Lake Hawdon System Important Bird Area

The Lake Hawdon System Important Bird Area (IBA) spans 374 square kilometers in South Australia’s Limestone Coast, encompassing five coastal lakes: Hawdon, Robe, Eliza, St Clair, and George. These lakes vary in size and salinity—Hawdon is shallow, semi-permanent, and brackish, divided into northern (6x6 km) and southern (9x4.5 km) basins with a max depth of 1 metre; Robe is smaller at 406 hectares; Eliza is hypersaline with 1.4 m depth; St Clair, similar to Eliza but more saline at 189 hectares; George spans 13x8 km and up to 3.5 m deep, functioning as an estuary. The IBA was designated for supporting over 1% of global populations of red-necked stints, sharp-tailed sandpipers, double-banded plovers, and banded stilts. It also provides critical habitat for orange-bellied parrots, Australasian bitterns, rufous bristlebirds, and striated fieldwrens. Adjacent beaches and islets host fairy terns. Despite lacking statutory status, the IBA overlaps with protected areas like Beachport Conservation Park and Lake St Clair Conservation Park.