Sites - Important Bird Areas (IBAs)

Summary This IBA supports the seond-largest population of the endangered Regent Honeyeater. It also supports significant numbers of the near threatened Diamond Firetail.

Ornithological information The IBA supports populations of a suite of declining woodland species, notably Brown Treecreeper, Hooded Robin, Speckled Warbler, Turquoise Parrot and Black-chinned Honeyeater. The near threatened Flame Robin and biome-restricted Black Honeyeater are rare visitors to the IBA (Atlas of Australian Birds database).

Site description This IBA consists of an area of woodland remnants south of Bundarra and east of Barraba, inland of Armidale in northern New South Wales. The boundary is defined by recent records of Regent Honeyeater but, in the absence of clear ecological boundaries, it follows roads for clarity and convenience: from Bundarra west to The Basin, then south-east to 5km south of Mount Yarrowyck Nature Reserve, then cross-country due west to Kingstown, south-west to Manilla and Ranagari then north to Barraba and Cobbadah and east to Gulf Creek and Bundarra. This includes remnants of Grassy White Box Woodlands and mugga ironbark woodlands which are mostly preserved as Travelling Stock Routes (TSR). It also includes intervening sections of TSR with different dominant trees, as Regent Honeyeaters occasionally use these other species and are believed to use the TSRs as corridors, including the Borah (200 ha), Black Springs, Mille Creek, Garibaldi, Gwydir Park Road, Coonoor and Tintinhull Travelling Stock Reserves, Ironbark Nature Reserve and Linton Nature Reserve. These TSRs are managed by the Tamworth Rural Lands Protection Board of the Tamworth Regional Council. The northern part of the IBA is dominated by the Nandewar Range of hills, and the south-east by the Namoi River, part of which is in the Warrabah National Park. Warrabah's vegetation is mainly woodland, with white cypress pine, hill red gum and Caley's ironbark. Barraba experiences average maximum temperatures of 16-18°C in winter and 31-32°C in summer with annual rainfall of 860 mm.

Populations of IBA trigger species

Protected areas

Protected area	Designation	Area (ha)	Relationship with IBA	Overlap with IBA (ha)
Ironbark	Nature Reserve	1,657	protected area contained by site	1,604
Linton	Nature Reserve	668	protected area contained by site	640
Mount Yarrowyck	Nature Reserve	170	protected area contained by site	170
Stony Batter Creek	Nature Reserve	564	protected area contained by site	564
Warrabah	National Park	3,555	protected area contained by site	3,471

Habitats

Land ownership Combination of Leasehold, freehold, nature reserves and Crown Land. Crown Land is managed by The Rural Lands Protection Board and nature reserves by NPWS.

Land use

Management considerations Tamworth Council should continue to follow the recommendations for conservation of these woodlands. The Rural Lands Protection Board should continue to ensure that these woodlands are not over-grazed.

Protection status See separate listing.

Conservation response Regent Honeyeaters are being monitored and colour-banded. Tamworth Regional Council's State of the Environment Report reports the status of the Regent Honeyeaters. Namoi Catchment Management Authority and Tamworth Rural Lands Protection Board have entered into a 10 year agreement to manage 1600 ha of land on six local TSRs for conservation purposes.

Acknowledgements Thanks to Russ Watts as the compiler and the Tamworth Birdwatchers Incorporated for input. We also wish to acknowledge the assistance of Geoff Mitchell, Tamworth Regional Council and Damon Oliver, NPWS in Armidale.

References Austin, J.R. (2002) Conservation and identification of biodiversity on Travelling Stock Reserves of north west New South Wales. North West Rural Lands Protection Boards. National Heritage Trust project NW0163.99. Canberra: National Heritage Trust.

Ley, A.J., Oliver, D.L., and Williams, B. (1996) Observations on colour-banded Regent Honeyeaters Xanthomyza phrygia. Corella 20: 88-92.

Mitchell, G. (2004/5 and 2005/6) State of the Environment Report. Tamworth, NSW: Tamworth Regional Council.

Williams, B. (2005) Bundarra-Barraba. Where the Regents Roam 15: 10-11.

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Recommended citation  BirdLife International (2013) Important Bird Areas factsheet: Bundarra-Barraba. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 21/05/2013

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