Current view: Text account
Site description (2008 baseline):
Site location and context
This IBA extends along the south-west shores of the inner Joseph Bonaparte Gulf, from the mouth of the Keep River in the west to the mouth of the Victoria in the east, and north across mudflats and salt-flats to Turtle Point. Much of the area is hypersaline flats, which support few birds, but there are also seasonally inundated wetlands (freshwater sedge swamps, seasonal grassy marshes, small wooded swamps, lakes and associated claypans), including the waterbird colonies ref W053, W054 and W061 in Chatto (2000). The IBA also includes large areas of mangroves and mangrove-fringed channels, which presumably support mangrove bird species, perhaps including the range-restricted Chestnut Rail.
More than 15,000 waterbirds were estimated to be at the site in April 1993, including 8000 Magpie Geese and 3500 Wandering Whistling Ducks (Jaensch 1994). There are two important nesting waterbird colonies on Legune Station, on the eastern banks of the Keep River estuary (2000 Australian White Ibis and 500 Rufous Night-Herons at the northern colony on the coast, and 5000 Glossy Ibis, 5000 mixed egrets, 4000 Rufous Night Herons, 3000 Pied Herons, 3000 Australian White Ibis and 100s of Little Black Cormorants 10 km to the south, at the end of a spit on the southern end of the estuary in 1999) and Indian Hill to the east. A smaller colony on the coast just north-west of Indian Hill had 50 Rufous Night-Herons and 350 Intermediate Egrets in 1999 (Chatto 2000). Chatto (2003) observed a flock of 1000 Terek Sandpipers at Turtle Point but the regularity of these numbers is unknown. Chatto (2006) noted a maximum count of over 40,000 waterbirds but noted that counts were usually much lower than this; again the regularity of internationally significant numbers is unknown. This maximum count included the highest counts of Eurasian Coot (5000) and Purple Swamphen (2000) for the Northern Territory.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
More research and monitoring is needed as assess the threats to the site. Fortunately, the main waterbird colony is very inaccessible in the wet season.
Conservation responses/actions for key biodiversity
The wetlands downstream of Legune Station are listed as significant in the Directory of Important Wetlands in Australia. The Legune coastal floodplain is classified as a site of conservation significance by the Northern Territory Government (Harrison et al. 2009; Ward & Harrison 2009).
The IBA overlaps the (proposed) Keep River National Park Extension.
Legune Station.
Site access / Land-owner requests
This IBA is on private land.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Legune (Joseph Bonaparte Bay) (Australia). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/legune-(joseph-bonaparte-bay)-iba-australia on 23/12/2024.
