Birdsville, Queensland

Infobox Australian Place | type = town
name = Birdsville
state = qld

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caption = The Birdsville Hotel, adjacent to the apron of Birdsville Airport.
lga = Diamantina Shire
postcode = 4482
est = 1887
pop = 100 (est.)
elevation= 46.5
maxtemp = 30.6
mintemp = 15.9
rainfall = 168.9
stategov = Gregory
fedgov = Maranoa
dist1 = 1593
location1= Brisbane
dist2 = 1573
location2= Adelaide
dist3 = 674
location3= Mount Isa
dist4 = 191
location4= Bedourie
dist5 = 518
location5= Marree, (S.A.)

Birdsville is a small town located in Western Queensland, Australia. The town is located 1590 kilometres west of the state capital, Brisbane, and 720 kilometres south of the city of Mount Isa. Birdsville is situated on the edge of the Simpson Desert, and the climate is very arid.

Birdsville is located in the Diamantina Shire, which has a population of 326 persons (Census 2001). The Birdsville Track extends 514 kilometres from Marree in South Australia through the Strzelecki Desert before ending at Birdsville. Proclaimed a town in 1887, Birdsville was located at the border of South Australia and Queensland to collect tolls from the droves of cattle being moved interstate. With Federation in 1901, the tolls were abolished and the town fell into decline. [cite web | url=http://www.birdsvilleraces.com/About/History.htm | title=About Birdsville, history | publisher=Birdsville Race Club Inc | accessdate=2007-01-07]

In 2007 there is a single hotel, serving canned or bottled beer, and a hospital. When proclaimed the town had three hotels, two stores, a customs house for interstate trade, a police station and a large collection of commercial buildings. [cite web | url=http://www.southaustralianhistory.com.au/bird.htm | title=Birdsville | publisher=Flinders Ranges Research | accessdate=2007-01-07] Today Birdsville is a popular tourist destination and is most famous for the legendary annual Birdsville Races, which are held in September in aid of the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia. The tiny town population is swelled to many thousands for the two day event, and hundreds of aircraft often fill the town's convert|1700|m|yd|0 airstrip. [cite web | url=http://www.birdsvilleraces.com/RacingInfo/RaceClub.htm | title=Birdsville Race Club | publisher=Birdsville Race Club Inc | accessdate=2007-01-07]

Birdsville is also home to an 80 kW Geothermal Power Station, with water being extracted from the Great Artesian Basin (at 98 °C) before being vaporised into steam, producing energy for the town. This water (once cooled) is also the source of the town's drinking water. [cite web | url=http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/publications/p00834aa.pdf/Birdsville_geothermal_power_station.pdf | title=Birdsville geothermal power station (pdf) | publisher=Queensland Sustainable Energy Innovation Fund | accessdate=2007-01-07| month=September | year=2007|format=PDF]

References

External links

* [http://www.aerialvideo.com.au/simpson.html Aerial Video Footage of Birdsville and the Simpson Desert]