[2][1] The privately owned[3] island was named by Matthew Flinders from the noises made by the seabirds there.

[6] The Babel Island group is classified as an Important Bird Area.

[7] Babel island is home to the largest colony of short-tailed shearwaters in the world, with an estimated 2.8 million pairs, or about 12% of the whole population of this species, and is subject to annual muttonbirding.

As well as the shearwaters and penguins, other seabirds and waders recorded as breeding on the island include silver gull, Pacific gull, sooty oystercatcher and crested tern.

White-bellied sea-eagles breed on the island and peregrine falcons nest on the eastern cliffs.