Where do waterbirds go at night?

Where do waterbirds go at night? To somewhere dark, quiet, safe, and remote. With late night dining. To discover just what does happen when the sun goes down, the evening waterbird survey takes a close look at two important estuarine wetlands at Sydney Olympic Park.

The evening waterbird survey

Waterbirds include a range of species (think duck, swan, pelican, stilt, and migratory shorebirds) that use the wetlands of Sydney Olympic Park into the night as a roost and night feeding site. The evening waterbird survey is an annual survey that started in 2007 and has confirmed that these wetlands form part of an inter-related network of wetland habitats in the Parramatta River estuary. Waterbirds move between these sites, which are important to different species at different times of the day and night for feeding and roosting, depending on the tide and other factors. 

Each year this is checked by volunteers over four monitoring events that occur at dusk. Taking place in the Waterbird Refuge and Newington Nature Reserve wetland, a total of 19 waterbird species were observed during the 2023-24 season, similar to previous years. The Waterbird Refuge and Newington Nature Reserve wetland were similar for species richness, with 17 species and 16 species recorded respectively, but the Refuge hosts the greatest number of waterbirds by far. 

Species diversity

Unfortunately, migratory shorebirds diversity and abundance has been lost over the years and for the second year running, only two species of threatened migratory shorebirds were recorded – the Bar-tailed Godwit and Latham’s Snipe. With a maximum count of 60 Godwits at the Waterbird Refuge, these numbers represent close to the total population for this species in the Parramatta River estuary for 2023-24 period. The Latham’s Snipe count at the Nature Reserve was the highest ever – 19 birds on one survey! Add to this total the 3 snipe seen at the Waterbird Refuge at the same time. 

These numbers highlight the critical importance of Sydney Olympic Park’s estuarine wetlands for the conservation of these incredible long-distance travelling shorebirds in the region. Both the Waterbird Refuge and Newington Nature Reserve wetland are dark at night with little disturbance from people and provide safe roosting /feeding spots away from predators - an important recipe for many waterbirds.