Bogong moth swarms are moving through Sydney on the way to the Alps
Endangered bogong moths are thick along the New South Wales coast this spring, including a resting swarm on Bondi Beach, after years when the migration was hard to find.
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Bogong moths are moving through Sydney in numbers people have not been used to seeing. Nine News reported on October 14, 2026, that a swarm blown off course by wind and rain settled on the sand at Bondi Beach, part of a migration of millions along the east coast. The moths make this flight every spring toward alpine caves. This year the rise is large enough that holiday-makers in the Blue Mountains and residents along the coast have been posting swarms at their doors. The insects are drawn to artificial light, which is one reason they pile up on buildings.
Zoos Victoria's Moth Tracker, which logs photos people send in, shows thousands of confirmed sightings this season, clustered on Sydney and the New South Wales south coast, with more reports inland and in Victoria. The same tracker shows how thin the migration was in 2019-20, when hot weather and the bushfire season knocked the numbers down. Nine News described the moth as endangered. A thick spring does not retire that status.
The swarms on the coast are a stop, not the destination. A thick spring does not mean the long decline has been retired.
For the classroom
Millions of bogong moths are flying through eastern Australia, and many have turned up in Sydney. Nine News reported on October 14, 2026, that weather blew a swarm onto Bondi Beach, where the moths rested on the sand. They fly every spring toward cool caves in the Australian Alps, but this year has brought far more of them. A Zoos Victoria map, built from photos people send in, shows thousands of sightings along Sydney and the south coast. In 2019 and 2020 the moths were very scarce. They are still endangered. A busy spring is a good sign. It is not proof they are safe for good.
- Where are the moths trying to go, and why did so many stop in Sydney?
- Why does a big swarm still count as an endangered animal?
- How could people help scientists count moths without hurting them?
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