Nearly a quarter of a million waterbirds disappear from Australian skies
One of the world’s longest continuous bird counts has painted a troubling picture of Australia’s waterbird population.
Australia’s waterbird population is bouncing back after plummeting last year – but the numbers remain troubling, research shows.
Conducted annually since 1983, the eastern Australian waterbird aerial survey is one of the world’s longest continuous bird counts – as well as one of the largest by geographical distance covered.
This year, the survey spotted 375,419 birds across a third of the continent; a 30 per cent improvement on the 287,231 birds spotted in 2024, but more than 200,000 short of the 579,641 birds recorded in 2023.
The director of the Centre for Ecosystem Science at the University of New South Wales, Prof Richard Kingsford, who leads the aerial surveys, said the figures showed a long-term decline.
“We had a bounce in numbers after solid breeding in the flood years of 2021 and 2022, but now numbers are below the long-term average, with little breeding happening in 2023, 2024 and now, 2025,” Kingsford said.
In 2025, the breeding nest index increased tenfold from last year, with 1270 broods and 16 species recorded.
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Magpie geese, little black cormorants and pelicans accounted for most of the recorded breeding.
10 wetlands supported 59 per cent of birds, while 44 per cent supported no birds at all.
This year, the wetland area index rose to 334,324 hectares, up from 122,283 hectares in 2024.
Kati Thanda (Lake Eyre), Cooper Creek, Lake Yamma Yamma and the Diamantina floodplain made up 51 per cent of all surveyed wetlands, but only supported 4 per cent of total waterbirds.
The majority of bird numbers were recorded at temporary saline desert wetlands, including South Australian lakes Mumbleberry and Torquine and Queensland’s Lake Galilee. These areas held more 99,000 birds, nearly a quarter of 2025’s total.
Climate change, river regulation and water extraction have led to the ongoing decline of waterbird habitats, particularly in the Murray-Darling Basin.
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Kingsford said the survey results show Australia’s unpredictable weather, including flooding and extreme rainfall, have had an impact.
“This caused major floods that reached Lake Eyre and became a one-in-500-year severe flooding event on the mid north coast of New South Wales,” Kingsford says.
“A lot of the waterbirds have gone up in that part of the world, right out in the desert. But, at the same time, we also saw drier conditions persist across parts of southeastern Australia.”
DCCEEW senior scientist and research fellow, Dr John Porter, said this annual survey has underpinned major management decisions.
“The surveys have led to the identification of new protected areas and changed water policy in the Murray-Darling Basin,” Porter said.
He said purchased and targeted releases of environmental water continue to offset some impacts of climate change, water extraction and river regulation, though long-term trends still remain downward.
Kingsford said that long-term trends, rather than year-to-year variability, offer the clearest picture of waterbird health.
“And those trends continue to point to decline, even in a year of partial recovery,” Kingsford said.
The survey took place from October to the first week of November. Observations were taken from a light plane at 50 metres above water over 38,000km from Northern Queensland to Victoria.
The survey recorded no mass mortality events, which would normally signal an outbreak of avian influenza.
This year ranks as the 12th highest number of total birds since the survey began in 1983.
The survey was conducted by UNSW’s Centre for Ecosystem Science with the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) and other state agencies.
