Île aux Perroquets is ideal for watching the flocks of seabirds that have flown here to breed. This rocky platform is home not only to the common puffin but also to the razorbill (alca torda), the black guillemot (cepphus grylle), the black-legged kittiwake (rissa tridactyla) and the common raven (corvus corax). For the most part, these species nest in the island’s cliffs and scree. The common eider (somateria mollissima) and a few gull species make their home there too. The Île aux Perroquets sector is a part of the Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve of Canada and was designated as an Important Bird Area (IBA).
The beauties of Île aux Perroquets
Île aux Perroquets is a jewel among the string of islands making up the Mingan Archipelago, located north of the 50th parallel along the northern edge of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. This mythic island of limestone dominated by a lighthouse lies awash in the narrowest and most turbulent portion of the Jacques Cartier Strait separating the North Shore and Anticosti Island.
Running 350 metres in length and less than 100 metres in width, this island forms a rocky plateau rising to an elevation of 12 metres above sea level. Its steep cliffs form a scarp that slopes away more gently on the south side but that plunges sharply into the sea on the east side. Only the eastern portion of the island can be used for mooring purposes.
Île aux Perroquets falls just inside the westernmost limits of the Mingan Island National Park Reserve of Canada. Visitors are thus afforded a unique opportunity to come in contact with the dazzling yet fragile nature of this area. A diversity of fauna and flora, coupled with breathtaking surroundings, all represent precious resources worth knowing and protecting.