Swan Bay and Port Phillip Bay Islands Important Bird Area

The Swan Bay and Port Phillip Bay Islands Important Bird Area comprises a cluster of disparate sites centred at the eastern end of the Bellarine Peninsula, and the southern end of Port Phillip, in Victoria, south-eastern Australia.

As well as providing core wintering habitat for orange-bellied parrots, it is important for waders, or shorebirds, and seabirds.

[1] Swan Bay, Mud Islands and Pope's Eye are in the Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park.

The group of sites has been identified as an IBA by BirdLife International because it supports significant numbers of critically endangered orange-bellied parrots and vulnerable fairy terns, and over 1% of the world populations of blue-billed ducks, chestnut teals, Australian white and straw-necked ibises, red-necked stints and silver gulls.

Mud Islands also has important breeding colonies of Australian pelicans, silver gulls, greater crested and Caspian terns, and ibises.