Swan Bay and Port Phillip Bay Islands Important Bird Area
Encyclopedia
The Swan Bay and Port Phillip Bay Islands Important Bird Area comprises a cluster of disparate sites centred at the eastern end of the Bellarine Peninsula
Bellarine Peninsula
The Bellarine Peninsula is a peninsula located south-west of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, surrounded by Port Phillip, Corio Bay and Bass Strait. The peninsula, together with the Mornington Peninsula separates Port Phillip from Bass Strait...
, and the southern end of Port Phillip
Port Phillip
Port Phillip Port Phillip Port Phillip (also commonly referred to as Port Phillip Bay or (locally) just The Bay, is a large bay in southern Victoria, Australia; it is the location of Melbourne. Geographically, the bay covers and the shore stretches roughly . Although it is extremely shallow for...
, in 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...
. As well as providing core wintering habitat for Orange-bellied Parrot
Orange-bellied Parrot
The Orange-bellied Parrot is a small broad-tailed parrot endemic to southern Australia, and one of only two species of parrot which migrate. The adult male is distinguished by its bright grass-green upperparts, yellow underparts and orange belly patch. The adult female and juvenile are duller...
s, it is important for wader
Wader
Waders, called shorebirds in North America , are members of the order Charadriiformes, excluding the more marine web-footed seabird groups. The latter are the skuas , gulls , terns , skimmers , and auks...
s, or shorebirds, and seabird
Seabird
Seabirds are birds that have adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations...
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Description
Sites included in 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:
Swan Bay area wetlands and barrier islands
- PortarlingtonPortarlington, VictoriaPortarlington is a historic coastal township located on the Bellarine Peninsula, 27km from the city of Geelong, in the state of Victoria, Australia. The gently rising hills behind the town feature vineyards and olive groves, overlooking Port Phillip Bay. Portarlington is a popular family holiday...
sewage treatment worksSewage treatmentSewage treatment, or domestic wastewater treatment, is the process of removing contaminants from wastewater and household sewage, both runoff and domestic. It includes physical, chemical, and biological processes to remove physical, chemical and biological contaminants... - Swan Bay - 30 km2 marine embayment with intertidalIntertidal zoneThe intertidal zone is the area that is above water at low tide and under water at high tide . This area can include many different types of habitats, with many types of animals like starfish, sea urchins, and some species of coral...
flats fringed by saltmarshSalt marshA salt marsh is an environment in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and salt water or brackish water, it is dominated by dense stands of halophytic plants such as herbs, grasses, or low shrubs. These plants are terrestrial in origin and are essential to the stability of the salt marsh... - Edwards PointEdwards Point (Victoria)Edwards Point is a 4 km long sand spit extending southwards between Swan Bay and Port Phillip Bay, at the eastern end of the Bellarine Peninsula, Victoria, Australia. It is about 115 km by road south-west of Melbourne and 40 km east of Geelong....
- 4 km sandspitSpit (landform)A spit or sandspit is a deposition landform found off coasts. At one end, spits connect to land, and extend into the sea. A spit is a type of bar or beach that develops where a re-entrant occurs, such as at cove's headlands, by the process of longshore drift...
with coastal woodlandWoodlandEcologically, 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...
, heathHeath-Habitats:* Heath or heathland, low-growing woody vegetation, mostly consisting of heathers and related species* Heaths in the British National Vegetation Classification system...
land and saltmarsh - Duck IslandDuck Island (Victoria)Duck Island, a small barrier island, lies 1.5 km north of Swan Island and south of Edwards Point in the main entrance to Swan Bay from Port Phillip in southern Victoria, Australia. It is part of the Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park and the plants and animals on and around the island are...
- small sand and saltmarsh island - Swan Island - 140 ha sand island, with coastal scrub and saltmarsh
- Rabbit Island - small saltmarsh island
- Freshwater Lake - small ephemeral lake, fringed by herblandHerbaceous plantA herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaves and stems that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. They have no persistent woody stem above ground...
- Lake VictoriaLake Victoria (Victoria).Lake Victoria is a 1.39 km² shallow saline lake on the Bellarine Peninsula, Victoria, Australia, close to the township of Point Lonsdale and part of the Lonsdale Lakes Nature Reserve administered by Parks Victoria. It is separated from Bass Strait by a narrow strip of coastal dunes...
- 139 ha shallow saline lake with extensive mudflatMudflatMudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats, are coastal wetlands that form when mud is deposited by tides or rivers. They are found in sheltered areas such as bays, bayous, lagoons, and estuaries. Mudflats may be viewed geologically as exposed layers of bay mud, resulting from deposition of...
s bordered by saltmarsh and sedgelandCyperaceaeCyperaceae are a family of monocotyledonous graminoid flowering plants known as sedges, which superficially resemble grasses or rushes. The family is large, with some 5,500 species described in about 109 genera. These species are widely distributed, with the centers of diversity for the group...
Port Phillip islands and structures
- Mud IslandsMud IslandsThe Mud Islands reserve is located within Port Phillip, about 90 km south-west of Melbourne, Australia, lying 10 km inside Port Phillip Heads, 7 km north of Portsea and 9 km east of Queenscliff. The land area of about 50 ha is made up of three low-lying islands surrounding a shallow tidal 35 ha...
- tight group of three low, sandy islands, with a total area of 50 ha, with shrubland, saltmarsh and mudflats - Pope's EyePope's EyePope's Eye is the uncompleted foundation for an island fort intended to defend the entrance to Port Phillip in the state of Victoria, Australia. It is less than a kilometre south-west of the former Chinaman's Hat....
- small artificial island with timber platform and navigation beacon - South Channel IslandSouth Channel FortSouth Channel Fort is a 0.7 ha artificial island in southern Port Phillip, Victoria, Australia, 6 km north-east of the town of Sorrento. It was part of a network of fortifications protecting the narrow entrance to Port Phillip....
- small artificial island - Wedge Light - timber platform with adjacent navigation beacon
Swan Bay and Mud Islands are within the Port Phillip Bay (Western Shoreline) and Bellarine Peninsula Ramsar Site
Port Phillip Bay (Western Shoreline) and Bellarine Peninsula Ramsar Site
The Port Phillip Bay and Bellarine Peninsula Ramsar Site is one of the Australian sites listed under the Ramsar Convention as a wetland of international importance. It was designated on 15 December 1982, and is listed as Ramsar Site No.266...
. Swan Bay, Mud Islands and Pope’s Eye are in the Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park
Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park
The Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park comprises six separate sites, with a combined area of 35.8 km², located in the vicinity of the entrance to Port Phillip, between the Bellarine and Mornington Peninsulas, in Victoria, Australia...
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Birds
The group of sites has been identified as an IBA 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...
because it supports significant numbers of critically endangered
Critically endangered
Version 2010.3 of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species identified 3744 Critically Endangered species, subspecies and varieties, stocks and subpopulations.Critically Endangered by kingdom:*1993 Animalia*2 Fungi*1745 Plantae*4 Protista-References:...
Orange-bellied Parrots and 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:...
Fairy Tern
Fairy Tern
The Fairy Tern is a small tern which occurs in the southwestern Pacific.There are three subspecies:* Australian Fairy Tern, Sterna nereis nereis - breeds in Australia...
s, and over 1% of the world populations of Blue-billed Duck
Blue-billed Duck
The Blue-billed Duck is a small Australian stiff-tailed duck, with both the male and female growing to a length of 40 cm . The male has a slate-blue bill which changes to bright-blue during the breeding season, hence the duck’s common name . The male has deep chestnut plumage during breeding...
s, Chestnut Teal
Chestnut Teal
The Chestnut Teal is a dabbling duck found in southern Australia. It is protected under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974.-Description:The Chestnut Teal is darker and a slightly bigger bird than the Grey Teal....
s, Australian White
Australian White Ibis
The Australian White Ibis , is a wading bird of the ibis family Threskiornithidae. It is widespread across much of Australia...
and Straw-necked Ibis
Straw-necked Ibis
The Straw-necked Ibis is a bird of the ibis and spoonbill family Threskiornithidae. It can be found throughout Australia, New Guinea, and parts of Indonesia. Adults have distinctive straw-like feathers on their neck....
es, Red-necked Stint
Red-necked Stint
The Red-necked Stint is a small migratory wader.- Description :These birds are among the smallest of waders, very similar to the Little Stint, Calidris minuta, with which they were once considered conspecific...
s and Silver Gull
Silver Gull
The Silver Gull also known simply as "seagull" in Australia, is the most common gull seen in Australia. It has been found throughout the continent, but particularly coastal areas. The South African Hartlaub's Gull and the New Zealand Red-billed Gull The Silver Gull (Chroicocephalus...
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The IBA regularly supports over 20,000 waterbirds, including 4000 to 15,000 waders and over 10,000 nesting seabirds. The largest Victorian colonies of White-faced Storm Petrels comprise some 12,400 nesting burrows on Mud Islands and South Channel Island. Mud Islands also has important breeding colonies of Australian Pelicans, Silver Gull
Silver Gull
The Silver Gull also known simply as "seagull" in Australia, is the most common gull seen in Australia. It has been found throughout the continent, but particularly coastal areas. The South African Hartlaub's Gull and the New Zealand Red-billed Gull The Silver Gull (Chroicocephalus...
s, Greater Crested
Greater Crested Tern
The Greater Crested Tern , also called Crested Tern or Swift Tern, is a seabird in the tern family which nests in dense colonies on coastlines and islands in the tropical and subtropical Old World...
and Caspian Tern
Caspian Tern
The Caspian Tern is a species of tern, with a subcosmopolitan but scattered distribution. Despite its extensive range, it is monotypic of its genus, and has no subspecies accepted either...
s, and ibis
Ibis
The ibises are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae....
es. Australasian Gannets nest on artificial structures such as Pope’s Eye and Wedge Light. The waders move regularly between the various sites to feed and roost but rarely move to the other areas of Port Phillip, which are identified as separate IBAs.
Other animals
The marine waters adjacent to the IBA contain populations of Australian Fur Seals and Burrunan DolphinBurrunan dolphin
The Burrunan dolphin is a recently-described species of bottlenose dolphin found in parts of Victoria, Australia. By size, the Burrunan dolphin is between the other two species of bottlenose dolphin and only around 150 individuals have been found in two locations.-Taxonomy:The species was formally...
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