Southern NSW Mallee Important Bird Area
Encyclopedia
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...
. It is roughly bounded by the Murray River
Murray River
The Murray River is Australia's longest river. At in length, the Murray rises in the Australian Alps, draining the western side of Australia's highest mountains and, for most of its length, meanders across Australia's inland plains, forming the border between New South Wales and Victoria as it...
in the south, the Darling River
Darling River
The Darling River is the third longest river in Australia, measuring from its source in northern New South Wales to its confluence with the Murray River at Wentworth, New South Wales. Including its longest contiguous tributaries it is long, making it the longest river system in Australia.The...
in the west, and the Willandra Lakes
Willandra Lakes Region
The Willandra Lakes Region is a World Heritage Site that covers 2,400 square kilometres in south-western New South Wales, Australia.The Region contains important natural and cultural features including exceptional examples of past human civilization including the world's oldest cremation site...
in the north. It lies north-west of the town of Balranald
Balranald, New South Wales
Balranald is a town and local government area in the Riverina district of New South Wales, Australia. At the 2006 census the population was 1,216....
, north of Robinvale
Robinvale, Victoria
Robinvale is a town on the south bank of the Murray River in northern Victoria, Australia. It is connected by a bridge to Euston on the other side of the river in New South Wales. At the 2006 census, Robinvale had a population of 2214.-History:...
and east of Mildura.
Description
The exact boundaries of the Important Bird AreaImportant 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) are defined by the presence of remnant mallee woodland and shrubland habitat
Mallee Woodlands and Shrublands
Mallee Woodlands and Shrublands is a Major Vegetation Group which occurs in semi-arid areas of southern Australia. The vegetation is dominated by mallee eucalypts which are rarely over 6 metres high...
, excluding areas that have been cleared or support other plant communities. The landscape is mainly mallee
Mallee (habit)
Mallee is the growth habit of certain eucalypt species that grow with multiple stems springing from an underground lignotuber, usually to a height of no more than ten metres...
on flat or undulating sand plains, much of which is used for grazing
Pastoralism
Pastoralism or pastoral farming is the branch of agriculture concerned with the raising of livestock. It is animal husbandry: the care, tending and use of animals such as camels, goats, cattle, yaks, llamas, and sheep. It may have a mobile aspect, moving the herds in search of fresh pasture and...
. The climate is semi-arid; temperatures range from a mean maximum in January of 33°C to a July minimum of 4.5°C; mean annual rainfall is about 280 mm. The site includes several small reserves as well as Mallee Cliffs National Park
Mallee Cliffs National Park
Mallee Cliffs is a national park in the south-west of New South Wales, Australia. It lies 789 km west of Sydney and 30 km east of the Murray River city of Mildura, Victoria....
and part of Mungo National Park
Mungo National Park
Mungo National Park is an isolated national park in south-western New South Wales, Australia, 876 km west of Sydney, in the Balranald Shire. It is part of the Willandra Lakes Region, a World Heritage Site covering 2,400 square kilometres, and incorporating seventeen dry lakes...
.
Birds
The site has been identified by BirdLife InternationalBirdLife 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 IBA because it either is known to support, or contains suitable habitat for, a significant population (estimated at 500 individuals) of the vulnerable
Vulnerable species
On 30 January 2010, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species identified 9694 Vulnerable species, subspecies and varieties, stocks and sub-populations.-References:...
Malleefowl
Malleefowl
The Malleefowl is a stocky ground-dwelling Australian bird about the size of a domestic chicken...
. Other notable birds recorded in the IBA include Flame Robin
Flame Robin
The Flame Robin is a small passerine bird native to Australia. It is a moderately common resident of the coolest parts of south-eastern Australia, including Tasmania. Like the other two red-breasted Petroica robins—the Scarlet Robin and the Red-capped Robin—it is often simply but...
s, Black
Black Honeyeater
The Black Honeyeater is a species of bird in the family of honeyeaters, Meliphagidae, and the sole species in the genus Sugomel. The Black Honeyeater exhibits sexual dimorphism with the male being black and white while the female is a speckled grey-brown; immature birds look like the female...
and Pied Honeyeater
Pied Honeyeater
The Pied Honeyeater is a species of bird in the Meliphagidae family.It is endemic to Australia.-References:* BirdLife International 2004. . Downloaded on 25 July 2007....
s, Major Mitchell's Cockatoo
Major Mitchell's Cockatoo
The Major Mitchell's Cockatoo also known as Leadbeater's Cockatoo or Pink Cockatoo, is a medium-sized cockatoo restricted to arid and semi-arid inland areas of Australia...
s, Purple-crowned Lorikeet
Purple-crowned Lorikeet
The Purple-crowned Lorikeet, Glossopsitta porphyrocephala, is a lorikeet found in scrub and mallee of southern Australia...
s, Regent Parrot
Regent Parrot
The Regent Parrot is a bird of the parrot family . It has predominantly yellow plumage with a green tail. The bird is found primarily in eucalyptus groves and other wooded areas of subtropical southwestern Australia, as well as to a smaller area of subtropical and temperate southeastern Australia...
s, Shy Heathwren
Shy Heathwren
The Shy Heathwren is a species of small bird in the Acanthizidae family, endemic to Australia. They inhabit mostly mallee woodland that has relatively dense shrub and heath understorey. Shy Heathwrens feed mostly on ground dwelling insects; rarely on seeds. Their ground level nests are dome-shaped...
s, Southern Scrub-robin
Southern Scrub-robin
The Southern Scrub-robin is a species of bird in the Petroicidae family.It is endemic to Australia.-References:* BirdLife International 2004. . Downloaded on 25 July 2007....
s, Hooded Robin
Hooded Robin
The Hooded Robin is a small passerine bird native to Australia. Like many brightly coloured robins of the Petroicidae it is sexually dimorphic; the male bearing distinctive black and white coloured plumage, while the female is a nondescript grey-brown.-Taxonomy:Like all Australian Robins, it is...
s, Chestnut Quail-thrush
Chestnut Quail-thrush
The Chestnut-backed Quail-thrush or Chestnut Quail-thrush is a species of bird in the Cinclosomatidae family. It is endemic to Australia. Its natural habitat is Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation.-References:...
es and Gilbert's Whistler
Gilbert's Whistler
The Gilbert's Whistler is a species of bird in the Pachycephalidae family.It is endemic to Australia.-References:* BirdLife International 2004. . Downloaded on 26 July 2007....
s.