One of the world's oldest and most elusive seabirds has been found on Lady Elliot Island at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef.
The 23-year-old red-tailed tropicbird was discovered as part of a larger research project looking at the significance of the island as a refuge from the impacts of climate change.
Very little is known about the species, which has been known to spend the majority of its life at sea.
University of the Sunshine Coast animal ecology lecturer, Dominique Potvin, said the bird had previously been banded [tagged] on the island, but not for 23 years.
"To come back to the exact same nest, within centimetres of where you were born to nest is pretty special," Dr Potvin said.
Dr Potvin said the species pairs for life and takes turns looking after the nest, meaning the gender of the oldest known bird is unknown.
"Wintertime is outside the normal breeding season for most birds, so it also appears this shy bird could time its nesting to avoid other migratory seabirds who visit Lady Elliot Island each summer to breed and nest, such as the noisy Wedge-tailed Shearwater or mutton bird," she said.
"It's all a bit mysterious, we don't know a lot about them.
"It means we don't really know how much trouble they might be in because of environmental change and other factors that might be influencing their populations."
Tiny satellite trackers to uncover species' secrets
The team of scientists have started further research to uncover more information about the enigmatic bird.
Dr Potvin said the research team will band a number of new chicks this year with hopes to track them as they age.
"We are going to take DNA samples to see how they might be related," she said.
"We are also going to be looking at behaviour at sea by putting tiny satellite trackers o to see where they go and what they do because we currently have very little idea of what they do."
