Australia, is the most common gull seen in Australia. It has been found throughout the continent, but particularly coastal areas. The South African Hartlaub's Gull and the New Zealand Red-billed Gull The Silver Gull (Chroicocephalus...

, Sooty Oystercatcher

Sooty Oystercatcher

The Sooty Oystercatcher, Haematopus fuliginosus, is a species of oystercatcher. It is a wading bird native to Australia and commonly found on its coastline. It prefers rocky coastlines, but will occasionally live in estuaries....

, Pied Oystercatcher

Pied Oystercatcher

The Pied Oystercatcher, Haematopus longirostris, is a species of oystercatcher. It is a wading bird native to Australia and commonly found on its coastline. The similar South Island Pied Oystercatcher The Pied Oystercatcher, Haematopus longirostris, is a species of oystercatcher. It is a wading...

, Hooded Plover

Hooded Plover

The Hooded Dotterel or Hooded Plover is a species of bird in the Charadriidae family. It is endemic to southern Australia and Tasmania. There are two recognized subspecies, both of which are classifed as Endangered....

, Caspian Tern

Caspian Tern

The Caspian Tern is a species of tern, with a subcosmopolitan but scattered distribution. Despite its extensive range, it is monotypic of its genus, and has no subspecies accepted either...

 and Crested Tern. Cape Barren Geese

Cape Barren Goose

The Cape Barren Goose is a large goose resident in southern Australia. The species is named for Cape Barren Island, where specimens were first sighted by European explorers.-Taxonomy:...

 also nest on the island. Reptile

Reptile

Reptiles are members of a class of air-breathing, ectothermic vertebrates which are characterized by laying shelled eggs , and having skin covered in scales and/or scutes. They are tetrapods, either having four limbs or being descended from four-limbed ancestors...

s present include the Metallic Skink

Metallic Skink

The Metallic Cool-skink or Metallic Skink is a species of skink in the Scincidae family. It is endemic to Australia, found in southern Victoria, as well as in Tasmania where it is the most widespread and common lizard, occurring on many offshore islands in Bass Strait as well as the mainland. It...

, White's Skink

White's Skink

White's Skink is a species of skink in the Scincidae family. It is found in south-eastern Australia, including Tasmania and many Bass Strait islands. It is slow-growing, to a maximum length of about 90 mm, and may take four years to reach maturity. It gives birth to live young. It is...

, Bougainville's Skink

Bougainville's Skink

Bougainville's Skink is a species of skink in the Scincidae family. It is found in south-eastern Australia, including north-eastern Tasmania and many Bass Strait islands. It has very reduced limbs and moves in a snake-like manner. It is seldom seen as much of its life is spent beneath...

 and Tiger Snake. European Rabbit

European Rabbit

The European Rabbit or Common Rabbit is a species of rabbit native to south west Europe and north west Africa . It has been widely introduced elsewhere often with devastating effects on local biodiversity...

s and House Mice

House mouse

The house mouse is a small rodent, a mouse, one of the most numerous species of the genus Mus.As a wild animal the house mouse mainly lives associated with humans, causing damage to crops and stored food....

 are present.

Other islands in the Waterhouse Group with breeding seabirds include:

• Ninth Island
  Ninth Island
  Ninth Island is an island, with an area of 32 ha, in south-eastern Australia. It is part of the Waterhouse Island Group, lying close to the north-eastern coast of Tasmania. It is partly privately owned and has been badly affected in the past by grazing, frequent fires and, in July 1995, by the...
  
  
• Tenth Island
  Tenth Island
  Tenth Island is a small island nature reserve, sometimes called "Barrenjoey", with an area of 900 m2, in south-eastern Australia. It is part of the Waterhouse Island Group, lying close to the north-eastern coast of Tasmania...
  
  
• Waterhouse Island
• Little Waterhouse Island
  Little Waterhouse Island
  Little Waterhouse Island is a small island, with an area of 2.5 ha, in south-eastern Australia. It is part of the Waterhouse Island Group, lying close to the north-eastern coast of Tasmania. Most of the island is bare rock...
  
  
• Maclean Island
  Maclean Island
  Maclean Island is a small island, with an area of 1.11 ha, in south-eastern Australia. It is part of the Waterhouse Island Group, lying close to the north-eastern coast of Tasmania.-Fauna:...
  
  
• Baynes Island
  Baynes Island
  Baynes Island is a group of three islets, connected at low tide, with a combined area of 1.62 ha, in south-eastern Australia. It is part of the Waterhouse Island Group, lying close to the north-eastern coast of Tasmania.-Fauna:...
  
  
• Cygnet Island
• Foster Islands
  Foster Islands (Tasmania)
  The Foster Islands are two small islands, connected at low tide, with a combined area of 48 ha, in south-eastern Australia. They are part of the Waterhouse Island Group, lying close to the north-eastern coast of Tasmania...
  
  
• Little Swan Island
  Little Swan Island
  Little Swan Island is an island, with an area of 12.64 ha, in south-eastern Australia. It is part of the Waterhouse Island Group, lying close to the north-eastern coast of Tasmania.-Fauna:...
  
  
• Bird Rock
  Bird Rock
  Bird Rock is a small granite island, with an area of about 1 ha, in south-eastern Australia. It is part of the Waterhouse Island Group, lying close to the north-eastern coast of Tasmania.-Fauna:...
  
  
• George Rocks
  George Rocks
  George Rocks comprises three adjacent granite islets with their associated reefs, with a combined area of about 7 ha, in south-eastern Australia...
  
  
• St Helens Island
  St Helens Island
  St Helens Island is a granite island, with an area of 51 ha, in south-eastern Australia. It is part of the Waterhouse Island Group, lying close to the north-eastern coast of Tasmania. The island is a conservation area, though it has been burnt in the past and is still subject to severe rabbit...
  
  
• Paddys Island
  Paddys Island
  Paddys Island is a flat granite island, with an area of 4.6 ha, in south-eastern Australia. It is part of the Waterhouse Island Group, lying close to the north-eastern coast of Tasmania...