The Nadgee to Mallacoota Inlet Important Bird Area comprises some 385 km² of coastal and subcoastal land at the south-eastern corner of the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n continent, where

Cape Howe Cape Howe is a coastal headland in eastern Australia, forming the south-eastern end of the Black-Allan Line, a portion of the border between New South Wales and Victoria. History Cape Howe was named by Captain Cook when he passed it on 20 A ...

marks the junction between the

Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea (Māori: ''Te Tai-o-Rēhua'', ) is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abe ...

and

Bass Strait Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The strait provides the most direct waterwa ...

, as well as the eastern end of the state border between New South Wales and Victoria. It includes the whole of the 207 km²

Nadgee Nature Reserve The Nadgee Nature Reserve is a protected nature reserve that is located in the far south coast region of New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The reserve is situated to the immediate south of Beowa National Park. Its southern border is boun ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

with the adjoining 167 km² eastern section of the

Croajingolong National Park The Croajingolong National Park is a coastal national park located in the East Gippsland region of the Australian state of Victoria. The national park is situated approximately east of Melbourne and south of Sydney. The name ''Croajingolo ...

East Gippsland East Gippsland is the eastern region of Gippsland, Victoria, Australia covering 31,740 square kilometres (14%) of Victoria. It has a population of 80,114. Australian Bureau of Statistics2006 Census Community Profile Series: East Gippsland (Sta ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. The western border of the site is formed by Mallacoota Inlet.

Description

The habitat contained in the IBA is mainly a mosaic of coastal

heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...

and

eucalypt Eucalypt is a descriptive name for woody plants with capsule fruiting bodies belonging to seven closely related genera (of the tribe Eucalypteae) found across Australasia: ''Eucalyptus'', '' Corymbia'', '' Angophora'', ''Stockwellia'', ''Allosyn ...

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

, including patches of

temperate rainforest Temperate rainforests are coniferous or broadleaf forests that occur in the temperate zone and receive heavy rain. Temperate rain forests occur in oceanic moist regions around the world: the Pacific temperate rain forests of North American ...

, wet heath, sedge

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

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, f ...

swales and dry

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It m ...

. Its temperate coastal vegetation constitutes one of the least disturbed such areas on the mainland of Australia, giving it a nationally significant level of structural and floristic integrity. Among the plants are six rare and several restricted species, with 24 species at their southern distributional limit.BirdLife International. (2011). Important Bird Areas factsheet: Nadgee to Mallacoota Inlet. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 28/08/2011.

Fauna

Birds

The site 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 the isolated southernmost population of the

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...

eastern bristlebird The eastern bristlebird (''Dasyornis brachypterus'') is a species of bird in the bristlebird family, Dasyornithidae. It is endemic to Australia. Its natural habitats are temperate forests, temperate shrubland, and temperate grassland. It is thre ...

, with an estimated size of 300 individuals, as well as a population of

pilotbird The pilotbird (''Pycnoptilus floccosus'') is a species of passerine bird in the family Acanthizidae. It is monotypic within the genus ''Pycnoptilus''. The species is endemic to south-eastern Australia. Taxonomy The species was first described ...

s. Other birds for which the IBA is important include

ground parrot The genus ''Pezoporus'' contains three Australian species: the night parrot (''Pezoporus occidentalis'') and the cryptic ground parrots, the eastern ground parrot (''Pezoporus wallicus'') and the western ground parrot (''Pezoporus flaviventris' ...

pied A piebald or pied animal is one that has a pattern of unpigmented spots (white) on a pigmented background of hair, feathers or scales. Thus a piebald black and white dog is a black dog with white spots. The animal's skin under the white backgro ...

and

sooty oystercatcher The sooty oystercatcher (''Haematopus fuliginosus'') is a species of oystercatcher. It is a wading bird endemic to Australia and commonly found on its coastline. It prefers rocky coastlines, but will occasionally live in estuaries. All of its fea ...

s, powerful,

sooty Sooty is a British children's television media franchise created by Harry Corbett incorporating primarily television and stage shows. The franchise originated with his fictional glove puppet character introduced to television in 1955, with the ...

and

masked owl Masked owl or masked-owl refers to various owls in the genus ''Tyto'', including: * Australian masked owl (''Tyto novaehollandiae'') ** Tasmanian masked owl (''Tyto novaehollandiae castanops'') * Golden masked owl (''Tyto aurantia'') * Manus masked ...

pink robin The pink robin (''Petroica rodinogaster'') is a small passerine bird native to southeastern Australia. Its natural habitats are cool temperate forests of far southeastern Australia. Like many brightly coloured robins of the family Petroicidae, it ...

striated fieldwren The striated fieldwren (''Calamanthus fuliginosus'') is a species of bird in the family Acanthizidae, endemic to Australia. Description The striated fieldwren is a small bird, 140mm in size. It is light brown and olive-colored, with a white st ...

s and

hooded plover The hooded dotterel or hooded plover (''Thinornis cucullatus'') is a species of bird in the family Charadriidae. It is endemic to southern Australia, where it inhabits ocean beaches and subcoastal lagoons. There are two recognised subspecies whi ...

Mammals

Mammals found in the area include

long-nosed potoroo The long-nosed potoroo (''Potorous tridactylus'') is a small, hopping, gerbil-like mammal native to forests and shrubland of southeastern Australia and Tasmania. A member of the rat-kangaroo family (Potoroidae), it lives alone and digs at night f ...

southern brown bandicoot The southern brown bandicoot (''Isoodon obesulus'') is a short-nosed bandicoot, a type of marsupial, found mostly in southern Australia. It is also known as the quenda in South Western Australia (from the Noongar word ''). Taxonomy George Shaw ...

yellow-bellied glider The yellow-bellied glider (''Petaurus australis''), also known as the fluffy glider, is an arboreal and nocturnal gliding possum that lives in native eucalypt forests in eastern Australia, from northern Queensland south to Victoria. Habitat ...

tiger quoll The tiger quoll (''Dasyurus maculatus''), also known as the spotted-tail quoll, the spotted quoll, the spotted-tail dasyure, native cat or the tiger cat, is a carnivorous marsupial of the quoll genus '' Dasyurus'' native to Australia. With male ...

s and

dingo The dingo (''Canis familiaris'', ''Canis familiaris dingo'', ''Canis dingo'', or ''Canis lupus dingo'') is an ancient (Basal (phylogenetics), basal) lineage of dog found in Australia (continent), Australia. Its taxonomic classification is de ...

References

Important Bird Areas of Victoria (state) South Coast (New South Wales) Croajingolong National Park Important Bird Areas of New South Wales {{Gippsland-geo-stub