Central-west Queensland is a large and sparsely populated area of outback Queensland. Major towns of this region include Longreach, Winton, Blackall and Barcaldine. Longreach and Winton both have sewerage/wastewater ponds which can be excellent for birding, though as the country tends to be quite arid, anywhere with water is a good place to find birds.
Like other parts of Outback Queensland, nomadic wanderers such as Emu, Brolga and Australian Bustard can be seen often either from the roadside or crossing roads. The boom/bust cycle dictated by weather may determine how many birds you may see in any one season, as is particularly the case with flocking birds like finches, budgies and quail-thrush.
Top Hotspots:
- Bladensburg National Park
- Windorah Nature Trail
- Winton Wastewater Treatment Plant
- Longreach Sewerage Ponds
- Iningai Nature Reserve, Longreach
- Welford National Park
Dry and sparse former cattle station that provides happy-making bird encounters
Iningai Nature Reserve, Longreach
Reserve conducive to walking and casual exploring with reasonable birding
Some nice birds especially nearer the creek end of this 12km dry country trail, that is best done by car
Winton Wastewater Treatment Plant
Nice, though small, set of ponds to see water birds and even Crakes and Little Grassbirds