Victoria - Birds Australia

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Victoria

Geographic Range

Birds Australia Victoria covers the entire state of Victoria, which is located in the south east corner of Australia and bounded by the Murray River in the north, South Australia in the west and Bass Strait and the southern Oceans in the south.

Latest News

Stuart Dashper, Convenor, reports: After over a decade on the Birds Australia Victoria committee, most of it as Convenor or Deputy Convenor, Doris Graham has finally decided to have a rest and step off committee. Many will be aware that Doris is a passionate birder and conservationist. She has guided BA-Vic through a great many changes, always with great cheer and commitment. Hopefully she will now have some more time to devote to her first love, waders. I doubt that we have seen the last of Doris and look forward to her continuing contributions to avian research and conservation. BA-Vic now has a new committee and some new projects starting in spring including bird monitoring of Important Bird Areas, Crested Bellbird surveys and outings for beginner birdwatchers. If you’re visiting Victoria please come along and join us.

Special Birds of the Region

Victoria has a diversity of habitats for such a compact area and has many areas where large bird congregations can be seen. Some of the specialties of the region are Little Penguin, Cape Barren Goose, Hooded Plover, Red-capped Plover, Short-tailed Shearwater, Plainswanderer, Powerful Owl, Superb Lyrebird, Ground Parrot, Orange-bellied Parrot, Swift Parrot, Turquoise Parrot, Red-tailed Black Cockatoo (Southern subspecies), Black-eared Miner, Helmeted form of Yellow-tufted Honeyeater, Mallee Emu-wren, Southern Emu-wren, Pink Robin, Rufous Bristlebird and Pilotbird.

Projects in the Region

Members and guests in Victoria have the opportunity to participate in a variety of Birds Australia-run projects including:

•    Orange-bellied and Swift Parrot surveys in winter
•    Painted Snipe, Superb Parrot and Regent Honeyeater surveys in spring and summer
•    Grey-crowned Babbler surveys in northern Victoria
•    Hooded Plover surveys in southern Victoria
•    Waders and shorebird surveys with the Victorian Wader Study Group
•    Projects are also aimed at monitoring the avifauna of Important Bird Areas
•    Conserving habitat and assessing the avifauna at Devilbend Reservoir
•    Protecting the habitat of the You Yangs by Boneseed weed removal
•    Investigating population dynamics of woodland birds in the Rushworth bird banding project, which is one of only a few regular, long term population studies of woodland birds in Australia
•    Bird Atlassing in NRM Regions
•    Birdline Victoria website

Conservation Issues

Victoria is the smallest mainland state in Australia but has a high human population density and a high level of development. This and below average rainfall in most parts of the state over the last decade have put great pressure on the avifauna. Of particular concern at the moment are the River Red Gum forests along the Murray River and its tributaries in northern Victoria and the avifauna that depend on them. In addition inland wetlands and water ways have been in decline for many years. Coastal development and the high level of beach use has negatively impacted on the habitats of beach nesting and foraging birds such as Hooded Plover, Pied and Sooty Oystercatchers and the migratory Orange-bellied Parrot that relies on coastal vegetation in Victoria. The dredging and deepening of Port Phillip Bay is of great concern due to its uncertain impact on bird life in the area.

Contacts

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Activities

Apart from the opportunity to be involved in conservation and research projects BA Victoria also runs a series of outings to members’ favourite birdwatching areas and a number of weekend camps to more distant areas within the state. The annual bird race or Twitchathon is held to celebrate spring and to raise money for conservation and research. A regular meeting is held on the second Thursday of every month at Birds Australia headquarters in Carlton and features reports of interesting bird sightings, updates on activities and a guest speaker. These meetings also offer the opportunity to socialise over a cup of tea and biscuits with other like-minded individuals and exchange information.

What's On

For a list of events in Victoria, please check out our calendar

Publications

BA Victoria publishes a quarterly newsletter, VicBabbler, which details topics of interest to Victorian birdwatchers, conservationists and general readers. VicBabbler also contains a calendar and details of all Activities, monthly talks and contact details.