Phillip Island Important Bird Area

The site contains much of the Phillip Island Nature Park, including the tourist attraction of Penguin Parade, the headland of Cape Woolamai, sandy beaches, coastal vegetation of herbland, grassland and shrubland, and the offshore islets and reefs of the Nobbies and Seal Rocks at the western end of the island.

It does not include the intertidal mudflats of the island's north-eastern coast, which are part of the Western Port Important Bird Area.

[3] In 1940, the population was believed to have dropped from approximately 2000 birds to 200 rapidly due to a disease or pathogen,[4] though these figures are inconsistent with the scientific literature.

[2] An early detailed account of a visit to the colony was written by Donald Macdonald and published in The Argus in 1902.

In 1987, more international visitors witness the penguins coming ashore at Phillip Island than visited Uluru.