Birdsville

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Template:Other uses Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use Australian English Template:GeoGroup Template:Infobox Australian place Birdsville is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Diamantina, Queensland, Australia.<ref name=qpnt>Template:Cite QPN</ref><ref name=qpnl>Template:Cite QPN</ref> The locality is on the Queensland border with both the Northern Territory and South Australia.<ref name="globe" /> The town is situated Template:Convert north of the South Australian border. In the Template:CensusAU, the locality of Birdsville had a population of 110 people.<ref name=Census2021/>

It is a popular tourist destination with many people using it as a starting point across the Simpson Desert.

Betoota is a ghost town to the east of the town of Birdsville within the bounds of the locality.(Template:Coord).<ref name="qpn2417">Template:Cite QPN</ref>

Geography

Thundapurty Waterhole, 2021

Birdsville is Template:Convert west of the state capital, Brisbane, Template:Convert from Charleville and Template:Convert south of the city of Mount Isa. Birdsville is on the edge of the Simpson Desert, approximately Template:Convert east of Poeppel Corner.

Birdsville is located about Template:Convert north-east of the Diamantina River in the Channel Country in the Lake Eyre drainage basin.<ref name="globe">Template:Queensland Globe</ref> Thundahpurty Waterhole is on the river in the east of the locality (Template:Coord).<ref name="qpn34452">Template:Cite QPN</ref>

The Birdsville Track extends Template:Convert from Marree in South Australia before ending at Birdsville; the road continues north as the Eyre Developmental Road to Bedourie. The Birdsville Developmental Road travels east from the town towards Windorah.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A popular route across the Simpson Desert goes from Birdsville to Mt Dare via the French Line. The Line is an unsealed track built in the early 1960s by French Petroleum for oil exploration purposes.Template:Citation needed

Birdsville Airport is immediately north-west of the town (Template:Coord).<ref name="airports">Template:Cite web</ref> It is operated by the Diamantina Shire Council.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Almost all the buildings in the town are of local sandstone, there being no local timber available. Distance and the lack of good access roads or a railway create prohibitively high transportation costs, so imported building materials are kept to a minimum.<ref name=qhr/>

Birdsville has the following mountains:

History

Birdsville is located on land in the Channel Country of Central West Queensland, Australia. Before Birdsville was established by British settlers, the whole region was inhabited by indigenous Australians, speakers of the Wangkangurru language (also known as Arabana/Wangkangurru, Wangganguru, Wanggangurru or Wongkangurru), whose home range stretched from Birdsville south towards Innamincka and Lake Eyre, including the modern local government areas of the Shire of Diamantina as well as the Outback Communities Authority of South Australia.<ref>Template:Cite SLQ-CC-BY</ref>

Although British explorers had passed through the Diamantina district in the 1840s and early 1860s, pastoralists did not occupy this semi-arid region until the mid-1870s. Brothers Hector and Norman Wilson formed "The Bluff" property around the present site of Birdsville in 1875 as an outpost of their massive Coongy station across the border in South Australia.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Bluff property was also known as Salmonville.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Nearby pastoral stations of Annandale, Pandie Pandie, Glengyle and Roseberth were taken up in 1876; and Carcoory in 1877.<ref name="qhr">Template:Cite QHR</ref>

Conflict in the region during this time included several large massacres of the resident Aboriginal people being perpetrated.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> For instance in 1879, Sub-Inspectors Henry Kaye and Henry Gough of the Native Police, together with troopers and stockmen from The Bluff and other properties, conducted a sweeping patrol for the perpetrators of the murder of a stockman. They came across two camps of Aboriginal people and dispersed them.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A pastoralist on the nearby Warburton Creek reported to the Police Commissioner in Adelaide that 67 people were killed in these raids and that survivors from the violence had fled to his property.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

There are a number of different theories as to the origin of the name Birdsville. One is that the name was suggested by Robert Frew, owner of Pandie Pandie Station, who also had a store and shop at the Diamantina Crossing, in reference to the prolific bird life in the district.<ref name="qpnt" /> The other is that a store was established by Percy Bird and George Field and they called it Birdfield. However, in 1882, G. and R. Wills, of Adelaide, misaddressed a consignment of goods as going to Birdsville and that name stuck.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Another is that a man named Burt established a store and called it Burtsville which corrupted to Birdsville.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Whatever its origin, by 1882, the name Birdsville was in common use.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The name was adopted in the 1885 survey and was formalised at the proclamation of town in 1887.<ref name="qhr" />

In 1881, Hector and Norman Wilson sold The Bluff (Salmonville) property for £19,000.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Outside of their pastoral business, the brothers resided in Melbourne where they were the driving force behind the establishment of the Melbourne Racing Club, the Coongy Cup and the Caulfield Cup.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In the early 1880s the towns of Birdsville and Bedourie were established to service the newly taken up pastoral holdings of the Diamantina. Reputedly, a merchant named Matthew Flynn, who carried stores for the stations, built a rough depot in the late 1870s at the site of the present town of Birdsville, then known as the Diamantina Crossing,<ref name=smh-orig-name>Template:Cite news</ref> on the stock route from Boulia south to Adelaide. By mid-1885, when the township of Birdsville was officially surveyed, a number of buildings had been erected at the Diamantina Crossing, including a police lock-up (1883), Groth's Royal Hotel (Template:Circa), William Blair's Birdsville Hotel (Template:Circa), Curtain's Tattersalls Hotel, and at least 3 stores and 1 shop.Template:Citation needed

When it was proclaimed, the town had three hotels, two stores, a customs house for interstate trade, a police station and a large collection of commercial buildings.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>

Diamantina Shire was established in 1883, and its headquarters were at Birdsville until moved to Bedourie in 1953.<ref name="qhr" /> Birdsville Post Office opened on 1 January 1883.<ref name="Post Office">Template:Cite web</ref>

Birdsville, over Template:Convert west of Brisbane and Template:Convert north of the Queensland-South Australian border, developed as an administrative centre for police and border customs. Birdsville is located at the border of South Australia and Queensland to collect tolls from the droves of cattle being moved interstate. Nearly all the trade of the town was with Adelaide, and it became an important marshalling point for cattle being driven south to markets in South Australia. By 1889 the population of Birdsville was 110, and the town had 2 general stores, 3 hotels, a police station, school, 2 blacksmith shops, 2 bakers, a cordial manufacturer, bootmaker, saddler, auctioneer & commission agent, and a number of residences. The population peaked in 1895 at 220.<ref name=qhr/>

Birdsville State School opened on 14 August 1899. The school closed in 1948 and has subsequently reopened.<ref>Template:Cite QldSchool</ref>

Circa 1900, Birdsville had a population of over 300. It had three hotels, a cordial factory, blacksmith store, market gardens, police and customs facilities but after Federation in 1901, the tolls were abolished and the town fell into decline to about 50 people throughout the 1950s. Livestock trade kept the region alive and since then tourism has joined cattle as the major industry in the area.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Tom Kruse operated the Birdsville Track mail run from 1936 to 1957, driving his Leyland Badger truck.<ref name="FRR">"Flinders Ranges Research: Tom Kruse MBE" Template:Webarchive www.southaustralianhistory.com.au</ref> He delivered mail and other supplies including general stores, fuel and medicine to remote stations from Marree in north-west South Australia to Birdsville, some Template:Convert away.<ref name="EM">Morgan, Elysse (11 April 2008) "Governor-General unveils Tom Kruse bust" Template:Webarchive. ABC Rural</ref> Each trip would take two weeks and Kruse regularly had to manage break-downs, flooding creeks and rivers, and getting bogged in desert dunes.<ref name="EM" />

In 2007, there was just one hotel serving canned or bottled beer, a library, a visitor information centre, a museum and a hospital.<ref name=":0" />

Demographics

In the Template:CensusAU, the locality of Birdsville had a population of 140 people.<ref name=Census2016>Template:Census 2016 AUS</ref> 86.1% of people were born in Australia and 94.2% of people only spoke English at home.<ref name="Census2016" />

In the Template:CensusAU, the locality of Birdsville had a population of 110 people.<ref name=Census2021>Template:Census 2021 AUS</ref>

Heritage listings

Birdsville has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

Education

Birdsville State School, 2025

Birdsville State School is a government primary (Early Childhood to Year 6) school for boys and girls at 54 Adelaide Street (Template:Coord).<ref name="SchoolList2018">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 7 students with 2 teachers and 1 non-teaching staff.<ref name="ACARA2018">Template:Cite web</ref>

There are no secondary schools in Birdsville nor nearby. Distance education and boarding school are the alternatives.<ref name="globe" />

Facilities

Birdsville has an 80 kW geothermal power station, the only one of its type in Australia.<ref name="npfb">Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead link</ref> Water is extracted from bore drilled in 1961 on the Great Artesian Basin at Template:Convert and is used to heat the operating fluid isopentane in a Rankine Cycle engine. The geothermal plant produces around one third of the town's electricity. The water (once cooled) is also the source of the town's drinking water.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A plan by Ergon Energy to expand the 80 kW power plant to completely meet Birdsville's electricity requirements was shelved, in favour of increasing the use of solar power and battery storage.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Birdsville Primary Health Care Centre is at 31 Adelaide Street (Template:Coord). It provides emergency and primary care by nursing staff with doctors' appointments provided by the Royal Flying Doctor Service.<ref name="LandmarkAreas">Template:Cite web</ref> It also provides ambulance services.<ref name="emergencyservices">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Birdsville has the following emergency services:

Birdsville Cemetery is on Cemetery Road west of the town (Template:Coord).<ref name="CemeteryAreas">Template:Cite web</ref> It is operated by the Diamantina Shire Council.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Amenities

Birdsville Library is at 29 Burt Street and is operated by the Diamantina Shire Council.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The town is situated near a billabong. A pontoon was built at Burt Street on the north bank of the billabong (Template:Coord) to facilitate swimming and non-powered boating activities. It is managed by the Diamantina Shire Council.<ref name="apfb">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="BoatingFacilities">Template:Cite web</ref> In 2012, the billabong became home to a stray freshwater crocodile, which was subsequently removed and relocated by park ranger Don Rowlands.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Events

The annual Birdsville Races are held in September in aid of the Royal Flying Doctor Service. The town's tiny population is augmented by between 7000 and 9000 people for the two-day event, and hundreds of aircraft fill the town's Template:Convert airstrip.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2010, the races were cancelled for the first time in the event's history due to rain.

The Big Red Bash is an annual three-day music festival held in July at a site Template:Convert west of the town of Birdsville. Attendees camp at the site.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The Simpson Desert Bike Challenge also traditionally finishes in Birdsville in October every year.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The Big Red Run is held at Birdsville during the winter tourist season. It was last held in 2018.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Climate

Birdsville has a hot desert climate (BWh in the Köppen climate classification) with an average of only 22 days of rain a year. Summers are extremely hot and dry, with winters being mild to warm. The median annual rainfall at Birdsville is Template:Convert<ref name="ausland">Template:Cite book</ref> The actual amount of rain which falls is highly variable, for example, in 1914 just Template:Convert was recorded while Template:Convert fell in 1917. Dust storms are most likely during periods of strong wind which typically occur in spring.<ref name="ausland"/> Birdsville has recorded the highest confirmed temperature in the state of Queensland, with Template:Convert having been recorded on 24 December 1972.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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Birdsville disease

Birdsville disease is an illness observed in horses, caused by eating the native plant Birdsville indigo (Indigofera linnaei) which contains natural toxins including the neurotoxin 3 nitropropionic acid (3-NPA). The affected horses exhibit weakness and lack of coordination; it can be fatal. It does not appear to affect cattle.<ref name=bd>Template:Cite web</ref> Although it is not unique to Birdsville, the condition was first observed in the Birdsville district in May 1886.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> While there were many theories about the cause of the disease including plants, worms and sunstroke, it was not until 1950 that researchers identified the precise cause.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Mildly affected horses can recover with a regimen of drenching with gelatine and feeding a diet high in arginine but euthanasia is recommended for severely affected horses. As there is no cure, preventing horses from grazing on indigo is recommended.<ref name=bd/>

  • Elizabeth Haran's 2004 novel Stars in the Southern Sky is set in the town (though it is renamed to Kangaroo Crossing).
  • The 2014 British comedy film The Inbetweeners 2 had scenes set in the town.
  • The 1983 novel The Film-Makers by Kenneth and Kerry Cook is partially set in Birdsville.
  • Slim Dusty sang a song about the Birdsville Pub (hotel) called "Where Country Is".
  • The 1954 film The Back of Beyond was about the mail run to Birdsville.
  • Oliver Herbrich's 1982 documentary film Dead Heart is about Birdsville and the centenary horse race.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

References

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