Sydney Olympic Park provides summer feeding habitat for the migratory bird Latham’s Snipe. This species primarily inhabits Narawang Wetland, but has also been recorded from other freshwater wetlands including the Eastern Water Quality Control Pond, the Northern Water Feature, the Brickpit, Bennelong Pond and the Back Swamps adjacent to Lake Belvedere.
Latham’s Snipe is a migratory bird species that inhabits Sydney Olympic Park during the spring and summer. It is present in South-Eastern Australia between mid-August and April, migrating along the East Asian-Australian Flyway from breeding sites in Japan and the east Asian mainland, to take advantage of the productive summer months in both hemispheres. Individuals may use the Park as a staging area for migrating further south.
Whereas migratory shorebirds are associated with intertidal habitats, Latham’s Snipe utilise the margins of freshwater swamps, usually on or near the coast, particularly where dense stands of tall grasses, sedges, reeds or rushes are available as diurnal roost sites. It generally feeds at night, early morning or evening, in soft mudflats or shallow water. It is omnivorous, eating seeds and plant material as well as worms, spiders, insects, molluscs, isopods and centipedes.
Latham’s Snipe is a cryptic and well-camouflaged species that is usually only detected when disturbed from cover, when it gives an alarm call, bursts into the air, and flies rapidly away to a shelter site nearby in a distinctive zig-zagging manner. It is a mottled black, brown and buff bird with a long bill, dark stripe through the eye and paler cheek stripe below.
Like many other migratory shorebirds, historical data shows a reduction in populations of this species in the Parramatta River estuary, including at Sydney Olympic Park, particularly over the last 20 years. During the 1990s, counts of 60-100 Latham’s Snipe were made on lands that are now part of Sydney Olympic Park, compared with counts of around 10 in recent years. Habitat loss and disturbance are likely to have contributed to this decline; factors outside of Australia along the Flyway are also contributing.
As well as supporting Latham’s Snipe that are resident in the Park over the summer months, the Park may also function as a transit site for birds moving to and from summer habitats in more southerly parts of Australia. Thus the number of birds present at a particular time may significantly underestimate the number of birds reliant upon the Park’s habitats throughout the summer migration period.
During the 1990s, 60-100 Latham’s Snipe were regularly seen in the ‘Cumbungi Swamp’. This swamp, located in what is now Haslams Creek Flats, had formed on the site of a landfill. It was contaminated and becoming choked with reeds, and without intervention, was unlikely to provide Latham’s Snipe habitat in the long-term. The new Narawang Wetland was intended to replace habitat lost with remediation of the swamp. Initial designs for this wetland incorporated habitat features for Latham’s Snipe; these features were not fully realised in the final designs.
The Sydney Olympic Park Authority has commenced a planting program to improve grass and sedge connectivity between pond clusters within Narawang Wetland, and maintains pond water levels during summer to provide marshy foraging habitat. Narawang Wetland is also breeding habitat for the Green and Golden Bell Frog; habitat management needs of these two species is complementary.
The population is monitored in annual surveys.
Listen to the Latham's Snipe call (MP3)
The Latham's Snipe in nonbreeding plumage and habitat at Sydney Olympic Park
The Latham's Snipe in breeding plumage and habitat in Japan
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