BirdLife Australia is a not-for-profit organisation advocating for native birds and the conservation of their habitats across Australia. BirdLife Australia is the trading name of the

company limited by guarantee A company limited by guarantee (CLG) is a type of company where the liability of members in the event the company is wound up is limited to a (typically very small) amount listed in the company's articles or constitution. Most have no share ca ...

formed through the merger of two Australian non-government conservation organisations, Bird Observation and Conservation Australia (BOCA) and Birds Australia. A constitution was drafted in May 2011 for BirdLife Australia, which became operational on 1 January 2012. Their respective magazines, the ''Bird Observer'' and ''Wingspan'', were succeeded by '' Australian Birdlife''.

History

At simultaneous annual general meetings held on 21 May 2011, the respective members of BOCA and Birds Australia voted to merge and form the new company. Over 93% of those that voted from BOCA voted for the merger and over 95% of those that voted from Birds Australia voted for the merger. A combined total of 4517 Birds Australia and BOCA members voted on the resolution, with over 36% of Birds Australia members and more than 50% of BOCA members voting. This was the biggest response to a proposed resolution that either organisation had ever received. With the merger, BirdLife Australia became the Australian national partner organisation of

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

, a role hitherto performed by Birds Australia. The inaugural Board of Directors was made up of five board members from each of the merging organisations, with the addition of a "neutral" chair, Gerard Early, who continues to serve as a board member. The inaugural chief executive officer (CEO), Dr Graeme Hamilton, resigned in October 2012. Hamilton had served as CEO of Birds Australia from 2005 to 2011, and also as CEO of BOCA in its final months of operation in 2011. James O'Connor served as interim CEO from October 2012, until the appointment of Paul Sullivan in January 2013.

Constitution

The constitution of BirdLife Australia is loosely based on the constitutions of the merging bodies. The organisation is member-based, and board members are elected by the membership at an annual general meeting. The constitution also describes a transitional period for the board for its first three years of operation, whereby two members of each original board will stand down at each annual general meeting.

Operations

BirdLife Australia's current national office is at 60 Leicester Street Carlton, Victoria, at the site of the former Birds Australia office. The office of BOCA was in Nunawading, Victoria, and was still owned by BirdLife Australia. The organisation operates the Birdlife Discovery Centre at Sydney Olympic Park in Homebush, New South Wales, and leases premises in Floreat, West Australia. BirdLife Australia owns and operates

Gluepot Reserve Gluepot Reserve is a private protected area located in the Australian state of South Australia in the gazetted locality of Gluepot, South Australia, Gluepot about north of the town of Waikerie, South Australia, Waikerie. History Gluepot was e ...

, a reserve for bird conservation and research in the South Australian semi-arid mallee region, and leases two bird observatories in West Australia, the Broome Bird Observatory and the

Eyre Bird Observatory Eyre Bird Observatory is an educational, scientific and recreational facility in the Nuytsland Nature Reserve, Western Australia. Cocklebiddy, Western Australia, Cocklebiddy is the nearest locality on the Eyre Highway, to the north. It is in ...

. BirdLife Australia runs a number of research, monitoring and conservation programs related to Australian birds, and these are often characterised by a significant volunteer input. The Atlas of Australian Birds Project is a national bird monitoring project involving hundreds of skilled bird observers submitting survey data from across the country. This data is used in national reporting, notably State of Australia's Birds reports
Birdata
is the gateway to BirdLife Australia data including the Atlas of Australian Birds an
Nest record scheme
Datasets from this activity are publicly accessible. Other large scale monitoring and conservation efforts include Shorebirds 2020, a national migratory shorebirds program, and the Beach-nesting Birds program, aimed at improving the conservation status of resident shorebirds through research,

adaptive management Adaptive management, also known as adaptive resource management or adaptive environmental assessment and management, is a structured, iterative process of robust decision making in the face of uncertainty, with an aim to reducing uncertainty ove ...

and community engagement. Other projects, including Birds in Backyards and the Aussie Backyard Bird Count have more of an engagement and education focus. More recently (2017-2019), these projects and programs have been amalgamated into larger programs, including the Urban Birds Program (incorporating the Birds in Backyards program, the Woodland Bird Program (incorporating projects such as Birds on Farms and the Regent Honeyeater Recovery Project), the Coast and Marine Program (incorporating the Beach Nesting Birds program, as well as new programs including the Preventing Extinctions program. These programs are increasingly guided and informed by Conservation Action Planning. The Bushfire Recovery program aims to improve conservation outcomes for Australian birds impacted by the 2019–20 bush fires, with a focus on threatened species most imperilled by the fires. Together with

Charles Darwin University Charles Darwin University (CDU) is an Australian public university with two campuses in Darwin and six satellite campuses in metropolitan and regional areas of the Northern Territory. It was established in 2003 after the merger of Northern Ter ...

, Birdlife Australia created the Action Plan for Australian Birds 2020. According to the plan, there were 216 threatened birds in Australia compared to 195 ten years ago. The plan, published by

CSIRO Publishing CSIRO Publishing is an Australian-based science and technology publisher. It publishes books, journals and magazines across a range of scientific disciplines, including agriculture, chemistry, plant and animal sciences, natural history and enviro ...

, was written by more than 300 experts and edited by CDU Conservation Professor Stephen Garnett and Dr Barry Baker, and reports on a decade of monitoring and assessment of the populations of Australian birds. The report outlines instructions on how to avoid further decline of bird populations.

Regional groups

Birds Australia Northern NSW (BANN) is a regional group of Birds Australia based in northern New South Wales. BANN was formed in 1987 following a campout by RAOU members at Dorrigo the previous year. Members of Birds Australia who are residents of the area of coverage are automatically members of the group. A quarterly newsletter is sent to members. Activities provided for members include meetings, a variety of field trips, bird surveys, and conservation projects. Birds Australia Western Australia (BAWA) is the Western Australian regional group of Birds Australia. BAWA was formed in 1943 and incorporated in 2001. Members of Birds Australia resident in Western Australia are automatically members of BAWA. BAWA maintains an office, Peregrine House, at Floreat,

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

. It also publishes a quarterly newsletter, ''WA Bird Notes''. Activities provided for members include monthly meetings, a variety of excursions ranging from half-day outings to extensive campouts, bird surveys and conservation projects.

Wader Studies Group

The Australasian Wader Studies Group (AWSG), established in 1981, is a special interest group of BirdLife Australia. It publishes a journal, '' The Stilt'', usually twice a year, with occasional extra issues. Its mission statement is "to ensure the future of

wader 245px, A flock of Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflats in order to foraging, ...

s (shorebirds) and their habitats in Australia through research and conservation programs and to encourage and assist similar programmes in the rest of the East Asian–Australasian Flyway". The AWSG organises the nearly annual series of North-West Australia Wader Expeditions, which use experienced international cannon netting teams to catch and study the very large numbers of migratory waders that visit the beaches of

Roebuck Bay Roebuck Bay is a bay on the coast of the Kimberley (Western Australia), Kimberley region of Western Australia. Its entrance is bounded in the north by the town of Broome, Western Australia, Broome, and in the south by Bush Point and Sandy P ...

near Broome, Eighty Mile Beach and Port Hedland in north-west

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

AWSG Objectives

* To monitor wader populations through a programme of counting and banding in order to collect data on changes on a local, national and international basis. * To study the migrations of waders through a program of counting, banding, colour-flagging and collection of biometric data. * To instigate and encourage other scientific studies of waders such as feeding and breeding studies. * To communicate the results of these studies to a wide audience through the ''

Stilt Stilt is a common name for several species of birds in the family Recurvirostridae, which also includes those known as avocets. They are found in brackish or saline wetlands in warm or hot climates. They have extremely long legs, hence the grou ...

'', the '' Tattler'', other journals, the internet, the media, conferences and lectures. * To formulate and promote policies for the conservation of waders and their habitat, and to make available information to local and national governmental conservation bodies and other organisations to encourage and assist them in pursuing this objective. * To encourage and promote the involvement of a large band of amateurs, as well as professionals, to achieve these objectives.

Awards

The organisation awards a number of regular prizes. The Stuart Leslie Bird Research Award and the Professor Alan Keast Award are bestowed annually to postgraduate students of ornithology, with an emphasis on conservation applications. The Indigenous Grant for Bird Research and Conservation acknowledges the contribution of Indigenous Australians by facilitating their further engagement in research and conservation.

John Hobbs Medal

The John Hobbs Medal may be awarded annually for "outstanding contributions to

ornithology Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

as an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

scientist". It commemorates John Hobbs (1923–1990) and was first awarded in 1995. ;List of recipients * 1995 – Selwyn George (Bill) Lane * 1996 – Durno Murray * 1997 – Stephen Marchant * 1998 – Alan Leishman * 1999 – John Courtney * 2000 – Clive Minton * 2001 – Pauline Reilly * 2002 – ''no award'' * 2003 – Brian Coates * 2004 – Graeme Chapman * 2005 – Graham Pizzey * 2006 – ''no award'' * 2007 – ''no award'' * 2008 – Kevin Alan Wood * 2009 – Michael J. Carter * 2010 – Andrew Ley * 2011 – ''no award'' * 2012 – Mike Newman * 2013 – ''no award'' * 2014 – Lloyd Nielsen * 2015 – Lynn Pedler * 2016 – A.B. (Tony) Rose * 2017 - Ken Gosbell * 2018 - Andrew Barham Black OAM * 2019 - Dick (RM) Cooper * 2020 - Alan Stuart PhD * 2021 - Ian Arthur William McAllan * 2022 - Jon Coleman * 2023 - Rosalind Jessop

D. L. Serventy Medal

The D.L. Serventy Medal may be awarded annually for outstanding published work on birds in the Australasian region. It commemorates Dr Dominic Serventy (1904–1988) and was first awarded in 1991. ;List of recipients * 1991 - Ian Rowley * 1992 - John Warham * 1993 - Hugh Ford * 1994 - Harry Recher * 1995 - Allen Keast * 1996 - Cliff Frith and Dawn Frith * 1997 - Penny Olsen * 1998 - Richard Zann * 1999 - Jiro Kikkawa * 2000 - (''no award'') * 2001 - John Woinarski * 2002 - (''no award'') * 2003 - Trevor Worthy and Richard N. Holdaway * 2004 - Andrew Cockburn * 2005 - Lesley Brooker and Michael Brooker * 2006 - Denis A. Saunders * 2007 - Michael Clarke * 2008 - Stephen Garnett and Gabriel Crowley * 2009 - Carla P. Catterall * 2010 - David Lindenmayer * 2011 -

David Paton David Paton (; born 29 October 1949) is a Scottish bassist, guitarist and singer. He first achieved success in the mid-1970s as lead vocalist and bassist of Pilot, who scored hits with " Magic", "January", "Just a Smile" and "Call Me Round" b ...

* 2012 - Richard Kingsford * 2013 - Ron Wooller * 2014 - Richard Loyn * 2015 - Stephen Debus * 2016 - Sonia Kleindorfer * 2017 - Sarah Legge * 2018 - Leo George Joseph * 2019 - Naomi Langmore * 2020 - Ralph Mac Nally * 2021 - Andrew F. Bennett * 2022 - Eric Woehler * 2023 - Robert Heinsohn

Publications

Selection of publications:
Australian Birdlife Newsletter
* ''Emu'' - Austral Ornithology scientific journal * '' Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds'' (HANZAB, 7 volumes),

References

External links

BirdLife Australia
{{Authority control 2011 establishments in Australia Organizations established in 2011 Ornithological organisations in Australia Nature conservation organisations based in Australia Non-profit organisations based in Victoria (state) Bird conservation organizations Protected area administrators of Australia Environmental organizations established in 2012 BirdLife partners