Current view: Text account
Site description (2008 baseline):
Site location and context
The IBA contains all of the coastal habitat in the inlet, notably intertidal mud and saltmarsh. Shallow Inlet is a large tidal embayment with a single channel to the sea, on Victoria's south-eastern coastline near Wilson's Promontory. The seaward side is enclosed by a sandy barrier complex of spits, bars and mobile dunes. The extensive mudflats and sandy intertidal areas provide excellent habitat for shorebirds. The site also includes good quality saltmarsh, which may regularly support Orange-bellied Parrots (although only one has been seen in recent years). The IBA includes the Shallow Inlet Saltmarsh Flora & Fauna Reserve to the east of the inlet, the Flora & Fauna Reserve to the west and the eastern section of the Waratah Bay Shallow Inlet Coastal Reserve.
AWSG data show that Eastern Curlew exceeded the threshold in 1983 but not 'regularly', and the site also supports significant numbers of Pacific Golden Plover, Curlew Sandpiper and Sanderling. Apart from Sanderling, no comprehensive wader counts had been conducted at the inlet since 1990 until a survey on 24-25 January 2007. No Hooded Plovers were recorded at this location in a study by Weston (2003) but five were recorded in January 2007. Striated Fieldwrens have been recorded at the inlet (Atlas of Australian Birds database).
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Human activity in the inlet should be regulated to minimise disturbance of shorebirds. Cattle should be excluded from grazing and trampling saltmarsh.
The IBA overlaps with Shallow Inlet Marine and Coastal Park.
Victorian State Government.
Bird data and site description from Shorebirds Site Network nomination by Peter Collins. Bird data supplied by the AWSG Victorian Branch and DSE for Sanderling.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Shallow Inlet (Australia). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/shallow-inlet-iba-australia on 23/12/2024.
