It is a nature reserve with a breeding colony of over one million mutton birds or short-tailed shearwaters.

[2][3] Rodondo's vegetation communities include Disphyma herbfield, Stipa tussock grassland, Poa poiformis tussock grassland, Melaleuca armillaris low closed forest, Allocasuarina verticillata low open forest, clifftop shrubland, and Eucalyptus globulus open forest.

[4] As well as the shearwaters, recorded breeding seabird and wader species include little penguin, fairy prion, Pacific gull and sooty oystercatcher.

[4] The island was sighted by Lieutenant James Grant on 9 December 1800 from the survey brig HMS Lady Nelson and named "from its resemblance to that rock, well known to all seamen in the West Indies",[6] presumably Redonda, between the islands of Montserrat and Nevis.

[7] The first landing was in January 1947 when a party led by John Béchervaise spent a week exploring the island and surveying its natural history.