Goyder Lagoon

For other uses, see Goyder.

Goyder Lagoon
280px The bird area surrounding the lagoon is an important site for inland dotterels
Goyder Lagoon Location in South Australia
Location	Far North, South Australia
Coordinates
Type	Salt lake
Basin countries	Australia

The Goyder Lagoon is a large ephemeral swamp in the arid north-eastern region of South Australia. The lake is part of the Diamantina River floodplain, lying beside the Birdsville Track close to the state border with Queensland.

Exceptionally large floods in the Georgina-Mulligan River system may contribute water to the north-western side of Goyder Lagoon via Eyre Creek and the Warburton River. Most of the lagoon consists of shallow, braided micro-channels. It lies within the Clifton Hills cattle grazing pastoral lease. Median annual rainfall is 100–150 millimetres (3.9–5.9 in) and average maximum summer temperatures are 36 to 39 °C (97 to 102 °F).

Birds

Goyder Lagoon Important Bird Area

An area of 2,684 square kilometres (1,036 sq mi) containing Goyder Lagoon has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA) principally because, when flooded, it supports large numbers of waterbirds, with a total of 170,000 estimated from aerial surveys in 2002. The largest waterbird aggregations are found on the southern side of the lagoon, including several species of cormorants, ducks, herons and ibises. The IBA supports over 1% of the world populations of freckled ducks, gull-billed terns and breeding royal spoonbills. A small population of yellow chats occurs at the Koonchera waterhole. Other bird species for which the site is important include the letter-winged kite, inland dotterel, grey and Eyrean grasswrens, black and pied honeyeaters, gibberbird, banded whiteface, chirruping wedgebill and cinnamon quail-thrush.

See also

• List of lakes of South Australia