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Key Biodiversity Areas within 100km of SYDNEY Visitor Guide Close your eyes and think of the most wonderful places you’ve seen in Australia. A coral cay in the Great Barrier Reef? The raw and rugged beauty of Cradle Mountain? The Ubirr escarpment casting a long shadow over the floodplains of Kakadu at sunrise? The vivid natural palette of Shark Bay? The chances are that wherever it is that you’ve thought of, it’s a Key Biodiversity Area (KBA). KBAs are those wonderful natural places with irreplaceable values that make them special. But they’re not just special to us—they’re also special to a whole host of birds and other wildlife. And they’re not all in such far-flung places. In fact, they’re closer than you think— there are plenty of these unique places right on Sydney’s doorstep. When it comes to wildlife-watching, a bustling city like Sydney isn’t necessarily the first place you’d think of, but there are plenty of places within an hour’s drive of the city that are internationally important sites where precious wildlife awaits. One of the largest KBAs that occurs near a capital city, the Greater Blue Mountains KBA not only provides spectacular scenery so close to town, but it’s also home to the Rockwarbler—a dainty bird that occurs only in New South Wales . If you’re lucky, you may find its tightly woven nest dangling from a rocky overhang in the layers of sandstone. During autumn, the Greater Blue Mountains KBA forms a migratory route for many honeyeaters, notably the Yellow-faced Honeyeater. You can see thousands of birds pass by (if you’re patient). While on the subject of honeyeaters, Australia’s rarest honeyeater, Critically Endangered Regent Honeyeater can also be seen on the fringes of this KBA. A little further east is the Richmond Woodlands KBA, whose important remnant woodlands are nestled in with suburban Western Sydney and are home to numerous threatened woodland birds, with Swift Parrots and Regent Honeyeaters dropping in occasionally. Closer to the coast, north-east of Sydney is the Tuggerah KBA, which attracts significant numbers of Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, a migratory shorebird which flies arrives from the Siberian tundra every year. South of Sydney, the Budderoo & Barren Grounds KBA is home to the Eastern Bristlebird (easy to hear but difficult to see), while in the eucalypt forests, Pilotbirds accompany Superb Lyrebirds as they forage among the leaf litter, with the Pilotbird picking through the Lyrebird’s scratchings. Sydney’s KBAs offer so many opportunities for everyone to experience the wonders of nature. Photo: Blue Mountains (Wikimedia Commons) Bird Photos: Rockwarbler (Chris Tzaros); Yellow-faced Honeyeater, Regent Honeyeater, Swift Parrot, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (Andrew Silcocks); Eastern Bristlebord (Peter Johnston); Pilot Bird (George Pergaminelis)

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Key Biodiversity Areas within 100km of

SYDNEYVisitor Guide

Close your eyes and think of the most wonderful places you’ve seen in Australia. A coral cay in the Great Barrier Reef? The raw and rugged beauty of Cradle Mountain? The Ubirr escarpment casting a long shadow over the floodplains of Kakadu at sunrise? The vivid natural palette of Shark Bay? The chances are that wherever it is that you’ve thought of, it’s a Key Biodiversity Area (KBA).

KBAs are those wonderful natural places with irreplaceable values that make them special. But they’re not just special to us—they’re also special to a whole host of birds and other wildlife. And they’re not all in such far-flung places. In fact, they’re closer than you think—there are plenty of these unique places right on Sydney’s doorstep.

When it comes to wildlife-watching, a bustling city like Sydney isn’t necessarily the first place you’d think of, but there are plenty of places within an hour’s drive of the city that are internationally important sites where precious wildlife awaits.

One of the largest KBAs that occurs near a capital city, the Greater Blue Mountains KBA not only provides spectacular scenery so close to town, but it’s also home to the Rockwarbler—a dainty

bird that occurs only in New South Wales . If you’re lucky, you may find its tightly woven nest dangling from a rocky overhang in the layers of sandstone. During autumn, the Greater Blue Mountains KBA forms a migratory route for many honeyeaters, notably the Yellow-faced Honeyeater. You can see thousands of birds pass by (if you’re patient). While on the subject of honeyeaters, Australia’s rarest honeyeater, Critically Endangered Regent Honeyeater can also be seen on the fringes of this KBA. A little further east is the Richmond Woodlands KBA, whose important remnant woodlands are nestled in with suburban Western Sydney and are home to numerous threatened woodland birds, with Swift Parrots and Regent Honeyeaters dropping in occasionally.

Closer to the coast, north-east of Sydney is the Tuggerah KBA, which attracts significant numbers of Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, a migratory shorebird which flies arrives from the Siberian tundra every year. South of Sydney, the Budderoo & Barren Grounds KBA is home to the Eastern Bristlebird (easy to hear but difficult to see), while in the eucalypt forests, Pilotbirds accompany Superb Lyrebirds as they forage among the leaf litter, with the Pilotbird picking through the Lyrebird’s scratchings.

Sydney’s KBAs offer so many opportunities for everyone to experience the wonders of nature.

Photo: Blue Mountains (Wikimedia Commons)

Bird Photos: Rockwarbler (Chris Tzaros); Yellow-faced Honeyeater, Regent Honeyeater, Swift Parrot, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (Andrew Silcocks); Eastern Bristlebord (Peter Johnston); Pilot Bird (George Pergaminelis)