The Hunter Valley Important Bird Area is a 560 km² tract of land around Cessnock

Cessnock, New South Wales

Cessnock is a city in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, about by road west of Newcastle. It is the administrative centre of the Cessnock City Council LGA and was named after an 1826 grant of land called Cessnock Estate, which was owned by John Campbell...

 in central-eastern New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

.

Description

The site has been identified by BirdLife International

BirdLife International

BirdLife International is a global Partnership of conservation organisations that strives to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources...

 as an Important Bird Area

Important Bird Area

An Important Bird Area is an area recognized as being globally important habitat for the conservation of bird populations. Currently there are about 10,000 IBAs worldwide. The program was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife International...

 (IBA) because it regularly supports significant numbers of the endangered Regent Honeyeater

Regent Honeyeater

The Regent Honeyeater, Xanthomyza phrygia, is an endangered bird endemic to Australia. It feeds on nectar and insects within eucalyptus forests. Recent genetic research suggests it is closely related to the wattlebirds.-Distribution:...

 and Swift Parrot

Swift Parrot

The Swift Parrot breeds in Tasmania and migrates north to south eastern Australia from Griffith-Warialda in New South Wales and west to Adelaide in the winter. It is related to the rosellas, with the feeding habits of a lorikeet...

.
The near threatened

Near Threatened

Near Threatened is a conservation status assigned to species or lower taxa that may be considered threatened with extinction in the near future, although it does not currently qualify for the threatened status...

 Diamond Firetail

Diamond Firetail

The Diamond Firetail Stagonopleura guttata is a species of estrildid finch found in eastern Australia, from Eyre Peninsula, South Australia, to south-eastern Queensland, commonly found on the slopes of the Great Dividing Range. The bird lives in eucalypt forest and woodland, mallee country,...

 is also present. The IBA is defined by remnant patches of eucalypt

Eucalypt

Eucalypts are woody plants belonging to three closely related genera:Eucalyptus, Corymbia and Angophora.In 1995 new evidence, largely genetic, indicated that some prominent Eucalyptus species were actually more closely related to Angophora than to the other eucalypts; they were split off into the...

-woodland

Woodland

Ecologically, a woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of...

 and forest

Forest

A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...

 used by the birds in a largely anthropogenic landscape. It includes Aberdare and Pelton state forest

State forest

A state forest is a forest that is administered or protected by some agency of a sovereign state.The precise application of the term varies by jurisdiction...

s, Broke

Broke, New South Wales

Broke is a village of approximately 540 people in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia in Singleton Shire. It is located to the north of Sydney on the original early colonial road from Sydney to Singleton .-Description:...

 Common, Singleton

Singleton, New South Wales

-Industry & Commerce:Major industries near Singleton include coal mining, energy generation, light industry, vineyards, horse breeding and cattle production. Dairying was once a mainstay in the area, but has declined....

 Army Base, Pokolbin

Pokolbin, New South Wales

Pokolbin is a rural locality in the Hunter Region of New South Wales Australia. It is part of the Singleton Shire Council Local Government Area and the city of Cessnock. The area is the centre of the Lower Hunter Valley wine region...

, Quorrobolong, Abermain

Abermain, New South Wales

Abermain is a town located 8 km ENE of Cessnock and 3 km west of Weston, in New South Wales, Australia. Abermain is adjacent to Werakata National Park.-Schools and Education:...

 and Tomalpin, as well as various patches of bushland

Bushland

Bushland is any area in Australia that is predominantly indigenous flora and fauna.Bushland is the term commonly used by conservation protection groups and other environmental groups as a blanket term for natural vegetation, which may cover any kind of habitat from open shrubby country with few...

, including land owned by mining companies. The IBA contains Werakata National Park

Werakata National Park

Werakata is a national park in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. The park is located to the north, east and south of the town of Cessnock...

 and part of Watagans National Park

Watagans National Park

Watagans is a national park in New South Wales, Australia, north of Sydney.-References:...

. Extensive areas are used for coal mining

Coal mining

The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...

, vineyard

Vineyard

A vineyard is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice...

s, residential and industrial development, and military training.