Granite Downs was a

cattle station In Australia and New Zealand, a cattle station is a large farm ( station is equivalent to the American ranch), the main activity of which is the rearing of cattle. The owner of a cattle station is called a '' grazier''. The largest cattle stati ...

in arid northern

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) 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 , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. It is now part of the

Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara, also known as APY, APY Lands or ''the Lands'', is a large, sparsely-populated local government area (LGA) for Aboriginal people, located in the remote north west of South Australia. Some of the aṉangu ...

lands.

Birds

A part of Granite Downs has been identified by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

as an

Important Bird Area 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. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA) because it supports a population of the

near threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify fo ...

chestnut-breasted whiteface The chestnut-breasted whiteface (''Aphelocephala pectoralis'') is a species of bird in the family Acanthizidae The Acanthizidae—known as Australian warblers—are a family of passerine birds which includes gerygones, the thornbills ''Acant ...

at its north-western distribution limit. It also supports populations of the

inland dotterel The inland dotterel (''Peltohyas australis'') is an endemic bird of the arid Australian interior. It forms loose flocks in sparsely vegetated gibber plain and claypans in the day where it loafs in the shade and eats shoots of shrubs. It is most o ...

Bourke's parrot Bourke's parrot (''Neopsephotus bourkii'', formerly known as ''Neophema bourkii''), also known as the blue-vented parrot, sundown parrot, pink-bellied parrot, Bourke's parakeet, Bourke or "Bourkie", is a small parrot found in Australia and the on ...

banded whiteface The banded whiteface (''Aphelocephala nigricincta'') is a species of bird in the family Acanthizidae. It is endemic to dryer regions of Australia. The ornithologist Alfred John North described the banded whiteface as ''Xerophila nigricincta'' in ...

black honeyeater The black honeyeater (''Sugomel nigrum'') is a species of bird in the honeyeater family Meliphagidae. The black honeyeater exhibits sexual dimorphism, with the male being black and white while the female is a speckled grey-brown; immature birds l ...

pied honeyeater The pied honeyeater (''Certhionyx variegatus'') is a species of bird in the family of honeyeaters Meliphagidae and the sole species in the genus '' Certhionyx'' (Christidis & Boles 2008). This species is also known as the black and white honeyeat ...

cinnamon quail-thrush The cinnamon quail-thrush (''Cinclosoma cinnamomeum'') is cryptic arid-zone species that is endemic to Australia. This small to medium-sized species of bird is found in the arid and semi-arid regions of central Australia. Taxonomy This speci ...

chiming wedgebill The chiming wedgebill (''Psophodes occidentalis''), sometimes referred to as chiming whipbird, is a species of bird in the family Psophodidae. It is endemic to Australia. The chiming wedgebill and chirruping wedgebill The chirruping wedgebil ...

and

thick-billed grasswren The thick-billed grasswren (''Amytornis modestus'') is a species of bird in the family Maluridae. It is endemic to Australia. Its natural habitat is Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation. Taxonomy and systematics The thick-billed grasswren wa ...

References

Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Stations (Australian agriculture) {{SouthAustralia-geo-stub