[Lewis Thomson (OP)]

Kishor has sent The Naked Scientists this question.

"The dry lands in central Australia become lakes unpredictably every few years and immediately attract birds and have fish in them. How do the birds know there is water and how do they navigate to get there?"

Leave your answers in the comments below...

[Mckenzie]

Dont know much about fish but birds migrate from location to location. It helps them find food, water, shelter for breeding & production, and safety from extreme weather. Also, bird hunting revolve around seasonal migration.

[evan_au]

Probably the most spectacular example of this is Lake Eyre/Kati Thanda in South Australia.
- Scientists don't know how the birds know to migrate there
- The Lake does fill in La Nina years, and La Nina affects the whole of Eastern Australia, so this may be a good hint to the birds that the lake may be filling...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Eyre#Birds

[Petrochemicals]

Most likely in the same way Ray mears found water in australia, by looking for green areas amongst a brown landscape as they tend to stand out. Birds likely follow other birds in a similar way to vultures follow g each other to a carcass.

[Deecart]

Yes, this is probably the rigth answer.
Water do not only land into the lakes.

So birds are attracted to the green areas.
(If i was a bird it is how i will react)