Migratory Waders at Sydney Olympic Park

The parklands of Sydney Olympic Park contain diverse wetland ecosystems that provide important habitat for waterbirds. Most of these ecosystems have been heavily modified and disturbed in the past.

Sydney Olympic Park is visited regularly by migratory bird species each summer, with the birds arriving in about September and departing by April. Protected by legislation and international treaties such as the JAMBA (Japan-Australia Migratory Bird Agreement) and CAMBA (China-Australia Migratory Bird Agreement), Sydney Olympic Park Authority has monitoring programs to assist in understanding management needs for migratory wader habitat.

What are migratory waders?

Waders (also known as shorebirds) are a group of birds that forage on muddy or sandy shores of wetlands, including lakes, estuaries and ocean beaches. Migratory waders belong within this group and undertake an incredible annual journey, migrating thousands of kilometres between their breeding and non-breeding grounds.

Migratory waders breed in the northern hemisphere between May and July each year, taking advantage of the short but rich northern summer before flying southward to warmer weather and to escape the approaching winter.

The sorts of birds that make this journey are plovers, sandpipers, stints, knots, oystercatchers, stilts, godwits and others. The smallest of these species, the tiny Red-necked Stint, travels 30,000 kilometres each year and weighs only 30 grams!

The Flyway

As migratory shorebirds fly north and then south each year they take the same route and make the same stopovers for feeding and fueling. These routes are known as 'flyways'. The Flyway that exists between the Austalasian and the Asian continents is known as the East-Asian Australasian Flyway and has a combined population total of over four million birds. When these birds reach the Sydney region, they may stay for the whole summer or, after refueling, continue southwards to Victoria, Tasmania and New Zealand.

What Shorebirds regularly visit Sydney Olympic Park?

There are at least thirty-six shorebird species that migrate from other countries to Australia and fourteen species that have been recorded in recent years in the Parramatta River estuary. Seven shorebird species have been sighted regularly at Sydney Olympic Park:

Bar-tailed Godwit