The St Arnaud Box-Ironbark Region is a 481 km² fragmented and irregularly-shaped tract of land that encompasses all the Box-Ironbark forest

Box-Ironbark forest

Box-Ironbark forest is a forest or woodland ecosystem that is largely limited to central Victoria in south-eastern Australia. Because its component tree species produce abundant nectar and pollen throughout the year, it is important for the conservation of many species of birds and other...

 and 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...

 remnants used as winter feeding habitat by 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...

s in the St Arnaud-Stawell

Stawell, Victoria

Stawell , is a town in the Wimmera region of Victoria, Australia. The town is located in Shire of Northern Grampians Local Government Area, west-north-west of the state capital, Melbourne. At the 2006 census, Stawell had a population of 6,035....

 region of central Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

, south-eastern 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 lies west of the Maryborough-Dunolly Box-Ironbark Region

Maryborough-Dunolly Box-Ironbark Region

The Maryborough-Dunolly Box-Ironbark Region includes all the Box-Ironbark forest and woodland remnants used as winter feeding habitat by Swift Parrots in the Maryborough-Dunolly region of central Victoria, south-eastern Australia...

 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). It includes the St Arnaud Range National Park

St Arnaud Range National Park

St Arnaud Range National Park is located in the Wimmera region of Victoria, Australia, to the south of the town of St Arnaud.The area's status as a national park is relatively new, having been gazetted by the Victorian Government in 2002. Extending over 13,900 hectares, it incorporates the former...

, several nature reserve

Nature reserve

A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...

s and 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, with a few small blocks of private land. It excludes other areas of woodland that are less suitable for the parrots.

Birds

The region was identified as an IBA because, when flowering conditions are suitable it supports up to about 75 non-breeding 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...

s. It is also home to small populations of 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,...

s and non-breeding 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. Other declining woodland birds recorded from the IBA include Brown Treecreeper

Brown Treecreeper

The Brown Treecreeper is the largest Australasian treecreeper. The bird is endemic to eastern Australia, found in eucalypt forests and woodlands of the Great Dividing Range. The Brown Treecreeper is pale brown to grey-brown, with black streaking on the underparts and black bars on the undertail....

s, Speckled Warbler

Speckled Warbler

The Speckled Warbler is a species of bird in the family Acanthizidae, where it belongs to the monotypic genus Chthonicola. It is endemic to Australia...

s, Hooded

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...

 and Pink Robin

Pink Robin

The Pink Robin is a small passerine bird native to southeastern Australia. Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. Like many brightly coloured robins of the Petroicidae family, it is sexually dimorphic...

s, Crested Bellbird

Crested Bellbird

The Crested Bellbird is a species of bird in the Colluricinclidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Oreoica.It is endemic to Australia.-Conservation status:...

s and Black Honeyeater

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...

s.