Bonaventure Island facts for kids
Bonaventure Island (also called île Bonaventure in French) is a special Canadian island. It is located in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, which is a large bay. The island is about 3.5 kilometers (2.2 miles) off the coast of Quebec's Gaspé Peninsula. It is also about 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) southeast of the small village of Percé. Bonaventure Island is mostly round and covers an area of about 4.16 square kilometers (1.61 square miles).
Island History
Bonaventure Island, along with Percé, was one of the first places where people fished in New France. This was a time when France ruled parts of Canada. Settlers from southern Ireland came to the island in the early 1790s.
In 1919, the island became a special place for birds. It was made a migratory bird sanctuary. This happened because of a treaty between Canada and the United States. The goal was to protect birds that travel long distances.
In 1971, the government of Quebec bought the entire island. Later, in 1985, Bonaventure Island became part of a national park. This park is called the Île-Bonaventure-et-du-Rocher-Percé National Park. It includes both Bonaventure Island and the famous Percé Rock.
Today, Bonaventure Island is one of the biggest and easiest-to-visit bird sanctuaries in the world. More than 280,000 birds live there! It is a very popular place for tourists. You can take boat tours and visit the island from May to October.
A Canadian aircraft carrier, the HMCS Bonaventure, was named after this island.
Island Birds
Bonaventure Island is a paradise for birds. About 218 different kinds of birds have been seen visiting, migrating to, or living on the island.
The most common bird you will find here is the northern gannet. Bonaventure Island is home to one of the largest groups of gannets anywhere in the world. In 2011, there were 51,700 pairs of gannets living on the island!
Other large groups of birds on the island include the black-legged kittiwake and the common murre. You can also see many other birds. These include terns, black guillemots, herring gulls, great black-backed gulls, razorbills, Leach's storm petrels, great cormorants, double-crested cormorants, and Atlantic puffins. Smaller birds like boreal chickadees and blackpoll warblers also live there.
Island Inspiration
Bonaventure Island has been a source of ideas and creativity for many artists and poets. The famous writer André Breton visited Percé in 1944. He said he loved watching the birds on the island while he worked on his novel.
Many painters and writers have been inspired by the island's beauty. Some artists even spent their summers living with the local people. These visitors included painters like Jacques Hurtubise and Kittie Bruneau. The sculptor Morton Rosengarten and the poet Michaël La Chance also found inspiration there.
Images for kids
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Bonaventure Island and Percé Rock.
See also
In Spanish: Isla Bonaventure para niños
