Skip to content
birdyas
EN

Australia Australia Ramsar wetland

Eighty Mile Beach

59 bird species recorded; the most in November.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec51at the peak
Species recorded in each month · tap a month

Nachoman-au · CC BY-SA 3.0

This month here

17 species in January.

The birds you are most likely to see in the month you choose, those that come for the season first. It opens on today's month.

Curlew SandpiperVU
Curlew SandpiperCalidris ferrugineaPassage migrantJJ Harrison ( https://www.jjharrison.com.au/ ) · CC BY-SA 3.0
Gray-tailed Tattler
Gray-tailed TattlerTringa brevipesSummer visitorAlpsdake · CC BY-SA 3.0
Bar-tailed godwitNT
Bar-tailed godwitLimosa lapponicaSummer visitorJJ Harrison ( https://www.jjharrison.com.au/ ) · CC BY-SA 4.0
Common Greenshank
Common GreenshankTringa nebulariaSummer visitorCharles J. Sharp · CC BY-SA 4.0
Red KnotNT
Red KnotCalidris canutusSummer visitorJJ Harrison ( https://www.jjharrison.com.au/ ) · CC BY-SA 4.0
Grey PloverVU
Grey PloverPluvialis squatarolaSummer visitorHans Hillewaert · CC BY-SA 3.0
Whiskered Tern
Whiskered TernChlidonias hybridaSummer visitorMarek Szczepanek · CC BY-SA 3.0
Great Crested-Tern
Great Crested-TernThalasseus bergiiSummer visitorNoodle snacks · CC BY-SA 3.0
Little Tern
Little TernSternula albifronsSummer visitorPetroKaterynych · CC BY 4.0
Common Tern
Common TernSterna hirundoWinter visitorAlexis Lours · CC BY 4.0
Australian Tern
Australian TernGelochelidon macrotarsaSummer visitorgraham_winterflood · CC BY-SA 4.0
Gull-billed Tern
Gull-billed TernGelochelidon niloticaSummer visitorleppyone (Vincent P. Lucas) · CC BY 2.0
Ruddy TurnstoneNT
Ruddy TurnstoneArenaria interpresSummer visitorJJ Harrison ( [email protected] · CC BY-SA 4.0
Marsh Sandpiper
Marsh SandpiperTringa stagnatilisSummer visitorJJ Harrison ( https://www.jjharrison.com.au/ ) · CC BY-SA 3.0
Terek Sandpiper
Terek SandpiperXenus cinereusResidentAlnus · CC BY-SA 3.0
Great Knot
Great KnotCalidris tenuirostrisResidentOriginal: tcager ; this edit: User:MPF · CC0
Greater Sand Plover
Greater Sand PloverCharadrius leschenaultiiResidentChung Kiu, Ryan Cheng from Hong Kong · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • Resident all year
  • Summer visitor comes to breed
  • Winter visitor comes for the winter
  • Passage migrant in spring and autumn

In numbers

59 species, counted.

50out of 100

Our own rating, from the records only: species (50 points), threatened species (20), migrants (20) and protected status — Ramsar, IBA, SPA, observatory (10).

  • 59Speciesrecorded more than once
  • 28Migrantssummer, winter or passage visitors
  • 4ThreatenedVulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered (IUCN)
  • 1,634Recordsopen records within 6 km
  • 7Raptors
  • 30Waders
  • 12Gulls & seabirds
  • 4Herons, ibises & grebes
  • 1Storks & cranes
  • 4Songbirds
  • 1Other birds

From open records (eBird and others, through GBIF, licensed for any use). More birdwatchers mean more records: a quiet place may have more birds than it shows.

The checklist

All 59 species.

By group, with the year in twelve cells: the darker the cell, the more often the bird is recorded that month.

Raptors7 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • White-bellied Sea-EagleHaliaeetus leucogaster
  • Peregrine FalconFalco peregrinus
  • Brahminy KiteHaliastur indus
  • Whistling KiteHaliastur sphenurus
  • Nankeen KestrelFalco cenchroides
  • Black KiteMilvus migrans
  • Little EagleHieraaetus morphnoides
Waders30 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Curlew SandpiperCalidris ferrugineaVU
  • Red-necked StintCalidris ruficollisNT
  • Terek SandpiperXenus cinereus
  • Gray-tailed TattlerTringa brevipes
  • Bar-tailed godwitLimosa lapponicaNT
  • Great KnotCalidris tenuirostris
  • Greater Sand PloverCharadrius leschenaultii
  • Common GreenshankTringa nebularia
  • Red KnotCalidris canutusNT
  • SanderlingCalidris alba
  • Grey PloverPluvialis squatarolaVU
  • Pied OystercatcherHaematopus longirostris
  • Far Eastern CurlewNumenius madagascariensis
  • Black-tailed GodwitLimosa limosaNT
  • Eurasian WhimbrelNumenius phaeopus
  • Sharp-tailed SandpiperCalidris acuminataVU
  • Ruddy TurnstoneArenaria interpresNT
  • Marsh SandpiperTringa stagnatilis
  • Oriental DotterelCharadrius veredus
  • Pacific Golden PloverPluvialis fulva
  • Little CurlewNumenius minutus
  • Broad-billed SandpiperCalidris falcinellusVU
  • Asian DowitcherLimnodromus semipalmatusNT
  • RedshankTringa totanus
  • Oriental PratincoleGlareola maldivarum
  • Inland PloverPeltohyas australis
  • Australian PratincoleStiltia isabella
  • Nordmann's GreenshankTringa guttifer
  • Pied StiltHimantopus leucocephalus
  • Australian Red-necked AvocetRecurvirostra novaehollandiae
Gulls & seabirds12 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Whiskered TernChlidonias hybrida
  • Great Crested-TernThalasseus bergii
  • Silver GullChroicocephalus novaehollandiae
  • Little TernSternula albifrons
  • Common TernSterna hirundo
  • Lesser Crested TernThalasseus bengalensis
  • Australian TernGelochelidon macrotarsa
  • Gull-billed TernGelochelidon nilotica
  • White-winged TernChlidonias leucopterus
  • Caspian TernHydroprogne caspia
  • Roseate TernSterna dougallii
  • Black-tailed GullLarus crassirostris
Herons, ibises & grebes4 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Australian PelicanPelecanus conspicillatus
  • White-faced HeronEgretta novaehollandiae
  • Little EgretEgretta garzetta
  • Great White EgretArdea alba
Storks & cranes1 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • BrolgaGrus rubicunda
Songbirds4 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Australian PipitAnthus australis
  • Tree MartinPetrochelidon nigricans
  • Magpie larkGrallina cyanoleuca
  • White-winged Fairy-wrenMalurus leucopterus
Other birds1 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Flock BronzewingPhaps histrionica

Monthly presence relative to all bird records that month, so a busy month does not inflate every species.

When to go

The most species in November.

Species recorded in each month, with the usual temperature and rain.

  1. Jan1734°/27°164 mm
  2. Feb3534°/27°162 mm
  3. Mar2534°/26°98 mm
  4. Apr2834°/24°14 mm
  5. May031°/19°20 mm
  6. Jun4028°/16°12 mm
  7. Jul428°/15°12 mm
  8. Aug329°/16°2 mm
  9. Sep132°/19°1 mm
  10. Oct3936°/23°2 mm
  11. Nov5137°/25°5 mm
  12. Dec3336°/27°59 mm
  • Bar: species recorded that month.
  • Temperature: average maximum / minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
  • Rain: monthly total.

The place

Eighty Mile Beach.

Beach on the north-west coast of Western Australia

Eighty Mile Beach is a wetland of international importance (Ramsar) in Australia.

59 bird species have been recorded here more than once, in 1,634 open records.

The most recorded are the Curlew Sandpiper, the Red-necked Stint and the Terek Sandpiper.

25 species come for the summer, 1 for the winter and 2 only pass through.

4 are threatened worldwide, including Curlew Sandpiper, Grey Plover and Sharp-tailed Sandpiper.

The most species are recorded in November.

Eighty Mile Beach, Western Australia
Nachoman-au · CC BY-SA 3.0

Get there and watch

Plan the visit

A guided walk, a bed nearby, a car.

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

From above

The place and its surroundings.

The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the place, with the bird hides, towers and trails that OpenStreetMap shows.

Eighty Mile Beach seen from above (Sentinel-2)
Seen from above: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6 × 6 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around, in OpenStreetMap

    • bird hides within 6 km
    • observation towers within 6 km
    • marked trails within 4 km
    • visitor centres within 6 km
    • viewpoints within 5 km
    • car parks within 3 km
    • restaurants and cafés within 3 km
    • campsites within 10 km
    • places to stay within 10 km

    Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.

    Photographs

    The place, as people saw it.

    Eighty mile beach during day
    Linear77 · CC BY 3.0
    Eighty mile beach shells
    Linear77 · CC BY 3.0
    15 zeiss 2 (7570679858)
    Jim Bendon from Karratha, Australia · CC BY-SA 2.0

    Where these figures come from

    Name and typeWikidata (Q4167946) · CC0
    Birds1,634 open bird records within 6 km (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY 4.0 only; mostly eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology)
    See these recordsgbif.org
    SpeciesGBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0; Wikidata (CC0); Wikimedia Commons
    AltitudeCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
    Temperature and rainNASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2)
    What is around© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
    ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons

    Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

    The family

    Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?

    Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.