Norman Point Tin Can Bay

Extensive mudfalts and sandbars provide feeding grounds and a neap tide roost for shorebirds. Human disturbance is a major issue as the mudflats/sandbars are in close proximity to a popular park and a busy boat harbour.

Interesting Sightings: Radjah Shelduck (2025), Black-necked Stork (2020), Eastern Reef Egret (2022)

Norman Point lies within the Great Sandy Strait Ramsar site. This Shorebird Area lies east of Maryborough in south-eastern Queensland, stretching from Hervey Bay to Tin Can Bay. An expansive and complex wetland system, it 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.

Reference: 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.