Werribee Sewage Farm - Birdwatching

Birdwatching

The Western Treatment Plant is one of Australia’s best-known sites for recreational birding, with about 270 species of birds recorded there. On the south-western boundary lies the 1550 ha Murtcaim Wildlife Area, containing one of the last unmodified areas of saltmarsh on Port Phillip. The sewage treatment lagoons, Lake Borrie, creeks, saltmarsh and coast host large numbers of sedentary and migratory waterbirds and waders. It adjoins the Spit Nature Conservation Reserve and is one of the few wintering sites for the critically endangered Orange-bellied Parrot. Access to the Western Treatment Plant for birdwatching is by permit only; permits can be obtained from Melbourne Water. The site is part of the Werribee and Avalon Important Bird Area, identified as such by BirdLife International because of its importance for waterbirds as well as for Orange-bellied Parrots.