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Australia Australia Ramsar wetland

Lake Alexandrina

76 bird species recorded; the most in October.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec53at the peak
Species recorded in each month · tap a month

RegionVisitor90 · CC BY 4.0

This month here

42 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.

Australian Pelican
Australian PelicanPelecanus conspicillatusPassage migrantW. Bulach · CC BY-SA 4.0
Great White Egret
Great White EgretArdea albaSummer visitorCalibas · CC BY-SA 3.0
White-faced Heron
White-faced HeronEgretta novaehollandiaeSummer visitorRuss · CC BY 2.0
Whiskered Tern
Whiskered TernChlidonias hybridaSummer visitorMarek Szczepanek · CC BY-SA 3.0
Silver Gull
Silver GullChroicocephalus novaehollandiaeSummer visitorJJ Harrison ( https://www.jjharrison.com.au/ ) · CC BY-SA 3.0
Caspian Tern
Caspian TernHydroprogne caspiaSummer visitorMdf · CC BY-SA 3.0
Cape Barren Goose
Cape Barren GooseCereopsis novaehollandiaeSummer visitorJJ Harrison ( https://www.jjharrison.com.au/ ) · CC BY-SA 3.0
Straw-necked Ibis
Straw-necked IbisThreskiornis spinicollisSummer visitorJJ Harrison ( https://www.jjharrison.com.au/ ) · CC BY 3.0
Australian White Ibis
Australian White IbisThreskiornis moluccaSummer visitorJJ Harrison ( https://www.jjharrison.com.au/ ) · CC BY-SA 3.0
Great Cormorant
Great CormorantPhalacrocorax carboSummer visitorJJ Harrison ( https://www.jjharrison.com.au/ ) · CC BY-SA 3.0
Pied Cormorant
Pied CormorantPhalacrocorax variusSummer visitorTony Wills · CC BY-SA 3.0
Pacific Black Duck
Pacific Black DuckAnas superciliosaSummer visitorStephen Barrell · CC BY 2.0
Grey Teal
Grey TealAnas gracilisSummer visitorJJ Harrison ( https://www.jjharrison.com.au/ ) · CC BY-SA 3.0
Black swan
Black swanCygnus atratusSummer visitorTarnishedPath · CC BY-SA 4.0
Masked Lapwing
Masked LapwingVanellus milesSummer visitorJJ Harrison ( https://www.jjharrison.com.au/ ) · CC BY-SA 3.0
Whistling Kite
Whistling KiteHaliastur sphenurusSummer visitorPeter Gaylard from Australia · CC BY 2.0
Australian Shelduck
Australian ShelduckTadorna tadornoidesResidentChristian Ursilva from København, Danmark · CC BY-SA 4.0
Little Black Cormorant
Little Black CormorantPhalacrocorax sulcirostrisSummer visitorQuartl · CC BY-SA 3.0
Great Crested Grebe
Great Crested GrebePodiceps cristatusWinter visitorGrahamBreeze · CC BY-SA 3.0
Dusky Moorhen
Dusky MoorhenGallinula tenebrosaPassage migrantJJ Harrison ( https://www.jjharrison.com.au/ ) · CC BY 3.0
White-fronted Chat
White-fronted ChatEpthianura albifronsSummer visitorJJ Harrison ( https://www.jjharrison.com.au/ ) · CC BY-SA 3.0
Chestnut TealAnas castaneaSummer visitor
Western Swamphen
Western SwamphenPorphyrio porphyrioSummer visitorAndreas Trepte · CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Resident all year
  • Summer visitor comes to breed
  • Winter visitor comes for the winter
  • Passage migrant in spring and autumn

In numbers

76 species, counted.

49out 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).

  • 76Speciesrecorded more than once
  • 27Migrantssummer, winter or passage visitors
  • 3ThreatenedVulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered (IUCN)
  • 559Recordsopen records within 6 km
  • 7Raptors
  • 10Waders
  • 5Gulls & seabirds
  • 12Ducks & geese
  • 17Herons, ibises & grebes
  • 17Songbirds
  • 8Other 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 76 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
  • Whistling KiteHaliastur sphenurus
  • Peregrine FalconFalco peregrinus
  • Swamp HarrierCircus approximans
  • Australian hobbyFalco longipennis
  • Nankeen KestrelFalco cenchroides
  • Grey FalconFalco hypoleucosVU
Waders10 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Masked LapwingVanellus miles
  • Sharp-tailed SandpiperCalidris acuminataVU
  • Common GreenshankTringa nebularia
  • Red-necked StintCalidris ruficollisNT
  • Australian Red-necked AvocetRecurvirostra novaehollandiae
  • Banded StiltCladorhynchus leucocephalus
  • Pied StiltHimantopus leucocephalus
  • Double-banded PloverCharadrius bicinctusNT
  • Red-capped PloverCharadrius ruficapillus
  • Black-winged StiltHimantopus himantopus
Gulls & seabirds5 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Whiskered TernChlidonias hybrida
  • Silver GullChroicocephalus novaehollandiae
  • Caspian TernHydroprogne caspia
  • Great Crested-TernThalasseus bergii
  • Gull-billed TernGelochelidon nilotica
Ducks & geese12 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Australian ShelduckTadorna tadornoides
  • Pacific Black DuckAnas superciliosa
  • Grey TealAnas gracilis
  • Black swanCygnus atratus
  • Cape Barren GooseCereopsis novaehollandiae
  • Chestnut TealAnas castanea
  • Freckled DuckStictonetta naevosa
  • HardheadAythya australis
  • Maned DuckChenonetta jubata
  • Australasian ShovelerSpatula rhynchotis
  • Musk DuckBiziura lobata
  • Pink-eared DuckMalacorhynchus membranaceus
Herons, ibises & grebes17 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Australian PelicanPelecanus conspicillatus
  • Straw-necked IbisThreskiornis spinicollis
  • Australian White IbisThreskiornis molucca
  • Glossy IbisPlegadis falcinellus
  • Great CormorantPhalacrocorax carbo
  • Great White EgretArdea alba
  • Pied CormorantPhalacrocorax varius
  • Yellow-billed SpoonbillPlatalea flavipes
  • White-faced HeronEgretta novaehollandiae
  • Little Black CormorantPhalacrocorax sulcirostris
  • Little Pied CormorantMicrocarbo melanoleucos
  • Royal SpoonbillPlatalea regia
  • Australasian DarterAnhinga novaehollandiae
  • Nankeen Night HeronNycticorax caledonicus
  • Great Crested GrebePodiceps cristatus
  • Ardea modestaArdea modesta
  • White-necked HeronArdea pacifica
Songbirds17 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Common StarlingSturnus vulgaris
  • White-fronted ChatEpthianura albifrons
  • Striped HoneyeaterPlectorhyncha lanceolata
  • Golden-headed CisticolaCisticola exilis
  • House SparrowPasser domesticus
  • Superb Fairy-wrenMalurus cyaneus
  • Australian MagpieGymnorhina tibicen
  • Dusky WoodswallowArtamus cyanopterus
  • Yellow-rumped ThornbillAcanthiza chrysorrhoa
  • Welcome SwallowHirundo neoxena
  • Australian Reed-WarblerAcrocephalus australis
  • Brown SonglarkMegalurus cruralis
  • Magpie larkGrallina cyanoleuca
  • Spiny-cheeked HoneyeaterAcanthagenys rufogularis
  • White-browed BabblerPomatostomus superciliosus
  • European GoldfinchCarduelis carduelis
  • Tree MartinPetrochelidon nigricans
Other birds8 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Western SwamphenPorphyrio porphyrio
  • CootFulica atra
  • Orange-bellied ParrotNeophema chrysogasterCR
  • Dusky MoorhenGallinula tenebrosa
  • Black-tailed NativehenGallinula ventralis
  • Spotless CrakePorzana tabuensis
  • Australian CrakePorzana fluminea
  • Australasian SwamphenPorphyrio melanotus

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 October.

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

  1. Jan4229°/16°18 mm
  2. Feb528°/15°16 mm
  3. Mar626°/14°29 mm
  4. Apr722°/12°30 mm
  5. May318°/10°45 mm
  6. Jun515°/7°48 mm
  7. Jul514°/7°50 mm
  8. Aug115°/7°45 mm
  9. Sep1018°/8°42 mm
  10. Oct5322°/10°23 mm
  11. Nov4125°/12°22 mm
  12. Dec427°/14°25 mm
  • Bar: species recorded that month.
  • Temperature: average maximum / minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
  • Rain: monthly total.

The place

Lake Alexandrina.

Estuarine lagoon in South Australia, forming part of the Murray River mouth

Lake Alexandrina is a wetland of international importance (Ramsar) in Australia.

76 bird species have been recorded here more than once, in 559 open records.

The most recorded are the Australian Pelican, the Straw-necked Ibis and the Australian White Ibis.

20 species come for the summer, 4 for the winter and 3 only pass through.

3 are threatened worldwide, including Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Orange-bellied Parrot and Grey Falcon.

The most species are recorded in October.

Milang, South Australia 20260917-112837
RegionVisitor90 · CC BY 4.0

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.

Lake Alexandrina 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

  • 3campsites within 10 kmNarrung Jetty Reserve, Tolderol Game Reserve, Point Sturt Camp Ground
  • 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
  • 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.

In our other atlases

Around Lake Alexandrina.

The lakes, beaches, islands, rivers and mountains around this place, and its night sky, in the family's atlases.

Peakyas11 mountains within 25 km
Wyungars Hill · 8.6 kmGrote Hill · 18 kmMcDougall Hill · 20 kmMount Misery · 20 kmMount Mysery · 20 kmAshville Hill · 21 kmMason Hill · 23 kmAlbert Hill · 23 km

Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.

Photographs

The place, as people saw it.

Ashville SA 5259, Australia - panoramio
Matthew Summerton · CC BY-SA 3.0
Lake Alexandrina, Milang 20260917-113447
RegionVisitor90 · CC BY 4.0
Samuel Robert Lock - Corrobbaree on the banks of Lake Alexandrina S. Australia 2012 CSK 04826 0176
Samuel Robert Lock · Public domain

Other places nearby.

Lake Alexandrina

Australia

  • 49Birdyas Score
  • 76Species
  • 27Migrants
  • 3Threatened

Lake Albert

Australia · 23 km

  • 52Birdyas Score
  • 95Species
  • 34Migrants
  • 3Threatened

See the guide

Coorong National Park

Australia · 76 km

  • 67Birdyas Score
  • 148Species
  • 48Migrants
  • 7Threatened

See the guide

Wyperfeld, Big Desert and Ngarkat Important Bird Area

Australia · 197 km

  • 51Birdyas Score
  • 94Species
  • 27Migrants
  • 3Threatened

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name and typeWikidata (Q1794394) · CC0
Birds559 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
Sister atlasesPeakyas, Lakeyas

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.