The Richmond Woodlands comprise some 329 km² of

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 ...

remnants close to

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

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 ...

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 ...

. They lie at the foot of the Blue Mountains on the north-western fringe of the

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

metropolitan area.

Description

The

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) boundary is defined by patches of habitat suitable for

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 ...

regent honeyeater The regent honeyeater (''Anthochaera phrygia'') is a critically endangered bird endemic to southeastern Australia. It is commonly considered a flagship species within its range, with the efforts going into its conservation having positive eff ...

s and

swift parrot The swift parrot (''Lathamus discolor'') is a species of broad-tailed parrot, found only in southeastern Australia. The species breeds in Tasmania during the summer and migrates north to south eastern mainland Australia from Griffith- Warialda ...

s, centred on the woodlands between the

Agnes Banks Agnes Banks is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Agnes Banks is 68 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the Local government in Australia, local government areas of the City of Penrith a ...

, Windsor Downs and

Castlereagh Nature Reserve The Castlereagh Nature Reserve is a protected nature reserve located in the western suburbs of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. The reserve is situated west of the central business district, approximately north-east of and located nea ...

s, and extending south to Penrith and north-east to encompass

Scheyville National Park The Scheyville National Park () is a protected national park that is located in the northwestern suburbs of Sydney in New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The national park is situated approximately northwest of the Sydney central busi ...

. It is adjacent to the forested hills of the Greater Blue Mountains IBA.BirdLife International. (2011). Important Bird Areas factsheet: Richmond Woodlands. Downloaded from on 28/09/2011.

Flora and fauna

Plants

The woodlands are dominated by an overstorey of coastal grey box, narrow-leaved ironbark and

forest red gum ''Eucalyptus tereticornis'', commonly known as forest red gum, blue gum or red irongum, is a species of tree that is native to eastern Australia and southern New Guinea. It has smooth bark, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves, flower buds in grou ...

. Other trees include scribbly gum, narrow-leaved apple and the endangered ''

Allocasuarina glareicola ''Allocasuarina glareicola'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Casuarinaceae and is endemic to a restricted part of New South Wales. It is an erect, dioecious or monoecious shrub that has branchlets up to long, the leaves reduced to ...

''. There is an understorey of sweet bursaria, ''

Pultenaea violacea ''Pultenaea'' is a genus of about 100 species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, and is endemic to Australia. Plants in this genus are shrubs with simple leaves and orange or yellow flowers similar to others in the family but with the ...

'' and black sheoak, with groundcover of

kangaroo grass } ''Themeda triandra'' is a species of perennial tussock-forming grass widespread in Africa, Australia, Asia and the Pacific. In Australia it is commonly known as kangaroo grass and in East Africa and South Africa it is known as red grass and re ...

, '' Echinopogan caespitosus'', ''

Astrida vagans Butare (), also known as Huye, is a city (population: 50,220 as of 2012) in the Southern Province of Rwanda and the capital of Huye district. It is the fourth largest town in Rwanda by population. History The Belgian colonial rulers establishe ...

'', weeping grass and barbed-wire grass.

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 IBA because it regularly supports significant numbers of regent honeyeaters and swift parrots, as well as many other woodland bird species. It holds one of the only two remaining populations of

red-capped robin The red-capped robin (''Petroica goodenovii'') is a small passerine bird native to Australia. Found in drier regions across much of the continent, it inhabits scrub and open woodland. Like many brightly coloured robins of the family Petroici ...

s in the Sydney region.

Other animals

Mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...

s found in the IBA include

sugar glider The sugar glider (''Petaurus breviceps'') is a small, omnivorous, arboreal, and nocturnal gliding possum belonging to the marsupial infraclass. The common name refers to its predilection for sugary foods such as sap and nectar and its abili ...

common brushtail possum The common brushtail possum (''Trichosurus vulpecula'', from the Greek for "furry tailed" and the Latin for "little fox", previously in the genus ''Phalangista'') is a nocturnal, semiarboreal marsupial of the family Phalangeridae, native to Austr ...

s, eastern grey kangaroos,

bush rat The bush rat or Australian bush rat (''Rattus fuscipes'') is a small Australian nocturnal animal. It is an omnivore and one of the most common indigenous species of rat on the continent, found in many heathland areas of Victoria and New South ...

s and

little red flying fox The little red flying-fox (''Pteropus scapulatus'') is a megachiropteran bat native to northern and eastern Australia. The species weighs about half a kilogram, one US pound, and is the smallest species of ''Pteropus'' in mainland Australia. '' ...

es. Over 20 species of

reptile Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates (lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalians ( ...

s have been recorded, including

eastern long-necked turtle The eastern long-necked turtle (''Chelodina longicollis'')Kennett, R., Roe, J., Hodges, K., and Georges, A. 2009. ''Chelodina longicollis'' (Shaw 1784) – eastern long-necked turtle, common long-necked turtle, common snake-necked turtle. ''In'': ...

s and

eastern blue-tongued lizard The ''Tiliqua scincoides scincoides,'' or eastern blue-tongued lizard, is native to Australia. It is unique due to its blue tongue, which can be used to warn off predators. In addition to flashing its blue tongue, the skink hisses and puffs up its ...

Green and golden bell frog The green and golden bell frog (''Ranoidea aurea''), also named the green bell frog, green and golden swamp frog and green frog, is a species of ground-dwelling tree frog native to eastern Australia. Despite its classification and climbing abi ...

s are present.

References

{{coord, 33, 38, 29, S, 150, 45, 10, E, display=title, region:AU-NSW_type:landmark Important Bird Areas of New South Wales Richmond, New South Wales