Australia Ramsar wetland
Great Sandy Strait
46 bird species recorded; the most in September.
Maggie Macleod Francic · CC BY-SA 4.0
This month here
5 species in January.3 species in February.2 species in March.2 species in April.5 species in May.4 species in June.2 species in July.0 species in August.18 species in September.10 species in October.9 species in November.1 species in December.
The birds you are most likely to see in the month you choose, those that come for the season first. It opens on today's month.
No records for this month.
No records for this month.
No records for this month.
- Resident all year
- Summer visitor comes to breed
- Winter visitor comes for the winter
- Passage migrant in spring and autumn
In numbers
46 species, counted.
Our own rating, from the records only: species (50 points), threatened species (20), migrants (20) and protected status — Ramsar, IBA, SPA, observatory (10).
- 46Speciesrecorded more than once
- 4Migrantssummer, winter or passage visitors
- 1ThreatenedVulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered (IUCN)
- 179Recordsopen records within 6 km
- 3Raptors
- 2Waders
- 3Gulls & seabirds
- 1Ducks & geese
- 4Herons, ibises & grebes
- 16Songbirds
- 17Other birds
From open records (eBird and others, through GBIF, licensed for any use). More birdwatchers mean more records: a quiet place may have more birds than it shows.
The checklist
All 46 species.
By group, with the year in twelve cells: the darker the cell, the more often the bird is recorded that month.
Raptors3 species
- White-bellied Sea-EagleHaliaeetus leucogaster
- Brahminy KiteHaliastur indus
- Peregrine FalconFalco peregrinus
Waders2 species
- Far Eastern CurlewNumenius madagascariensis
- Japanese SnipeGallinago hardwickiiNT
Gulls & seabirds3 species
- Caspian TernHydroprogne caspia
- Little TernSternula albifrons
- Silver GullChroicocephalus novaehollandiae
Ducks & geese1 species
- Pacific Black DuckAnas superciliosa
Herons, ibises & grebes4 species
- Pied CormorantPhalacrocorax varius
- Little EgretEgretta garzetta
- White-faced HeronEgretta novaehollandiae
- Little Pied CormorantMicrocarbo melanoleucos
Songbirds16 species
- Megalurus timoriensisMegalurus timoriensis
- White-cheeked HoneyeaterPhylidonyris niger
- Welcome SwallowHirundo neoxena
- Red-backed FairywrenMalurus melanocephalus
- Eastern Yellow RobinEopsaltria australis
- Australian MagpieGymnorhina tibicen
- Golden-headed CisticolaCisticola exilis
- Artamus leucorynArtamus leucoryn
- Mangrove GerygoneGerygone levigaster
- Leaden FlycatcherMyiagra rubecula
- Blue-faced HoneyeaterEntomyzon cyanotis
- Noisy MinerManorina melanocephala
- Pied ButcherbirdCracticus nigrogularis
- Red-browed FiretailNeochmia temporalis
- Brown ThornbillAcanthiza pusilla
- Rufous WhistlerPachycephala rufiventris
Other birds17 species
- Brush BronzewingPhaps elegans
- Swamp ParakeetPezoporus wallicus
- Coconut LorikeetTrichoglossus haematodus
- Rainbow Bee-eaterMerops ornatus
- Australian Owlet-NightjarAegotheles cristatus
- King QuailSynoicus chinensis
- Buff-banded RailGallirallus philippensis
- Sacred KingfisherTodiramphus sanctus
- White-cheeked RosellaPlatycercus adscitus
- Scaly-breasted LorikeetTrichoglossus chlorolepidotus
- Sulphur-crested CockatooCacatua galerita
- Glossy Black-CockatooCalyptorhynchus lathamiVU
- Fan-tailed CuckooCacomantis flabelliformis
- Common KoelEudynamys scolopaceus
- Pheasant CoucalCentropus phasianinus
- Azure KingfisherCeyx azureus
- Little LorikeetParvipsitta pusilla
Monthly presence relative to all bird records that month, so a busy month does not inflate every species.
When to go
The most species in September.
Species recorded in each month, with the usual temperature and rain.
- Jan28°/24°160 mm
- Feb28°/24°179 mm
- Mar27°/23°160 mm
- Apr25°/22°81 mm
- May23°/19°76 mm
- Jun21°/17°81 mm
- Jul21°/16°41 mm
- Aug21°/16°50 mm
- Sep23°/18°38 mm
- Oct24°/20°87 mm
- Nov26°/21°68 mm
- Dec27°/23°147 mm
- Bar: species recorded that month.
- Temperature: average maximum / minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
- Rain: monthly total.
The place
Great Sandy Strait.
70-kilometre long strait in the Australian state of Queensland, separating mainland Queensland from Fraser Island
Great Sandy Strait is a wetland of international importance (Ramsar) in Australia.
46 bird species have been recorded here more than once, in 179 open records.
The most recorded are the Brush Bronzewing, the Megalurus timoriensis and the Swamp Parakeet.
3 species come for the summer, 0 for the winter and 1 only pass through.
1 are threatened worldwide, including Glossy Black-Cockatoo.
The most species are recorded in September.
Get there and watch
- Buff Creekcampsite · 2.9 km · 6 within 10 km
- River Headsnearest town · 12 km in a straight line
- Hervey Bay Airport (HVB)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 24 km in a straight lineCar hire at HVB airport (Hervey Bay)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
Plan the visit
A guided walk, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
From above
The place and its surroundings.
The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the place, with the bird hides, towers and trails that OpenStreetMap shows.
Around, in OpenStreetMap
- 6campsites within 10 kmBuff Creek, BuffcHead, Deep Creek and 3 more
- bird hides within 6 km
- observation towers within 6 km
- marked trails within 4 km
- visitor centres within 6 km
- viewpoints within 5 km
- car parks within 3 km
- restaurants and cafés within 3 km
- places to stay within 10 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.
In our other atlases
Around Great Sandy Strait.
The lakes, beaches, islands, rivers and mountains around this place, and its night sky, in the family's atlases.
Peakyas8 mountains within 25 km
Lakeyas4 lakes within 15 kmFigures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.
Photographs
The place, as people saw it.
Other places nearby.
Great Sandy Strait
Australia
- 37Birdyas Score
- 46Species
- 4Migrants
- 1Threatened
Where these figures come from
| Name and type | Wikidata (Q5599921) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Birds | 179 open bird records within 6 km (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY 4.0 only; mostly eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology) |
| See these records | gbif.org |
| Species | GBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0; Wikidata (CC0); Wikimedia Commons |
| Altitude | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Temperature and rain | NASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2) |
| What is around | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Sister atlases | Peakyas, Islandyas, Lakeyas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.
beaches
Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakes
Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit 
waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit 
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit 
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit 
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit 
caves
Every cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.Visit 
dark skies
Where the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Visit 
viewpoints
Every viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Coming soonVisit 
birdwatching
Every bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.You are here
forests
Every forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.Coming soonVisit