Broome Bird Observatory

Shorebird capital of Australia

The BBO is a veritable twitcher’s paradise on beautiful Roebuck Bay, where up to 120,000 shorebirds gather every year. Once you have arrived, the first port of call is the Clive Minton Discovery Centre - recently opened, the interpretation centre encourages exploration of Roebuck Bay and its amazing birdlife. Experience immersive soundscapes, beautiful footage, up to date science and even a migration challenge! The next stop would be the Shadehouse - a fly-wired enclosure opposite a birds’ water park. As in Graeme Base’s The Waterhole, it is where the locals gather – bush birds, goannas and kangaroos. Here avid bird watchers sit and watch the birds, discussing those that they have seen or want to add to their list. Opened in 1988 to protect and study the birds of Roebuck Bay, and declared an internationally significant wetland under the Ramsar Convention, the BBO now offers a Discovery Centre, accommodation, tours, courses and research facilities for those who want to see and know more about the 330+ species of birds that have been recorded in the area. The BBO’s primary focus is on the thousands of migratory shorebirds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway. Thirty-five species of these birds, some weighing as little as a Timtam(!), fly every year between the rich feeding grounds of Roebuck Bay and surrounding plains, and their breeding grounds in the northern hemisphere. Godwits and dowitchers; greenshanks and redshanks; sandpipers, tattlers and pratincoles; barn swallows, swifts and wagtails, are among the international travellers. Chats, bustards, whistlers, honeyeaters and gerygones, sea-eagles, osprey, oystercatchers and pelicans are among the many local residents.

 

Address:

Crab Creek Road
Broome WA 6725
Australia

Opening Hours

7 days 8am - 4pm; Check for wet season closures

Bush Turkey

This is the leg and foot of Ardeotis australis, known locally as ‘bush turkey’. They thrive on Roebuck Plains and the pindan coastal country of the Broome area, and after man-gala the wet season, when...

For Bird Lovers

The BBO was set up by the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union (RAOU, now BirdLife Australia), as a research and education facility to work for the conservation of the migratory shorebirds which...

The Long Beak

This is the jaw bone of bilari, a species greatly respected by the Yawuru and surrounding groups. Pelecanus conspicillatus (Australian pelican), has the longest beak of any bird in the world. They are...

More North West collections

Broome community reflected

Broome Library is the community hub of Broome where you can find about what is going on in town. Providing a cool haven for passing visitors and the local community, with around 12,000 borrowers, the...

Waking up the spirit

Waking up the spirit of the Country through songs, dance, art and story, by sharing and teaching young people, is what the Mowanjum Aboriginal Art and Culture Centre does to keep their culture alive...

Little bit long way

So says the first of many painted car-bonnet signs as you turn off the Great Northern Highway to travel the 350 kms along the Tanami track to the Warlayirti Artists Art and Culture Centre at Balgo...

Ochre and rust

Ochres of black, red and mustard yellow, mixed with greys and whites are the hallmarks of the very distinctive style of the Warmun community artists. One of the early engine rooms for the contemporary...

While you're in the area

Filter
Banana Well Getaway
Accommodation
Banana Well Getaway
Banana Well Getaway is local accommodation for the Dampier Peninsula, well...
PO Box 213, Broome, WA 6725
Short Street Gallery
Attraction
Short Street Gallery
Short Street Gallery is the premier and longest running art gallery...
7 Short Street, Broome, WA 6725
Cable Beach
Attraction
Cable Beach
Discover the beauty of the Kimberley’s golden hour as the world-famous...
Cable Beach Road West, Cable Beach, WA 6726
RAC Cable Beach Holiday Park
Accommodation
RAC Cable Beach Holiday Park
Located just walking distance from the pristine shores of Cable Beach, RAC...
1 Murray Road, Cable Beach, WA 6726