Waterbirds
The Waterbird Theme seeks to understand and evaluate how waterbirds respond to Commonwealth environmental water at the Basin-scale.
Image caption: Straw-necked ibis are one of Australia’s ‘aggregate-nesting’ waterbird species, meaning they nest in large numbers at important wetlands. They depend on extensive flooded habitats for nesting in good numbers and to successfully raise their chicks. Photo credit: Heather McGinness
Why waterbirds?
Waterbirds are species that depend on wetlands to feed, nest and rest. Some well-known waterbirds are egrets, spoonbills, ibis and ducks. More than 120 species of waterbirds call the Basin home. Waterbirds can move between and beyond Basin catchments to find the best habitat at different times. We need to know how, when and where waterbirds move so that we can support them with environmental water.
Waterbirds can live for a long time. Some species stay in one place for their whole lives, but most move between wetlands over time. Waterbirds can travel long distances of hundreds to thousands of kilometres. Several species nest and raise young on their own, while others nest in large aggregations. Some waterbirds don't have their own chicks until they're at least 3 years old. Environmental water helps to support waterbirds with different life histories through all their life stages.
The Waterbirds Theme monitors, researches and evaluates how environmental water supports waterbirds. Outcomes from this theme will help Australia to protect important wetlands and the birds that rely on them.
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Research
We put satellite trackers on ibis, spoonbills and egrets in the Basin from 2016 to 2025. This was a big research effort to study their movements in detail. This research generated models, maps and animations describing waterbird movements and habitat use.
Research showed:
Where and when waterbirds move around the Basin (and beyond). We found many waterbirds travel hundreds – or even thousands – of kilometres away from their nesting sites after breeding. One young egret even went to Papua New Guinea!
How waterbirds move during important times in their lives, like nesting. For example, when establishing their nests, ibis stay very close to the nest all day and night. Once the eggs are laid, the parents take turns with one staying at the nest and one going out to find food. As the chicks get older, the adults travel further from the nest to get food.
Species use a variety of habitats across their life stages. For example, both ibis and spoonbills use shallow water habitats a lot to feed and breed, but ibis also sometimes feed in dry areas.
It's very important to know how waterbirds move. It helps the government know the best times and places to deliver water. This helps waterbirds throughout their whole lives. This research will help improve watering strategies to support waterbirds.
We've learned a lot about waterbird movements in the Basin, but there are still many questions to answer. There are important waterbird species in the Basin that have never been satellite-tracked. We're also learning about why waterbirds choose to move, when, where and how.
To see photos, maps and animations of different waterbird species that have been satellite tracked, visit the Waterbird breeding and movements site.
Research reports:
- Satellite-tracking waterbird movements in the Murray–Darling Basin (PDF 31.3 MB)
- Flow-MER Basin-scale research: summary 2024 (PDF 9.5 MB).
Future research proposes to address 3 questions:
- How much water do waterbirds need to nest at key breeding sites in the Basin?
- What things should water, and wetland managers think about when making decisions about environmental water for waterbirds? For example, river flows, the amount of water in the landscape, and the weather might all affect how waterbirds move around.
- What affects the number of waterbirds that breed, and whether they can successfully raise their chicks?
Monitoring and Evaluation
Environmental water aims to support habitats for waterbirds.
Previous evaluations looked at how many waterbirds were in places that received water. This was to see if the water improved waterbird habitat.
This work showed that waterbirds usually respond well to the delivery of environmental water. Commonwealth environmental water contributed to habitat for the Endangered Australasian bittern, as well as for the glossy ibis and Australasian shoveler.
Evaluation report
Evaluation questions
This theme looks at how environmental water contributes to:
- the numbers and different kinds of waterbirds found in the Basin
- whether waterbirds breed in the Basin and raise their young
- providing waterbird habitats in the Basin.
Waterbirds can move in and out of the Basin. That makes these questions complex to answer. This theme will look at data on bird numbers and movements, and the environment. It will also investigate the link between waterbird breeding and environmental conditions.
Upcoming activities
As we come to the end of this water year, the Basin-scale team will receive data from the Area-scale teams. We'll use this data to review activities and plan evaluation methods.
Four of the Areas have collected data in line with the Basin-scale waterbird methods. These Areas have done at least 4 surveys as wetland sites that received Commonwealth environmental water. Surveys aimed to collect waterbird species and abundance data at a range of different hydrological conditions (where possible), including dry, peak flows and recession of flows. This allows us to understand waterbird responses to differing flow conditions.
Our Team
CSIRO has been engaged by the CEWH to evaluate the contribution of Commonwealth environmental water to achieving Waterbird outcomes.
Partners
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Jennifer Hale – Aquatic Ecology Consultant
NSW Government
NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
