Prioritising the Priority Species of Mackay Whitsundays

This four-year project will support efforts to reverse the trajectory of the Priority Threatened Species Red Goshawk and Eastern Curlew within the Mackay-Whitsunday-Isaac region. This will be achieved through: 

• On-ground surveys to address critical information gaps 
• Targeted habitat restoration and augmentation initiatives to improve habitat quality for target species and their prey 
• Targeted feral animal management (pigs and foxes)
• Raising public awareness of priority threatened species

Red Goshawk (Erythrotriorchis radiatus)

The conservation status of the Red Goshawk is ‘Endangered’ under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act), and listed as ‘Endangered’ in Queensland (Nature Conservation Act 1992). 

The red goshawk is a large, swift and powerful rufous-brown hawk. Red goshawks occur in areas of high biodiversity and have large territories. Areas red goshawks are known to frequent possess intact forest or woodland, permanent water, and areas where large and diverse bird populations occur. 

The National Recovery Plan for Red Goshawk (2012) identifies habitat loss and fragmentation, impacts to nest sites including clearing and inappropriate fire, and impacts to prey base and availability such as degradation of waterways and heavy grazing as key threats to their survival in Australia. 

Pictured: Red Goshawk

Eastern Curlew (Numenius madagascariensis) 

The eastern curlew is a top 20 priority bird species listed as ‘Critically Endangered’ and is identified as a ‘Listed Migratory Species’ under the EPBC Act. 

Eastern curlews are found in coastal regions in the northeast and south of Australia mid-July to late September, during their non-breeding season. The Mackay region has been identified as a non-breeding roosting destination. They move locally between high-tide roost-sites and intertidal feeding zones and are most commonly associated with sheltered intertidal sandflats or mudflats, open and without vegetation or covered with seagrass (typically Zosteraceae), often near mangroves, on salt flats and in saltmarsh, rockpools and among rubble on coral reefs, and on ocean beaches near the tideline. 

The key threats impacting upon this threatened species within Australia include ongoing human disturbance (such as driving on beaches and sand dunes, and unrestrained domestic dogs), coastal development, land reclamation, pollution and weed invasion.

Pictured: Eastern Curlew

This project is funded by the Australian Government Natural Heritage Trust and delivered by Reef Catchments, a member of the Commonwealth Regional Delivery Partners panel.