Boonooroo

Extensive mud and sand flats with vegetated swamp margins and mangroves along the coastline of the township of Boonooroo. The region supports high biodiversity, including 10 species of mangrove and rich communities of invertebrates and fish. It is one of three major feeding and roosting sites for migratory shorebirds in eastern Australia. Access to the site is restricted between March 1 and April 30, and between September 1 and October 31. (Link below)

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A good place to see: Far Eastern Curlew, Pied Oystercatcher, Bar-tailed Godwit, Red-capped Plover, Grey Plover, Siberian Sand-Plover, Greater-Sand-Plover, Red Knot, Great Knot

Interesting Sightings: Grey Plover (2026), Radjah Shelduck (2026), Sanderling (2026), Black-naped Tern (2026), Australian Spotted Crake (2022), Asian Dowitcher (2017), Ringed Plover (1983)

Conservation

The Great Sandy Strait Shorebird Area lies east of Maryborough in south-eastern Queensland, stretching from Hervey Bay to Tin Can Bay. This expansive and complex wetland system includes intertidal sand and mudflats, extensive seagrass beds, mangrove forests, saltmarshes, and saline estuarine waters with some freshwater inflows. Habitats range from shallow estuarine channels and subtidal seagrass meadows to mud and sand flats, salt flats, and vegetated swamp margins behind mangroves. The region supports high biodiversity, including 10 species of mangrove and rich communities of invertebrates and fish. It is one of three major feeding and roosting sites for migratory shorebirds in eastern Australia.

It is internationally significant for Bar-tailed Godwit, Grey-tailed Tattler, Siberian Sand-Plover, Eurasian Whimbrel and Far Eastern Curlew.

Driessen, J., Kidd, L. R., Weller, D. R., Purnell, C., Maguire, G., Jaensch, R., and LeClair, S. M. (2025). Australian National Directory of Important Migratory Shorebird Habitat. Report for the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. BirdLife Australia, Melbourne.

Boonooroo Section 1