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The Lake Hawdon System Important Bird Area comprises an area of covering a series of five coastal lakes in the
The Lake Hawdon System Important Bird Area comprises an area of covering a series of five coastal lakes in the Limestone Coast
The Limestone Coast is a name used since the early twenty-first century for a South Australian government region located in the south east of South Australia which immediately adjoins the continental coastline and the Victorian border. The ...
of 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 ...
. They are the most important of a string of regional lakes occupying swale corridors between modern and historical sand dune
A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, fl ...
s.
Description
TheImportant 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) lies between the towns of Robe and Beachport. It includes the following lakes listed in order from north to south - Hawdon, Robe, Eliza, St Clair and George, and the area extending for a distance of inland from each in order to include habitat used by critically endangered orange-bellied parrots. Characteristics of the lakes are:
* Lake Hawdon – shallow, semi-permanent, brackish lake which is divided into a northern basin measuring and a southern basin measuring with a maximum water depth of about ;
* Lake Robe – much smaller than Lake Hawdon
* Lake Eliza – hypersaline coastal lake with maximum depth of ;
* Lake St Clair – similar to Lake Eliza but more saline
* Lake George – about with maximum depth of ; naturally hypersaline but functions as an estuary with an outlet to the sea.
Criteria for nomination as an IBA
The wetland system was identified byBirdLife 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 IBA because it regularly supports over 1% of the world populations of red-necked stint, and often of sharp-tailed sandpipers, double-banded plover
The double-banded plover (''Charadrius bicinctus''), known as the banded dotterel or pohowera in New Zealand, is a species of bird in the plover family. Two subspecies are recognised: the nominate ''Charadrius bicinctus bicinctus'', which breeds ...
s and banded stilts. It also provides habitat for orange-bellied parrots, Australasian bittern
The Australasian bittern (''Botaurus poiciloptilus''), also known as the brown bittern or matuku hūrepo, and also nicknamed the "bunyip bird", is a large bird in the heron family Ardeidae. A secretive bird with a distinctive booming call, it is ...
s, rufous bristlebird
The rufous bristlebird (''Dasyornis broadbenti'') is one of three Extant taxon, extant species of bristlebirds. It is Endemism, endemic to Australia where three subspecies have been described from coastal southwestern Western Australia, southeast ...
s and striated fieldwrens. The adjacent beaches and offshore islets, from Cowrtie Island to Baudin Rocks, sometimes support breeding fairy terns.
Associated protected areas
While the IBA has no statutory status, it does overlap the following protected areas declared by the South Australian government:Beachport Conservation Park
Beachport Conservation Park, formerly the Beachport National Park, is a protected area located in the Limestone Coast of South Australia about north-west of Mount Gambier and immediately north of the township of Beachport.
Land in the conser ...
, Lake Robe Game Reserve
Lake Robe Game Reserve is a protected area located about south of the town of Robe in South Australia. It covers the saline lake, Lake Robe, and some surrounding land and also immediately adjoins the northern boundary of the Little Dip Conserva ...
, Lake St Clair Conservation Park
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a Depression (geology), basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the World Ocean, oce ...
and Little Dip Conservation Park
Little Dip Conservation Park is a protected area in the Australian state of South Australia located in the Limestone Coast about north-west of Mount Gambier, South Australia, Mount Gambier and about south of the town of Robe, South Australia, ...
.
See also
*List of birds of South Australia
South Australia is a state in Australia with 487 species of bird recorded.
This list is based on the 1996 classification by Sibley and Monroe (though there has been a recent (2008) extensive revision of Australian birds by Christidis and Bo ...
References
Important Bird Areas of South Australia Limestone Coast {{SouthAustralia-geo-stub