Westernport Bay: anatomy of an Australian estuary

Prey Availability, and not Energy Content, Explains Diet and Prey Choice of Eastern CurlewsNumenius madagascariensisin Southern Australia

“…The two main study sites were at Rhyll Inlet and the mudflats offshore known as Churchill Tidal Flats (Marsden et al 1979, Figure 1). Tidal mudflats, mostly covered by seagrass beds, comprise about 40% of the bay's total area of 680 km 2 (Shapiro 1975); Western Port contains one of the most extensive seagrass areas in southern Australia (Clough & Attiwill 1980). The seagrass meadows are dominated by Tasman Grass-wrack Zostera tasmanica, occurring in dense stands on lower areas of the mudflats that retain water at low tide (Bulthuis 1981).…”