Commonwealth of Australia

Birding Australia
Australia is, as we all know, the only country that is also a continent. Its not surprising therefore, that it has such a wide range of bird species and families and the number of endemics it has. For most visitors it will be necessary to get to grips with whole orders of birds not familiar from travels elsewhere. I have been fortunate enough to visit Australia 3 times, in the West, North, the Top End and several of the top spots of Queensland; and want to keep going back as the bird life is truly spectacular. It would be terrific if some passing Aussie should read this and decide to write a much better introduction. Fortunately some local birders have been contributing introductions to individual Australian states – most of which could swallow half of Europe and have room for more. Birding is a very well established pastime and, as with most other professions, plenty of Aussie birders have been exported to and can be found leading groups all over the world! Similarly there are a growing number of websites dedicated to birding in Australia. There are a number of places catering for birders listed in Fatbirder’s commercial section Places to Stay World pages.
Birds Australia Awareness Campaign – In October 2000 Birds Australia launched an Endangered Species campaign in order to bring the state of our native birds to the attention of all Australians and to a worldwide audience in order to precipitate action. A vital and exciting component of the campaign is a live broadcast attached to the Birds Australia website at http://birdlife.org.au/ Site visitors found themselves following the progress of a family of Peregrine Falcons and Tawny Frogmouth Owls, and watching new lives emerge, from hatchlings to fledglings.
While many Australians have read or heard about environmental catastrophes around the world, they have ignored the warning signs at home and now face the loss of many unique and beautiful birds. In 2001 7.5 million native birds died needlessly. Recent research shows that of 1247 species, 264, or 21% are now threatened. In other words, one in five native birds is facing extinction. For instance the beautiful Scarlet Robin is now found in only 49% of its former range, and the number of sightings of the Nankeen Kestrel have decreased by approximately 50% as have sightings of the majestic Wedge-tailed Eagle. Similar stories can be told of other species recorded in the Bird Atlas, a survey that maps distribution and abundance of every grid square in the country, produced with the assistance of over 8,000 Birds Australia volunteers.
Birds Australia is seeking your assistance in building awareness of the plight of their unique native species. For more information on Birds Australia please visit their website at http://birdlife.org.au/

-
Number of bird species: 969
National Bird - Emu Dromaius novaehollandiae - it is on the Australian Coat-of-arms
Number of endemics: 353
With so many endemics it makes no sense to list them here.
Number of breeding endemics: 8
Number of globally threatened species: 71
Number of introduced species: 28
-
iGoTerra Checklist Australia
iGoTerra ChecklistFatbirder Associate iGoTerra offers the most comprehensive and up to date birds lists on the web
-
A Naturalist's Guide to the Birds of Australia
| By Dean Ingwersen | John Beaufoy Books | 2017 | Paperback | 176 pages, ~300 colour photos, 2 colour maps | ISBN: 9781912081615 Buy this book from NHBS.com -
A Photographic Field Guide to the Birds of the Australian High Country
| By Neil Hermes, Geoffrey Dabb & Julian Robinson | John Beaufoy Books | 2017 | Paperback | 360 pages, 650 colour photos, colour distribution maps | ISBN: 9781909612969 Buy this book from NHBS.com -
Australia's Birdwatching Megaspots
| (The 55 Best Birdwatching Sites in Australia) | by Peter Rowland & Chris Farrell | John Beaufoy Books | 2018 | Paperback | 328 pages, 600 colour photos, 60 colour maps | ISBN: 9781912081660 Buy this book from NHBS.com -
Australian Bird Names: A Complete Guide
| By Ian Fraser & Jeannie Gray | CSIRO| 2013 | Paperback | 336 pages | b/w illustrations | ISBN: 9780643104693 Buy this book from NHBS.com -
Birding Australia
| By Lloyd Nielsen | 2012 | Spiralbound | 188 pages, b/w photos, tables | #197029 | ISBN: Buy this book from NHBS.com -
Birding Australia’s Islands
| By Sue Taylor | John Beaufoy Books | 2019 | Paperback | 240 pages, 200 colour photos, 20 maps | ISBN: 9781912081134 Buy this book from NHBS.com -
Birds of Australia
| By Ken Simpson, Nicolas Day & Peter Trustler | Bloomsbury Publishing | 2012 | Paperback | 382 pages, 132 plates with colour illustrations, 1000 b/w line drawings, colour distribution maps | ISBN: 9780713669824 Buy this book from NHBS.com -
Birds of Australia and its Island Territories: A Checklist
| By Phil Gregory | Sicklebill Publications | 2008 | Paperback | 44 Pages, Map | ISBN: 9780980482508 Buy this book from NHBS.com -
Birds of Australia: A Photographic Guide
| By Iain Campbell, Sam Woods, Nick Leseberg & Geoff Jones | Princeton University Press | 2014 | Paperback | 391 pages, 1100+ colour photos, colour distribution maps | ISBN: 9780691157276 Buy this book from NHBS.com -
Birds of Prey of Australia: A Field Guide
| By Stephen Debus | CSIRO | 2012 | Paperback | 180 pages, plates with colour photos and colour illustrations; b/w illustrations, b/w distribution maps | ISBN: 9780643104365 Buy this book from NHBS.com -
Field Guide to Australian Birds
| By Michael Morcombe | Steve Parish Publishing | 2004 | Paperback | 348 pages, 3000 colour illustrations, 850 maps | ISBN: 9781740215596 Buy this book from NHBS.com -
Finding Australian Birds: A Field Guide to Birding Locations
| By Tim Dolby & Rohan Clarke | CSIRO | 2014 | Paperback | Colour photographs | Maps | 602 pages, Colour Photos, Colour Maps | ISBN: 9780643097667 Buy this book from NHBS.com -
Green Guide to Garden Birds of Australia
| By Peter Slater & Sally Elmer | New Holland Publishers | 2015 | Paperback | 96 pages, colour photos | ISBN: 9781921517501 Buy this book from NHBS.com -
Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds
| By Leslie Christidis & Walter E Boles | CSIRO | 2008 | Paperback | 277 pages, Tables | ISBN: 9780643096028 Buy this book from NHBS.com -
The Australian Bird Guide
| By Peter Menkhorst, Danny Rogers & Rohan Clarke | Illustrated by Jeff Davies, Peter Marsack & Kim Franklin | Bloomsbury | 2017 | Paperback | 566 pages, ~250 plates with 4700+ colour illustrations; colour distribution maps | ISBN: 9781472912350 Buy this book from NHBS.com -
The Big Twitch
| By Sean Dooley | Allen & Unwin | 2006 | Paperback | 322 Pages | ISBN: 9781741145281 Buy this book from NHBS.com -
The Complete Guide to Finding the Birds of Australia
| By Richard Thomas, Sarah Thomas, David Andrew & Alan McBride | CSIRO | 2011 | Paperback | 480 pages, colour photos, maps | ISBN: 9780643097858 Buy this book from NHBS.com -
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia
| (The Definitive Work on Bird Identification) | By Graham Pizzey & Frank Knight | Harper Collins Australia | 2012 | Paperback | 608 pages, plates with colour illustrations, 750 distribution maps | ISBN: 9780732291938 Buy this book from NHBS.com -
The Slater Field Guide to Australian Birds
| By Peter Slater | New Holland Publishers | 2009 | Paperback | 343 pages, 157 col plates, b/w plates, 750 maps | ISBN: 9781877069635 Buy this book from NHBS.com -
Where to Find Birds in Australia
| By John Bransbury | Waymark | 2001 | Paperback | 539 pages, 110 maps, 72 colour photos | ISBN: 9780646126777 Buy this book from NHBS.com -
Where to Watch Birds in Australasia & Oceania
| Nigel Wheatley | Christopher Helm | 1998 | Hardback | 448 pages, 50 line illustrations, 100+ maps | ISBN: 9780713645439 Buy this book from NHBS.com -
Wildlife of the Australian Rainforests – A state by state guide
| Peter Rowland, Angus McNab & John Harris| John Beaufoy Publishing | 2021 | Paperback | 384 Pages | 500+ colour photos, 28 colour maps | £24.99p | ISBN: 9781913679033 Buy this book from NHBS.com
*Individual State Bird Apps
See Individual State pages for apps relating to that StateBird Song Id Australia
Apple iOS |Bird Song Id Australia - Automatic Recognition | Mullen & Pohland GbR | Designed for iPad | $4.99 Presenting a completely Free Australian Birds Sounds compilation app with high quality sounds and songs of birds found in Australia!Pizzey and Knight Birds of Australia
Apple iOS || GIBBON MULTIMEDIA AUS PTY LTD | 857.4 MB | Requires iOS 8.0 or later. | The PIZZEY AND KNIGHT BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA DIGITAL EDITION for Android is a comprehensive and interactive application that combines multimedia data on over 900 Australian bird species with seven interactive modules for every aspect of mobile birding.The Morcombe & Stewart Guide to Birds of Australia
Apple iOS | Android| mydigitalearth.com | 417.5 MB | Requires iOS 8.4 or later | Michael Morcombe's Field Guide to Australian Birds has been called the most comprehensive field guide to Australian birds in the market today and now it is perfectly complimented by the eGuideFestivals & Bird Fairs-
Australasian Bird Fair
Facebook PageThe next Australasian Bird Fair will be conducted in 2019. Stay tuned for details: PO Box 2006, Rockdale 2216 NSW Australia - +61 (0)2 9567 9743 - +61 (0)411 249 075
Observatories-
See State Pages
Observatory WebsiteSatellite View
Museums & Universities-
ACS Distance Education - Ornithology - BEN102
The aim of this course is to introduce the student to the many interesting and diverse bird species, and their physiology and habitats. You will learn a wide variety of things, through a combination of things such as reading, interacting with tutors, undertaking research and practical tasks, including observing birds -
Australian Museum
WebsiteThe ornithological collection contains about 70,000 specimens. In addition to the major Australian collection, there is a good coverage of New Guinea, New Zealand and South Pacific birds and a large representation (95%) of the world families. Although the skin collection makes up the majority of the ornithological holdings, osteological, anatomical and oological (egg) collections provide an important coverage of the Australian avifauna. Collection data are on a computer-based system. -
National Museum of Australia
Organisations-
Australasian Seabird Group (ASG)
WebsiteThe Australasian Seabird Group, the oldest of BirdLife Australia's Special Interest Groups, was formed in 1971 -
Australasian Wader Studies Group (AWSG)
WebsiteThe AWSG was formed in 1981 to coordinate and focus studies on waders, or shorebirds. These comprise the many plovers and sandpipers in the families Charadriidae and Scolopacidae, as well as the stone-curlews, snipes, pratincoles, oystercatchers, stilts, avocets and the Plains-wanderer -
Australian Bird Study Association
WebsiteWelcome to the website of the Australian Bird Study Association. We hope that, whether you are a professional or amateur researcher, a birdwatcher or just an interested web surfer, you will find something of interest in these pages -
Australian Wildlife Conservancy
WebsiteAWC is an independent, non-profit organisation dedicated to the conservation of Australia -
BirdLife Australia
WebsiteBirdLife Australia is the place for everyone to gather together, be a united force and work towards a sustainable future for our beloved Australian birds. Our work with Australian birds stretches back over 100 years -
BirdLife Australia Raptor Group
WebpageThe BirdLife Australia Raptor Group (formerly Australasian Raptor Association) was founded in 1979. Our aim is to promote the study, conservation and management of diurnal and nocturnal birds of prey, as well as to foster communication and cooperation concerning such activities within the Australasian Region. -
Birds Australia Records Committee
WebpageWhy submit a record to BARC? This is a question that is often asked and the answer is fairly simple; records of rarities are of real interest to the ornithological community. They have done a lot to improve understanding of distribution limits, migration routes and field identification of many species of birds... -
Friends of the Helmeted Honeyeater
WebsiteFriends of the Helmeted Honeyeater formed in May 1989 when the Helmeted Honeyeater population reached a critically low level of 50 birds
Reserves-
Nature Reserve Abbreviations
Observatory WebsiteSatellite ViewLinks to top reserves are found on each state page. The following abbreviations are used: BG = Botanical GardensBIC = Biodiversity Interpretation CentreCA = Conservation AreaCP = Conservation ParkCR = Conservation ReserveGR = Game ReserveFS = Fauna SanctuaryMNP = Marine National ParkMR = Marine ReserveNCA = Nature Conservation AreaNGPA = Non-Government Protection AreaNP = National ParkNrP = Nature ParkNRf = Nature RefugeNRs = Nature Reserve SF = State ForestSP = State ParkSR = State ReserveWCP = Wildlife Conservation ParkWR = Wetland Reserve WPA = Wildlife Protected AreaWS = Wildlife SanctuaryWSS = Wilderness Sanctuary
Forums & Mailing Lists-
Birding-Aus
Mailing ListDiscussion Group BIRDING-AUS offers a free electronic mailing list for anyone with an interest in Australian wild birds. -
Feathers and Photos
ForumHello and welcome to Feathers and Photos, a friendly and informative forum where birders and bird photographers alike, can share their love of Australian birds. As a forum guest your current access to our site is limited. Once registered you'll be able to create and reply to posts, view full-size images and access other forum features
Guides & Tour Operators-
Australian Ornithological Services
Tour OperatorPhilip Maher was born in Deniliquin, in south-western New South Wales. His interest in natural history was fostered by his parents from a young age. While Philip is an authority on Australian birds generally, his name is synonymous with the plains-wanderer, a bird of the open plains of inland Australia. In 1980 Philip and the Nevinson family came across a plains-wanderer while atlassing. Philip went on to study the species extensively, banding about 600 birds. He has shown the species to large numbers of Australian and international birders. -
Birding Ecotours - Eastern Australia
Tour OperatorAustralia is a naturalist’s dream come true. Australia harbors enormous diversity of habitats. This tour focuses on eastern Australia, during the dry season. A superb and exciting tour with mostly easy birding in comfortable surroundings – truly unforgettable! Pre-tour in Dawin, post-tour in Tasmania. Please contact us for more details. -
Birding Tours Australia
Tour OperatorAustralia has about 780 endemic/migratory species and our tour area is home to over 300 of these at different times of the year. Our 1 or 2 day tours are an excellent way of seeing many of Australia's unique bird species -
Coates Wildlife Tours
Tour OperatorCoates Wildlife Tours is family owned and the first company in Western Australia to operate authentic nature based tours over such a wide area… -
Fine Feather Tours
Tour OperatorFine Feather Tours is owned and operated by Del and Pat Richards, and is based in Mossman, North Queensland, adjacent to the richest birding area in Australia. Well over half of Australia`s species have been recorded within a distance of 200 kilometres. Fatbirder Recommended -
Firetail Birdwatching Tours
Tour OperatorI hope you enjoy this website which is designed to assist people in finding Melbourne and Victoria’s diverse birdlife. -
Nature Travel Specialists
Tour OperatorNature Travel Specialists believes that travel is most enjoyable when it expands the horizons of both visitor and visited, when both give and receive from each other. With this in mind we design itineraries that enable our travelers to explore the natural areas of the world, in the company of English-speaking local tour guides who know their country and region intimately -
Wild Watch Australia
Tour OperatorWildWatch operates a birding and wildlife (and photography) guiding business out of Cairns. In addition to conducting excursions in the Cairns and Tablelands region, they also run tours to Cape York, Iron Range, Kakadu, Tasmania and most other notable birding spots throughout Australia.
Trip Reports
Click on WAND to see Fatbirder’s Trip Report Repository…-
2004 [04 April] - Fatbirder
PDF ReportThis is a report on a brief sojourn in Australia -
2013 [02 February] - Lars Olausson & Hans-Erik Persson
PDF Report…Narawntapu is also called Australia’s Serengeti. We did not see much of that in the middle of the day. Had a short walk to the bird hide, nothing special seen here, although we had hoped for Cape Barren Goose. On the far side of the lake some 20 Eastern Grey Kangaroos were having a lazy day. Back to the center we found our first Wombat feeding on a nearby lawn. At a small waterhole along the entrance road we had a large flock of Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoos (at least 75)… -
2013 [02 February] - Philip Maher & Patricia Maher
PDF ReportAnnotated list… -
2013 [11 November] - John Coons
Report…Overall there were lots of memorable sightings that included all those Pink-eared Ducks feeding in the ponds; huge Black-necked Storks near Darwin; a Pacific Baza perched just over the road; several Australian Bustards coming to drink at the ponds; the Hooded Plover on the beach in Tasmania; great views of all those shorebirds at Cairns…. -
2013 [11 November] - John Coons & John Rowlett
Report…We started the first morning in Cairns (with the rather inscrutable Jun Matsui driving) at Centenary Lakes where we had nice looks at Lovely Fairywren, Brown-backed Honeyeater, Large-billed Gerygone at a nest, and our first waterfowl. We then drove onto the Tableland and birded Granite Gorge…. -
2014 [07 July] - Peter Waanders - Nine Grasswren Tour
PDF ReportThe 2014 ‘Nine Grasswren tour’ started in Adelaide (SA) and finished in Alice Springs (NT). After visiting Birdlife Australia’s Gluepot Reserve (Red-lored Whistler, Black-eared Miner) we explored the bluebush plains around Whyalla (Western Grasswren, Splendid (turquoise) Fairy-wren) and travelled through the scenic Flinders Ranges (Short-tailed Grasswren) up to the Birdsville track where we had both Chestnut-breasted and Banded Whiteface as well as the elusive Grey Falcon and Eyrean and Grey Grasswren... -
2014 [10 October] - Chris Benesh
ReportPart One of the 2014 Australia tour was a whirlwind of excitement spanning much of the southern tier of Australia. We explored many of the varied and temperate landscapes found there and experienced a nice cross-section of down under weather. Some of the weather was wild enough to make national news headlines but, fortunately for us, it seldom hampered our birding... -
2014 [11 November] - John Coons
ReportDuring our three weeks in Australia we found loads of birds in the Top End, forests of northern Queensland, Atherton Tableland, inland deserts, mountain rainforests, and Tasmania. Birds and mammals performed well, and we saw many of the legendary creatures for which Australia is well known.... -
2014 [11 November] - John Coons & Rose Ann Rowlett
ReportStarting in Brisbane (during the G20 Summit!), we began with a visit to nearby Sandy Camp Reserve, which provided a great introduction to Australian birds, from Royal Spoonbills and Red-kneed Dotterels to Rainbow Bee-eaters, Superb Fairywrens, and Double-barred Finches. A stop at Fig Tree Point netted Blue-faced and Mangrove honeyeaters and a responsive Mangrove Gerygone. Then it was on to O'Reilly's, where we were left for three nights in Duncan's hands, well, and as perches for Crimson Rosellas and Australian King-Parrots. Highlights at O'Reilly's ranged from a singing Albert's Lyrebird at arm's length to stunning Regent Bowerbirds, foraging Australian Logrunners and Eastern Whipbirds, and Red-necked Pademelons just outside our rooms... -
2015 [08 August] - Bram Vogels - East Australia
Report PDFThe high tide roost is more or less where the swimming pools are, so if the tide comes up you better get there first. On the esplanade we had Willie wagtail, white‐breasted woodswallow, Australian pelican, Silver gull, Australian magpie, Masked lapwing, Australian white ibis, Australian pied cormorant, Varied honeyeater, Straw‐necked ibis, peaceful dove, Welome swallow, Black butcherbird Australian figbird, Double‐eyed fig parrot, Rainbow lorikeet, Brahminy kite, White‐face heron, Spangled drongo, Little friarbird, Noisy friarbird, White‐bellied cuckooshrike, Australian swiftlet; all very common. -
2015 [11 November] - Andy Walker
PDF ReportThis tour commenced on 24th October 2015 in Hobart, Tasmania, and then continued through Victoria, southern New South Wales, and Queensland, where the tour concluded in Cairns on 14th November 2015. -
2015 [11 November] - John Coons
Report...Though we saw a few birds through the fence, we cursed the luck that cost us entry and several species. We then drove a loop birding Honeymoon Gap, where Marsha spotted a bird sitting out on the edge of the cliff that remained in the scope just long enough for a few in the group to glimpse a Dusky Grasswren... -
2015 [11 November] - Sothwwestern - Chris Lotz
PDF ReportA couple of us (Bill from Ohio and I from South Africa) wanted a pre-tour somewhere for about a week prior to the November 2015 West Papua birding tour we were participating in. Southwestern Australia made good sense for various reasons. -
2016 [01 January] - David & Amanda Mason - Australia & New Zealand
ReportWe loved Australia 4 years ago & New Zealand in 1998 and with so much to see, decided to combine two trips into one and visit some new areas; after all it is a long way to go for just a couple of weeks! -
2016 [10 )ctober] - Erik Forsyth - SW Australia
PDF Report...we had numerous highlights, too many to mention, but a pick of the bunch includes: Southern Cassowary, Plains-wanderer, Banded Stilt, Tawny and Papuan Frogmouths, Powerful Owls, Australian Owlet-nightjar, Albert’s and Superb Lyrebirds, Major Mitchell’s and Gang-gang Cockatoos, Ground Parrot, Noisy Pitta, Rufous Bristlebird, Victoria and Paradise Riflebird, Painted Honeyeater... -
2016 [10 October] - Chris Lotz
PDF ReportThe mainland tour was designed to take in a wide range of the numerous different habitats present in the east of the country and to enjoy the plentiful endemic and key species in each of these regions/habitats, including rare and endangered species such as Plains-wanderer and Mallee Emu-wren in the south and the Atherton Tablelands endemics in the north, as well as some truly remarkable species such as Superb Lyrebird, Great-billed Heron, Golden Bowerbird, and Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher. -
2016 [10 October] - Allan Benson - Quail Thrush Tour
PDF ReportTarget Species- Copper-backed Quail-Thrush, Nullarbor Quail-thrush Western Quail-thrush. Naretha Bluebonnet, Western Fieldwren... -
2016 [10 October] - Erik Forsyth
PDF ReportThis ’year’s tourto Australia was a huge success, with many of Australia’s most sought-after birds seen,many more species added to our overall list, plus a large selection of unique mammals and quite a fewreptiles also spotted. We began with our South West Australia extension, during which we found manyof the toughest endemics, including Western Bristlebird, Noisy Scrubbird and Western Whipbird. Wealso saw Carnaby’s and Baudin’s Black Cockatoos, Blue-breasted Fairywren, Square-tailed Kite, RedneckedAvocet, Hooded Dotterel, Painted Buttonquail and the lovely little Red-eared Firetail. -
2016 [10 October] - John Coons & Tom Johnson
Report...Gang-gang Cockatoo, Speckled Warbler, Gilbert's Whistler, the magical Malleefowl (walking around her nest mound), Chestnut-backed Quail-thrush, Striated Grasswren, Mallee Emuwren, and a host of other specialties helped to fill out our days in this diverse part of the continent.... -
2016 [11 November] - Andrew Jensen - Eastern Australia
PDF ReportEastern Australia is a highly diverse region with a range of habitats hosting a rich and varied avifauna. This tour covered a wide range of these habitats as is possible in three weeks, including eucalypt woodland, wet forests and sandstone country around Sydney, pelagic waters and coastal estuary around Newcastle, upland beech forest in northern New South Wales, rainforest in southeast Queensland, mangrove and dry sclerophyll around Brisbane and the tremendous diversity of habitats the Wet Tropics of north Queensland has to offer. -
2016 [11 November] - Andy Walker - East Coast & Tasmania
PDF ReportA total of 405 bird species was recorded, among them 181 endemics, along with an impressive list of 36 mammals including such emblematic species as short-beaked echidna, platypus, koala, and red kangaroo, 25 reptiles including a huge saltwater crocodile, and five amphibians. Complete lists are found at the end of this report. -
2016 [11 November] - Chris Benesh & Cory Gregory
Report...We stopped at Centenary Lakes, which yielded a plethora of new trip birds like Olive-backed Sunbird, Australian Brushturkey, Olive-backed Oriole, a nesting Papuan Frogmouth, and even an incubating Bush Thick-knee! Shortly after, we surrounded ourselves with rainforest at Chambers Rainforest Lodge and that meant a whole new suite of species. The lodge grounds were alive with Victoria’s Riflebirds, Spotted Catbirds, Gray-headed Robins, and a variety of honeyeaters, including Macleay’s and Lewin’s.... -
2016 [11 November] - Jay VanderGaast & Doug Gchfeld - New Guinea & Australia
Report...We began our adventure in the steamy tropics of Far North Queensland, arriving in the friendly coastal city of Cairns, which we used as a base to explore the surrounding, bird-rich areas. Our first afternoon of birding just to the north of the city and along the famous Esplanade gave us our first taste of the treats in store for us, with Green Pygmy-Goose, Magpie Goose, Orange-footed Scrubfowl, Rainbow Bee-eaters, and Crimson Finches starting things off right at Yorkey's Knob and Cattana Wetlands, and the high tide along the Esplanade pushing a plethora of shorebirds within easy viewing distance. The next few days took us up to the Atherton Tablelands.... -
2016 [11 November] - John Coons
Report...A Western Bowerbird was spiffing up his bower; Dusky Grasswrens were singing and territorial, as were fairywrens and honeyeaters and such rarities as Redthroat and Chiming Wedgebill. Vast stretches of Spinifex were in seed, and there were displaying Spinifex Pigeons, responsive Spinifex-birds and emuwrens, and nesting Painted Firetails. Mulga Parrots foraged amid the wildflowers, and impressive flights of Red-tailed Black-Cockatoos inspected mulga burns. There were Long-nosed Dragons, leveed Mulga Ant nests, and flowering Sturt's Desert Peas.... -
2017 [03 March] - Geoff Upton - Tasmania, Victoria & South Australia
PDF Report...It was raining by the time we left Port Arthur and while we were eating our fish and chips from the Doo-Lishus truck atEaglehawk Neck it turned into a heavy downpour. Later we drove down an unmade road to Fortescue Bay, where we had avery successful short walk, seeing black currawongs, green rosellas, a satin flycatcher and a laughing kookaburra in theforest and a black-faced cormorant on the rocks.... -
2017 [10 October] - Chris Benesh & Jesse Fagan
ReportWe started off the tour in Sydney with a visit to Centennial Park, where we were fortunate to meet up with Steve Howard, who took us to several of his favorite birding sites and got us onto a Powerful Owl which would have otherwise been impossible to find. Several of us also enjoyed feeding figs to a Common Brushtail Possum roosting in the area. We then headed over to the Sydney Botanical Garden for another Powerful Owl and a nice view of the Sydney harbour. -
2017 [10 October] - Stephen Burch - Australia & Singapore: Introduction
ReportOver at least the last decade I had been collecting information on good places to visit, which included a few sporadic pieces in Birding World, and even snippets in the Guardian newspaper. Most of these were in Queensland, but I was also keen on visiting Kakadu National Park which was nearest to Darwin. Sydney was almost on our list, but for general tourism only not birds! Given the immense distances involved in Australia, three internal flights would be needed to cover all the places we wanted to visit. The duration of this trip was 4 weeks, which was limited by the maximum amount of time we could both feasibly get off work. Timing was chosen carefully to avoid the hotter months, which sounded increasingly problematic in Australia at present. -
2017 [11 November] - Joshua Bergmark - Southern Australia & Tasmania
PDF ReportAustralia simply has it all. It is difficult to accurately experience the true worth of this country in one single tour, but if anything our Southern Australia route comes close, offering a truly superb introduction to the diverse endemic avifauna down under. W -
2017 [12 December] - Andy Walker - Souithwestern
PDF ReportThe geographic isolation and diverse habitats present in the southwest of the state of Western Australia results in a number of endemic species and subspecies. This short tour focused on finding as many of these endemics as possible and was successful in getting great views of many birds and other interesting plants and wildlife, set in some stunning scenery. -
2017 [12 December] - Andy Walker - Southwestern Australia
PDF ReportA total of 157 bird species were recorded (155 seen) with range-restricted highlights including Carnaby’s (Short-billed) and Baudin’s (Long-billed) Black Cockatoos, Western Corella, Red-capped Parrot, Western Rosella, Noisy Scrubbird, Western Bristlebill, Red-winged, Blue-breasted, and Splendid Fairywrens, Western Fieldwren, Western Thornbill, Western Wattlebird, Western Spinebill, Gilbert’s Honeyeater, White-breasted and Western Yellow Robins, Western Whipbird, Western Whistler, Red-eared Firetail, and Rufous Treecreeper, -
2018 [10 October] - Chris Benesh & Doug Gochfeld
ReportIt is often said that birders obsess about the weather. Without a doubt weather played a large part of the Australia experience in part one of the Australia tour. We managed to bring rains to several drought stricken areas, an odds defying feat to be sure. Despite the need to layer up and waterproof ourselves, the wildlife was nonetheless wonderful, and aside from a lost day at Hattah-Kulkyne, the worst of it mostly held off while we were out seeking our target birds. -
2018 [11 November] - Joshua Bergmark - Eastern Australia
PDF ReportAustralia is home to an extraordinary avifauna, with an eclectic mix of gaudy, unique and often bizarre families and species, many of which are exceedingly tame. This tour once again highlighted many of the best birds the land Down Under has to offer to our keen contingent, and our comprehensive itinerary collected all the key eastern specialties and endemics, plus a whole swag of bonus birds which are difficult to see Australia-wide! S -
2018 [11 November] - Rob Gordijn & Helen Rijkes
PDF ReportWe spend 2,5 month driving around 2/3ths of Australia to see as many new species as possible. Since we had been in Papua just before this trip we didn’t try for the longest list possible, but we did all right seeing 559 species in total. -
2018 [12 December] - Sam Woods
PDF ReportThis Australia custom tour was arranged for very keen birders who also like to take photos of much of what they see. Thus, the objective was twofold; to get as many bird species as possible, making this a bird tour, but also to organize a tour that offered plentiful bird photography too. -
2019 [01 January] - Valentin Moser
PDF ReportIn total, over 100 mammal and 500 bird species were recorded. Highlights include Yellow-footed Rock Wallaby, Tasmanian Devil, Numbat and Honey Possum, as well as all endemic bird families of Australia. -
2019 [10 October] - Andy Walker
PDF ReportA list of target birds was provided for the tour (the clients’ third trip to Australia), and these became the focus of the tour route and birding, though new trip birds encountered were also enjoyed! A total of 421 bird species were seen (plus 5 species heard only), including many client target birds. -
2019 [10 October] - Andy Walker
PDF ReportA total of 279 bird species were seen (plus 4 species heard only), including many Australian endemics as well as a number of very localized species. We also enjoyed an interesting range of mammals and reptiles (such as a range of kangaroos and wallabies, Koala, Short-beaked Echidna, and Platypus). Full species lists are provided at the end of this report. -
2019 [10 October] - Sam Woods
PDF ReportThis lengthy custom tour was set up for four people wishing to get the most out of Australia on a single month-long trip. Therefore, it started out in Darwin, covering first the Top End of the Northern Territory, with its own special suite of bird and mammal species, before flying across to Cairns in the Wet Tropics of Northeast Queensland. -
2019 [12 December] - Andy Walker - Southwestern Australia
ReportNoisy Scrubbird is one of the toughest birds in Australia to see, but we had great views of this bird and even managed to capture the memorable moment it ran toward us. -
Tim Dolby's bird trip report site
ReportBirds and birding in Alice Springs, Cairns, Chiltern, Croajingolong, Darwin, Flinders Ranges, Gluepot, Grampians, Great Barrier Reef, Gulf of Carpentaria, Hattah, Kakadu, Lamington, Little Desert, Murray-Sunset, Simpson Desert, Strzelecki Track, Sturt NP, Terrick Terrick and Wyperfeld
Other Links-
Australian Cuckoos
WebsiteEverything you ever wanted to know about Australasian cuckoos. -
Birders Totals
WebsiteAustralia Life List Rankings -
Birdwatching Australia
WebsiteA directory of Australian birdwatching tours, bird clubs, freelance-guides, bird-orientated accommodation and reference information. - I found it to be really useful when planning a trip down under. [Fatbirder] -
Environmental Resource Information Network
WebsiteA good starting point to find out information relating to environmental issues -
Eremaea Birds
WebsiteA free birding records database and atlas -
Field Guide to Australian Birds
WebsiteMichael Morcombe`s excellent book is now online and you can help him keep it up to date - what a brilliant idea! -
Nature Sound
WebsiteBird, Frog and Mammal calls encompassing the tropical and subtropical regions of eastern Australia with detailed support information in the cover. Comprehensive coverage includes 5 frog species which are believed to be extinct. -
Pelagic Birding Homepage
WebsiteWelcome to the Australian Pelagic Home Page: A page dedicated to those with an interest in pelagic bird watching, photography and whale-watching. Offering some interesting information on what can be seen around oceans of Australia. Pelagic trips have been departing from a number of ports around Australia for many years now, providing a considerable amount of information on the birds and mammals likely to be encountered.
Blogs-
The Bird Surveyors
BLOGA travel blog of mainly Australian birds and wildlife but also of international travel. The Australian blogs include information on my bird sites including bird lists with gps location
Photographers & Artists-
Australian Bird Video Archive
GalleryDownload movie clips of birds in Australia -
Photographer - Ian Montgomery
GalleryIan Montgomery invites you to share the beauty and fascination of wild birds as seen through his eyes and camera -
Photographer - Jonathan Munro
GalleryAn excellent selection of Australian birds and beasts -
Photographer - Russell Jenkins Stoop Files
GalleryPhotography of birds and nature in Japan and Australia -
Photographer - Sarah Koschak
GalleryGallery with some truly stunning photographs -
Photographer - Simon Bennett - AustralAvianImages
GalleryPhotographs of Birds, Mammals and Nature from Australia, New Zealand, Madagascar and Thailand by Simon Bennett. To find a species of interest enter its name in Search e.g. black duck or just duck; or you can browse the Species Group galleries. -
Photographer - Tom Tarrant
GallerySome lovely pictures of some lovely birds from around the world. -
Sound Recordist - David Stewart - Nature Sound
GalleryExcellent CDs with no voice over and the most extensive indexes in the business!
Fatbirder - linking birders worldwide... Wildlife Travellers see our sister site: WAND
Skip to content