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Birds
Of all the fauna specimens in the Tootgarook Swamp, bird species with over 150 species recorded so far outnumber many of the other species apart from insects and invertebrates.
This is largely due to the diversity of flora formations occurring as a result of seasonal drying and wetting cycles, The varying water levels across the whole site allowing for more plant variations that provide microfauna, insects and invertebrate habitat which are then intern utilised by bird species of both great and small, flight and semi-flightless, water and land species and others besides.
Many bird species are threatened due to alterations and modifications to our wetlands and waterways. Have you ever noticed that some wetland and marine birds have different types of legs, some are webbed some aren't, some are long and some are short, and some even have very large feet while some don't. This is because certain birds will utilise certain habitats, many birds don't like open water and healthy wetlands don't normally have much of it, in fact lakes only make up 2% of all wetland types. Though when humans destroy wetlands for developments and agriculture and then construct many wetland offsets, we build exactly that, lakes. This is because we think it looks nice and helps the environment, though it results in greatly limiting the birds who will use the site, and helps destroy biodiversity and the food web. The majority of bird species threatened with extinction in Victoria are wetland dependant species.
Below is a categories list of birds that are found at the Tootgarook Swamp, each category is broken down further so that you can find a selection of photos, and video of the indigenous bird inhabitants of the Tootgarook swamp. Introduced birds (feral) can be found under threats.
Do you have a photo from the swamp of any of the species not listed or shown below, we would love to hear from you, please email info@savetootgarookswamp.org
This is largely due to the diversity of flora formations occurring as a result of seasonal drying and wetting cycles, The varying water levels across the whole site allowing for more plant variations that provide microfauna, insects and invertebrate habitat which are then intern utilised by bird species of both great and small, flight and semi-flightless, water and land species and others besides.
Many bird species are threatened due to alterations and modifications to our wetlands and waterways. Have you ever noticed that some wetland and marine birds have different types of legs, some are webbed some aren't, some are long and some are short, and some even have very large feet while some don't. This is because certain birds will utilise certain habitats, many birds don't like open water and healthy wetlands don't normally have much of it, in fact lakes only make up 2% of all wetland types. Though when humans destroy wetlands for developments and agriculture and then construct many wetland offsets, we build exactly that, lakes. This is because we think it looks nice and helps the environment, though it results in greatly limiting the birds who will use the site, and helps destroy biodiversity and the food web. The majority of bird species threatened with extinction in Victoria are wetland dependant species.
Below is a categories list of birds that are found at the Tootgarook Swamp, each category is broken down further so that you can find a selection of photos, and video of the indigenous bird inhabitants of the Tootgarook swamp. Introduced birds (feral) can be found under threats.
Do you have a photo from the swamp of any of the species not listed or shown below, we would love to hear from you, please email info@savetootgarookswamp.org
Semi-flightless waterfowl in the swamp include
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Inhabitants time sharing between the beach
and the swamp include
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Water reliant heron species include
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Permanent and seasonal native duck / geese species include
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Diving birds in the swamp include
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Large long-legged wader species include
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Small wader species include
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Predatory raptor and night specialist hunters include
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Old world warblers include
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Quails include
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Pigeons and doves include
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Beautiful parrot / cockatoo species include
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Sneaky nest visiting cuckoo birds include
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Brightly coloured robin species include
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Monarch flycatcher species include
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Whistler, shrike-thrushes and cuckoo-shrikes species include
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Nectar loving honeyeater birds include
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Small bird species in the Swamp include
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Large bird species in the Swamp include
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