Current view: Text account
Site description (2008 baseline):
Site location and context
Fivebough and Tuckerbil Swamps are sited in the Riverina, north of Leeton in southern New South Wales. Land within the wetlands' catchment has been mostly developed for irrigation farming as part of the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area. Both Fivebough and Tuckerbil's vegetation has been much altered due to past agricultural practices and urban development, as has its hydrology. Irrigation surrounding Tuckerbil has raised the shallow water table, creating very saline soil conditions in the wetland when the swamp fills with freshwater (1.3-2.0 dS/m). Murrumbidgee Irrigation provides water from June to early December and, as a Ramsar wetland, the swamps have a high priority to receive environmental water from the Murrumbidgee river system. The region has hot summers and cool winters, with rainfall normally evenly distributed throughout the year. The key birds also forage extensively in the surrounding rice paddies when there is adequate rainfall to grow rice.
A total 159 species of birds have been recorded in Fivebough and Tuckerbil Swamps. There are 86 waterbird and associated wetland species, of which 24 are listed under the Japan-Australia and China-Australia Migratory Bird Agreements (Ramsar Information Sheet). The wetlands provide important habitat for (Australian) Painted Snipe, Brolga and Whiskered Tern (Taylor-Wood and and Jaensch 2006).
Non-bird biodiversity: Though Fivebough and Tuckerbil Swamps are recognised principally for their diversity and abundance of waterbirds, there have been 24 species of other vertebrates recorded, of which seven are introduced. Much of the wetlands' vegetation has been altered to that prior to European settlement, mostly due to past agricultural and urban developments, and changed groundwater systems (Glazebrook and Taylor 1998).
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Execute the management plan of the Fivebough and Tuckerbil Wetlands Trust as publicised on www.fivebough.org.au. Maintain the inflow of effluent water, and the free catchment water inflow from the beginning of June until early December, as agreed with Murrumbidgee Irrigation.
Conservation responses/actions for key biodiversity
The priority objective of the Fivebough and Tuckerbil Wetlands Trust is the management of the wetlands for waterbird conservation to maintain their ecological character as required under the Ramsar Convention. An important and continuing component of the Trust's management is monitoring and research (Fivebough and Tuckerbil Wetlands Trust 2002; Taylor-Wood and Jaensch 2006).
Fivebough and Tuckerbil Swamps are collectively recognised as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar convention.
Crown (public) lands managed by the Fivebough and Tuckerbil Wetlands Trust.
The nomination was prepared by Mike Schultz with assistance from the Fivebough and Tuckerbil Wetlands Trust, PO Box 357, NSW 2705; Email: trust@fivebough.org.au.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Fivebough and Tuckerbil Swamps (Australia). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/fivebough-and-tuckerbil-swamps-iba-australia on 23/11/2024.
