Discovery Bay to Piccaninnie Ponds (Australia)

Discovery Bay to Piccaninnie Ponds

Current view: Data table and detailed info

IBA Justification

The site was identified as important in 2009 because it was regularly supporting significant populations of the species listed below, meeting ('triggering') IBA criteria.

Populations meeting IBA criteria ('trigger species') at the site:

Species	Red List¹	Season	Year(s)	Size	IBA criteria
Australasian Bittern Botaurus poiciloptilus	VU	resident	2007-2008	2-3 breeding pairs	A1
Hooded Plover Thinornis cucullatus	VU	resident	2000-2006	15-51 individuals	A1
Orange-bellied Parrot Neophema chrysogaster	CR	non-breeding	1979-2007	17 individuals	A1, A3
Rufous Bristlebird Dasyornis broadbenti	LC	resident	1998-2008	frequent	A2, A3
Striated Fieldwren Calamanthus fuliginosus	LC	resident	1998-2008	uncommon	A3

1. The current IUCN Red List category. The category at the time of the IBA criteria assessment (2009) may differ.

IBA Conservation

Ideally the conservation status of the IBA will have been checked regularly since the site was first identified in 2009. The most recent assessment (2008) is shown below.

IBA conservation assessment
Year of assessment	State	Pressure	Response
2008	not assessed	medium	not assessed
Whole site assessed?	State assessed by	Accuracy of information
yes	unset	good

Pressure (threats to the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Invasive and other problematic species and genes	happening now	some of area/population (10-49%)	slow but significant deterioration	medium
Human intrusions and disturbance	happening now	some of area/population (10-49%)	no or imperceptible deterioration	low

Response (conservation actions taken for the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Protected areas	Management plan	Other action	Result
Not assessed	Not assessed	Not assessed	not assessed

IBA Protection

Year	Protected Area	Designation	% overlap with IBA
1992	Glenelg River	Heritage River	2
1997	Discovery Bay Coastal Park	Conservation Park	91
2010	Piccaninnie Ponds	Conservation Park	5
2012	Piccaninnie Ponds Karst Wetlands	Ramsar Site, Wetland of International Importance	5
2018	Glenelg Estuary and Discovery Bay Ramsar Site	Ramsar Site, Wetland of International Importance	87

Habitats

Habitat¹	Habitat detail	% of IBA
Shrubland	Other shrublands	major (>10)
Marine Coastal/Supratidal		minor (<10)
Marine Intertidal		minor (<10)

1. IUCN Habitat classification.

Land use

Land use	% of IBA
nature conservation and research	major (>10)
urban/industrial/transport	minor (<10)

Land ownership

South Australian and Victorian State governments (Parks Victoria, Department for Environment and Heritage) and private holdings.

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Discovery Bay to Piccaninnie Ponds (Australia). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/discovery-bay-to-piccaninnie-ponds-iba-australia on 22/11/2024.