Port Fairy to Warrnambool Important Bird Area explained

The Port Fairy to Warrnambool Important Bird Area comprises a 14 km2 strip of coastal land lying between the town of Port Fairy to the west and the regional city of Warrnambool to the east, in south-western Victoria, Australia.

Description

The site consists of beach and associated coastal vegetation along 17 km of coastline. One of its two prominent plant communities is a dense coastal dune shrubland composed of medium shrubs, such as coast wattle and coast beard-heath, above a ground cover of grasses, herbs and sedges. The other is a mosaic of aquatic herbland, coastal saltmarsh and damp saline pasture, composed of species such as beaded glasswort, creeping brookweed, shiny swamp-mat, buck's-horn plantain and fat-hen.[1]

Birds

The site has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA) because it supports a breeding population of hooded plovers and serves as a wintering site for orange-bellied parrots.[2]

References

-38.3592°N 142.3811°W

Notes and References

  1. BirdLife International. (2011). Important Bird Areas factsheet: Port Fairy to Warrnambool. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 20/09/2011.
  2. Web site: IBA: Port Fairy to Warrnambool . 2011-09-20 . Birdata . Birds Australia .