Cairns Esplanade
QWSG code: CAES
eBird link – Cairns Esplanade – Northern End
eBird link – Cairns Esplanade – Southern End
Roost classification code: TECSM(notes)
The Cairns area is nationally significant for: Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Red-necked Stint, Eurasian Whimbrel, Great Knot, Grey-tailed Tattler, Siberian Sand-Plover, Far Eastern Curlew, Latham’s Snipe
Sandy beach and extensive intertidal mudflats lining the shore of the city of Cairns CBD. Much of the mudflats is due to the dredging the harbour.
The Cairns Significant Bird Area encompasses critical intertidal habitat from the Barron River mouth to the Cairns Esplanade, across Trinity Inlet to Mission Bay. Its importance is driven by several key factors:
Exceptional species diversity: Cairns regularly supports 15 or more migratory shorebird species in both summer and winter. This places it among a relatively small group of sites nationwide that meet the diversity threshold consistently across seasons.
Large shorebird aggregations: Cairns is one of only a limited number of sites in Australia that regularly support more than 2,000 migratory shorebirds. This highlights its role as a key feeding and roosting area during the non-breeding season.
Importance for particular species: The Directory identifies Cairns as significant for species such as the Eurasian Whimbrel, which reaches notable numbers here in both summer and winter.
Interesting sightings:
Northern esplanade: Red-necked Crake (2026), Nordmann’s Greenshank (2026), Broad-billed Sandpiper (2026), Grey Plover (2025), Latham’s Snipe (2025), Great-billed Heron (2025), Black Bittern (2025), Spotted Whistling-Duck (2025), Oriental Plover (2025), Sanderling (2024), Wood Sandpiper (2024), Lesser Frigatebird (2023), Great Frigatebird (2023), Red-footed Booby (2023), Wandering Tattler (2023), Asian Dowitcher (2022), Kelp Gull (2019), Franklin’s Gull (1989), Laughing Gull (1989), Dunlin (1983)
Cairns Esplanade: (in addition to above) : Roseate Tern (2025), Little Curlew (2023), Red-necked Avocet (2018), Pectoral Sandpiper (2013), Long-toed Stint (2005), Fairy tern (1992), Common Redshank (1987)