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Australian bird habitats:
Mudflat

Description of habitat

Australia's most prominent mudflats are found in the tropical north of the country, where abundant rainwater from falls in the wet season floods the low-lying land towards the northern coastline. Receding waters expose vast stretches of unvegetated land, creating mudflats. During the wet season these areas will be part of the tropical floodplains of Australia.

Receding water in other parts of the country can also lead to the (temporary) creation of mudflats, e.g. when ephemeral lakes and ephemeral wetlands dry up.

Bird species found in this type of habitat or plant

This is not necessarily a complete list. We display here some examples of bird species found by us in this kind of habitat or plant. Hover your cursor on thumbnails to see names of species; click on thumbnail to go to the page describing the species.

Photos

Mudflat in the floodplains of the East Alligator River in Kakadu National Park

Mudflat exposed by receding water of Goran Lake, an ephemeral lake in inland NSW

Just a few weeks earlier, when the water level was still a bit higher, Goran Lake had been teeming with birdlife (including e.g. about 1500 Grey Teals)

Several aquatic bird species resting on a mudflat on the shore of an ephemeral lake: Red-necked Avocet, Silver Gull, Caspian Tern and Gull-billed Tern

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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