Strzelecki Desert Lakes Important Bird Area

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Strzelecki Desert Lakes
Important Bird Area

South Australia
Hydroprogne caspia in flight.jpg
The IBA is an important area for Caspian terns
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Strzelecki Desert Lakes
Important Bird Area
Location in South Australia
Coordinates 29°03′42″S139°23′26″E / 29.06167°S 139.39056°E / -29.06167; 139.39056 Coordinates: 29°03′42″S139°23′26″E / 29.06167°S 139.39056°E / -29.06167; 139.39056
Area2,342 km2 (904.3 sq mi)

The Strzelecki Desert Lakes Important Bird Area is an Important Bird Area (IBA) in the Australian state of South Australia which consists of a series of ephemeral waterbodies in the arid Strzelecki Desert in the state's Far North region. It is considered to be important for waterbirds when its constituent lakes hold water in the aftermath of floods.

Important Bird Area area recognized as being globally important habitat for the conservation of birds populations

An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations.

South Australia State of Australia

South Australia is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of 983,482 square kilometres (379,725 sq mi), it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, and fifth largest by population. It has a total of 1.7 million people, and its population is the second most highly centralised in Australia, after Western Australia, with more than 77 percent of South Australians living in the capital, Adelaide, or its environs. Other population centres in the state are relatively small; Mount Gambier, the second largest centre, has a population of 28,684.

Desert climate deserts climate

The desert climate, is a climate in which there is an excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert climates hold little moisture and evaporate the little rainfall they receive. Covering 14.2% of earth's land area, hot deserts may be the most common type of climate on earth, after polar climate.

Contents

Description

The 2,342-square-kilometre (904 sq mi) Important Bird Area consists of a chain of lakes, of varying levels of salinity, on the lower Cooper and Strzelecki Creeks in north-eastern South Australia. The site is defined by the maximum extent of the Cooper Creek floodplain from Lakes Hope and Appadare to Lakes Killalpaninna, Kooperamanna and Killamperpunna, as well as Lakes Gregory, Blanche and Callabonna. Although the creek systems flood irregularly, water may persist in the lakes for several years. [1]

Cooper Creek river

The Cooper Creek is one of the most famous rivers in Australia because it was the site of the death of the explorers Burke and Wills in 1861. It is sometimes known as the Barcoo River from one of its tributaries and is one of three major Queensland river systems that flow into the Lake Eyre basin. The flow of the creek depends on monsoonal rains falling months earlier and many hundreds of kilometres away in eastern Queensland. At 1,300 kilometres (810 mi) in length it is the second longest inland river system in Australia after the Murray-Darling system.

Strzelecki Creek river in Australia

The Strzelecki Creek, part of the Lake Eyre basin, is an ephemeral watercourse located in the Australian state of South Australia.

Lake Hope (South Australia) lake in South Australia

Lake Hope is an ephemeral salt lake in the far north of South Australia.

Criteria for nomination as an IBA

The site has been identified by BirdLife International as an IBA because it has supported significant numbers of freckled and pink-eared ducks, grey teals, hardheads, Australian pelicans, banded stilts, red-necked avocets and Caspian terns. It also supports populations of Eyrean grasswrens, black honeyeaters, banded whitefaces, chirruping wedgebills and cinnamon quail-thrushes. [2]

BirdLife International global partnership of conservation organisations that strives to conserve birds

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. It is the world's largest partnership of conservation organisations, with over 120 partner organisations.

Freckled duck species of bird

The freckled duck is a waterfowl species endemic to Australia. The freckled duck has also been referred to as the monkey duck or the oatmeal duck. These birds are usually present in mainland Australia, but disperse to coastal and subcostal wetlands in the dry period. During such times it is common for the freckled duck population to congregate in flocks in the same area, giving the impression that they are more common than they really are.

Pink-eared duck species of bird

The pink-eared duck is a species of duck found in Australia. It has a large spatulate bill like the Australasian shoveler, but is smaller at 38–40 cm length. Its brown back and crown, black and white barred sides and black eye patches on its otherwise white face make this bird unmistakable. Juveniles are slightly duller, but otherwise all plumages are similar. Its vernacular name refers to a pink spot in the corner formed by the black head pattern; it is only noticeable at close distance however, making the seldom-used Australian name of zebra duck more appropriate.

Associated protected areas

While the IBA has no statutory status, it does overlap the Strzelecki Regional Reserve declared by the South Australian government. [1]

Strzelecki Regional Reserve Protected area in South Australia

Strzelecki Regional Reserve is a protected area located in the Australian state of South Australia in the gazetted localities of Lindon and Strzelecki Desert about 493 kilometres north-east of Port Augusta. It includes the Strzelecki Desert and the dry Strzelecki Creek bed. The regional reserve can only accessed via the historic Strzelecki Track. It is partly located on land that was included on the List of Wetlands of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention under the name Coongie Lakes in 1987. The regional reserve is classified as an IUCN Category VI protected area.

Government of South Australia state government of South Australia

The Government of South Australia, also referred to as the South Australian Government, SA Government or Her Majesty’s Government is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of South Australia. The Government of South Australia, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, was formed in 1856 as prescribed in its Constitution, as amended from time to time. Since the Federation of Australia in 1901, South Australia has been a state of the Commonwealth of Australia, and the Constitution of Australia regulates its relationship with the Commonwealth. Under the Australian Constitution, South Australia ceded legislative and judicial supremacy to the Commonwealth, but retained powers in all matters not in conflict with the Commonwealth.

See also

Strzelecki may refer to:

Related Research Articles

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Lake Corangamite lake in Victoria, Australia

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Lake Gregory (South Australia) lake in South Australia, Australia

Lake Gregory is a salt lake located in the Far North region of South Australia. The lake lies to the west of Lake Blanche; to the east the Birdsville Track runs in between it and Lake Eyre.

Lake Callabonna lake in South Australia

Lake Callabonna is a dry salt lake with little to no vegetation located in the Far North region of South Australia. The 160-square-kilometre (62 sq mi) lake is situated approximately 120 kilometres (75 mi) southwest of Cameron Corner, the junction of South Australia, Queensland and New South Wales. It is also known as Lake Mulligan.

Strzelecki Desert desert in central Australia

The Strzelecki Desert is located in the Far North Region of South Australia, South West Queensland and western New South Wales. It is positioned in the northeast of the Lake Eyre Basin, and north of the Flinders Ranges. Two other deserts occupy the Lake Eyre Basin—the Tirari Desert and the Simpson Desert.

Bulloo River river in Queensland, Australia

The Bulloo RiverBUUL-oo is an isolated drainage system in western Queensland, central Australia. Its floodplain, which extends into northern New South Wales, is an important area for waterbirds when inundated. It comprises most of the Bulloo-Bancannia drainage basin.

Tirari Desert desert in central Australia

The Tirari Desert is a 15,250 square kilometres (5,888 sq mi) desert in the eastern part of the Far North region of South Australia. It stretches 212 km from north to south and 153 km from east to west.

Coongie Lakes lake

The Coongie Lakes is a freshwater wetland system located in the Far North region of South Australia. The 21,790-square-kilometre (8,410 sq mi) lakes system is located approximately 1,046 kilometres north of the Adelaide city centre. The wetlands includes lakes, channels, billabongs, shallow floodplains, deltas, and interdune swamps. It lies on the floodplain of Cooper Creek, an ephemeral river flowing through a desert landscape in the Lake Eyre Basin which rarely, after occasional large floods, empties into Lake Eyre. The wetland system has been recognised both as being of international importance by designation under the Ramsar Convention with a listing on 15 June 1987 and being nationally important within Australia with a listing in A Directory of Important Wetlands in Australia (DIWA). Its extent includes the regional town of Innamincka, the Malkumba-Coongie Lakes National Park, the Innamincka Regional Reserve, the Strzelecki Regional Reserve and the Coongie Lakes Important Bird Area.

Goyder Lagoon Swamp in South Australia

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Gulf St Vincent Important Bird Area

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Lake Woods lake in Australia

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Lake Yamma Yamma lake in Australia

Lake Yamma Yamma is an ephemeral lake on the Cooper Creek system in the arid Channel Country of south-western Queensland, Australia. The lake, which is sometimes called Lake Mackillop, is the largest inland ephemeral lake in Queensland.

Paroo Floodplain and Currawinya Important Bird Area Important Bird Area in New South Wales, Australia

The Paroo Floodplain and Currawinya Important Bird Area is a 7,874 km2 (3,040 sq mi) site comprising the floodplain and the associated wetlands of the Paroo River in north-western New South Wales and south-western Queensland, Australia. It includes extensive areas of the Paroo-Darling and Currawinya National Parks, both of which are listed under the Ramsar Convention as wetland sites of international importance, as well as of the Nocoleche Nature Reserve.

Lake Blanche lake in South Australia

Lake Blanche is a salt lake in central South Australia that lies below sea level. It is located within the Strzelecki Creek Wetland System which is listed on A Directory of Important Wetlands in Australia. It also is within the extent of the Strzelecki Desert Lakes Important Bird Area, identified as such by BirdLife International because of its importance for waterbirds when holding water in the aftermath of floods.

Simpson Desert Important Bird Area Important Bird Area in Queensland, Australia

The Simpson Desert Important Bird Area comprises some 22,848 km2 of land within the Simpson Desert in south-western Queensland and north-eastern South Australia. It consists of five large contiguous reserves subject to little grazing pressure and good habitat management that are either known, or likely, to provide suitable habitat for Eyrean grasswrens.

Wyperfeld, Big Desert and Ngarkat Important Bird Area Important Bird Area in Victoria, Australia

The Wyperfeld, Big Desert and Ngarkat Important Bird Area comprises a 9743 km2 tract of semiarid mallee woodlands and shrublands in south-eastern Australia, straddling the border between the states of South Australia and Victoria.

Cooper Floodplain below Windorah

The Cooper Floodplain below Windorah comprises a 1741 km2 tract of floodplain of the Cooper Creek river system, below the town of Windorah, in the Channel Country of western Queensland, Australia. When inundated it is an important breeding site for large numbers of waterbirds.

References

  1. 1 2 "Important Bird Areas factsheet: Strzelecki Desert Lakes". BirdLife International. 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  2. "IBA: Strzelecki Desert Lakes". Birdata. Birds Australia. Retrieved 25 October 2011.