Close your eyes and think of the most wonderful places you've seen in Australia. A coral cay in the Great Barrier Reef?
Key Biodiversity Areas within 100km of
BRISBANE Visitor Guide Close your eyes and think of the most wonderful places you’ve seen in Australia. A coral cay in the Great Barrier Reef? The raw and rugged beauty of Cradle Mountain? The Ubirr escarpment casting a long shadow over the floodplains of Kakadu at sunrise? The vivid natural palette of Shark Bay? The chances are that wherever it is that you’ve thought of, it’s a Key Biodiversity Area (KBA). KBAs are those wonderful natural places with irreplaceable values that make them special. But they’re not just special to us—they’re also special to a whole host of birds and other wildlife. And they’re not all in such far-flung places. In fact, they’re closer than you think— there are plenty of these unique places right on Brisbane’s doorstep. When it comes to wildlife-watching, a bustling city like Brisbane isn’t necessarily the first place you’d think of, but there are plenty of places within an hour’s drive of the city that are internationally important sites where precious wildlife awaits. While Queensland’s beaches are a magnet for visitors from around the world, they’re not all tourists—many are migratory shorebirds. Moreton Bay & Pumicestone Passage KBA
hosts tens of thousands of migratory shorebirds that have flown all the way from the wilds of the Siberian tundra specifically to visit this beautiful place. During the summer, it’s easy to spot flocks of Eastern Curlews, Great Knots and a dozen other species of waders busily feeding in the shallows or roosting on the sandbanks at high tide. North of the city, the lush subtropical rainforests of the Conondale Range KBA host enchanting Logrunners, which spend their time scuttling over the forest floor, scratching at the leaf litter among the tangle of roots, searching for food. And while you’re there, listen out for the strange, cat-like calls of the Green Catbirds that lurk among the foliage up in the canopy. Closer to the Gold Coast, the spectacular Tambourine Mountain KBA is home to the equally spectacular Regent Bowerbird, resplendent with gleaming gold-and-black plumage that seems to light up the half-light of the forest. A little further south, the rainforests of the Scenic Rim KBA thrill to the mimicry of Albert’s Lyrebirds, while, if you’re lucky you might see our own bird of paradise, the Paradise Riflebird, performing a captivating dance to attract a mate, using a broken-off tree stump as its stage. Brisbane’s KBAs offer so many opportunities for everyone to experience the wonders of nature.
Bird Photos: Eastern Curlew (Dean Ingwersen); Great Knot, Regent Bowerbird, Red-browed Finch (Andrew Silcocks); Logrunner, Green Catbird, Paradise Riflebird (Grace Bryant)
Photo: Tamborine Mountain (Shutterstock)
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Photo: Eastern Curlew by Andrew Silcocks
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KEY BIODIVERSITY AREAS WITHIN 100KM OF BRISBANE Conondale Range
Tamborine Mountain
Bunya Mountains & Yarraman
Scenic Rim
NATURE’S HOTSPOTS
SUNSHINE COAST
Moreton Bay & Pumicestone Passage
For more information contact BirdLife Australia
[email protected] birdlife.org.au
AUSTRALIA
