Commonwealth of Australia

Pied Currawong Strepera graculina ©Andy Walker Website

Australia is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. It is the largest country by area in Oceania and the world’s sixth-largest country. Australia is the oldest, flattest, and driest inhabited continent, with the least fertile soils. It is a megadiverse country, and its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes and climates, with deserts in the centre, tropical rainforests in the northeast, tropical savannas in the north, and mountain ranges in the southeast. The desert or semi-arid land commonly known as the outback makes up by far the largest portion of land. However, Australia has 10% of the global permanent meadows and pastureland. The Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest coral reef, lies a short distance off the north-east coast and extends for over 2,000 kilometres (1,200 miles). Mount Augustus, claimed to be the world’s largest monolith, is located in Western Australia. At 2,228 m (7,310 ft), Mount Kosciuszko is the highest mountain on the Australian mainland.

Eastern Australia is marked by the Great Dividing Range, which runs parallel to the coast of Queensland, New South Wales and much of Victoria. The name is not strictly accurate, because parts of the range consist of low hills, and the highlands are typically no more than 1,600m (5,200 ft) in height. The coastal uplands and a belt of Brigalow grasslands lie between the coast and the mountains, while inland of the dividing range are large areas of grassland and shrubland. These include the western plains of New South Wales, and the Mitchell Grass Downs and Mulga Lands of inland Queensland. The northernmost point of the mainland is the tropical Cape York Peninsula.

The landscapes of the Top End and the Gulf Country, with their tropical climate, include forest, woodland, wetland, grassland, rainforest and desert. At the northwest corner of the continent are the sandstone cliffs and gorges of The Kimberley, and below that the Pilbara. The Victoria Plains tropical savanna lies south of the Kimberley and Arnhem Land savannas, forming a transition between the coastal savannas and the interior deserts. At the heart of the country are the uplands of central Australia. Prominent features of the centre and south include Uluru (also known as Ayers Rock), the famous sandstone monolith, and the inland Simpson, Tirari and Sturt Stony, Gibson, Great Sandy, Tanami, and Great Victoria deserts, with the famous Nullarbor Plain on the southern coast. The Western Australian mulga shrublands lie between the interior deserts and Mediterranean-climate Southwest Australia.

Surrounded by the Indian and Pacific oceans, Australia is separated from Asia by the Arafura and Timor seas, with the Coral Sea lying off the Queensland coast, and the Tasman Sea lying between Australia and New Zealand. The world’s smallest continent and sixth largest country by total area, Australia, owing to its size and isolation, is often dubbed the ‘island continent’ and is sometimes considered the world’s largest island. Australia has over 34,000 kilometres (21,ooo miles) of coastline (excluding all offshore islands).

Australia is a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy comprising six states and ten territories. Its population of about 27 million is highly urbanised (probably the most urbanised of any country) and is heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard. Canberra is the nation’s capital, and its most populous cities are the state capitals:  Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, (Canberra), Hobart and Darwin. Australia is culturally diverse and has one of the highest foreign-born populations in the world. Its abundant natural resources and well-developed international trade relations are crucial to the country’s economy, which generates its income from various sources: predominately services (including banking, real estate and international education) as well as mining, manufacturing and agriculture. It ranks highly for quality of life, health, education, economic freedom, civil liberties, political rights and per capita income.

Birding Australia

Australia is the only country that is also an entire continent. It’s not surprising therefore, that it has such a wide range of bird species and families and such exceptional numbers of endemics. For most visitors it will be necessary to get to grips with whole orders of birds not familiar from travels elsewhere and the bird life is truly spectacular. Given the size of the country, the vast internal desserts and dividing mountains and that it is an island, it’s not surprising that there are so many endemics, nor that speciation has continued creating many local endemics too. East and west forms for example, such as Eastern  Spinebill and Western Spinebill. Long-ranging species such as waders and wildfowl are mostly in common with other parts of the world but the species that do not migrate or range widely can become isolated and slowly develop differently and in dependently, so a state like Tasmania has many unique species.

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 plenty of Aussie birders have been exported and can be found leading groups all over the world! Similarly there are a growing number of websites dedicated to birding in Australia.

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 the c.1000 species, a quarter are now threatened – a great many native birds are 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. Australia is waking up to the damage done by invasive species and feral populations of non-natives and are trying to eradicate the most destructive threats to native species.

Birds Australia continues to seek your assistance in building awareness of the plight of Australia’s unique native species. For more information on Birds Australia please visit their website

This page is sponsored by Birding Ecotours

Number of Species
  • Number of bird species: 988

    National Bird - Emu Dromaius novaehollandiae - it is on the Australian Coat-of-arms
Endemics
  • Number of endemics: 358

Checklist
  • Active Wild

    Annotated List
    Australian Birds List with Pictures, Facts and Information
  • Australia’s Wonderful Birds

    Website
    Not a checklist, but all birds divided up by family.
  • Avibase - The World Bird Database

    Checklist PDF
    ...includes outlying islands (Macquarie, Norfolk, Cocos Keeling, Christmas Island, etc.)
  • BirdLife

    PDF List
    The Working List of Australian Birds
  • Wikipedia

    Annotaed List
    This is a list of the wild birds found in Australia including its outlying islands and territories, but excluding the Australian Antarctic Territory. The outlying islands covered include: Christmas, Cocos (Keeling), Ashmore, Torres Strait, Coral Sea, Lord Howe, Norfolk, Macquarie and Heard/McDonald. The list includes introduced species, common vagrants and recently extinct species. It excludes species only present in captivity. 975 extant and extinct species are listed.
  • eBird Field Checklist

    Checklist
    This checklist is generated with data from eBird (ebird.org), a global database of bird sightings from birders like you. If you enjoy this checklist, please consider contributing your sightings to eBird. It is 100% free to take part, and your observations will help support birders, researchers, and conservationists worldwide.
Useful Reading

  • An Australian Birding Year

    | A Couple Travelling and Birding the Entire Continent of Australia in a Camper – without Killing Each Other | By R Bruce Richardson | John Beaufor Publishing | 2020 | Paperback | 351 pages, colour photos, colour maps | ISBN: 9781912081387 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 Birds, Pardalotes

    | Taxonomic and Natural History | By Maurizio Perinin | theOLIVA | 2019 | Paperback | 167 pages, colour illustrations | ISBN: 9788890653544 Buy this book from NHBS.com
  • Australian Falcons

    | Ecology, Behaviour and Conservation | By Stephen Debus | CSIRO | 2022 | Paperback | 207 pages, colour photos | ISBN: 9781486315765 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 | Out of Print | 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
  • Field Guide to Australian Birds

    | By Michael Morcombe | Steve Parish Publishing | 2004 | Paperback | 348 pages, 3000 colour illustrations, 850 maps | Out of Print | 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 | Out of Print | 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 | Out of Print | ISBN: 9780643096028 Buy this book from NHBS.com
  • The 100 Best Birdwatching Sites in Australia

    | By Sue Taylor | John Beaufoy Publishing | Edition 3 | 2023 | Paperback | 224 pages, 300 colour photos, 100 colour maps | ISBN: 9781913679514 Buy this book from NHBS.com
  • The Australian Bird Guide - Concise Edition

    | By Jeff Davies, Peter Menkhorst, Danny Rogers, Rohan Clarke, Peter Marsack & Kim Franklin | Helm | 2022 | Flexibound | 252 pages, colour illustrations; colour distribution maps | ISBN: 9781399406291 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 Australian Birds

    | By George Adams | Viking Australia | 2019 | Paperback | 574 pages, 1400+ colour photos, b/w distribution maps | ISBN: 9780143787082 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 | Out of Print | 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 | Out of Print | ISBN: 9780732291938 Buy this book from NHBS.com
  • The Slater Field Guide to Australian Birds

    | By Peter Slater, Pat Slater & Raoul Slater | New Holland Publishers | Edition 3 | 2023 | Paperback | 416 pages, 157 colour plates, b/w plates, 750 maps | ISBN: 9781921073168 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 | Out of Print | 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 | Out of Print | 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 | £16.99p | ISBN: 9781913679033 Buy this book from NHBS.com
Birding Aps
  • Bird 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!
  • Birdly - BirdLife Australia

    Apple iOS | Android
    Discover and identify Australia’s Birds with the country’s leading bird research and conservation NGO covering 938 species!

    Discover and identify Australia’s Birds with the country’s leading bird research and conservation NGO covering 938 species! BirdLife Australia’s Birdly app is a game changer for Australian bird identification for beginners and experts alike
  • Smart Bird ID (Australia & NZ)

    Apple iOS | Android
    Identify birds with your camera or your microphone! Just point to the bird and we'll ID it for you. Over 500 bird species from Australia and New Zealand are available, with plenty more from around the world.

    Identify birds with your camera or your microphone! Just point to the bird and we'll ID it for you. Over 500 bird species from Australia and New Zealand are available, with plenty more from around the world.
  • 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 eGuide
Festivals & Bird Fairs
  • Australasian Bird Fair

    Facebook Page
    The 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
Museums & Universities
  • ACS Distance Education - Ornithology - BEN102

    Ornithology - BEN102
    This course approaches the study of different groups of birds in a systematic way. If you learn to understand how birds are classified, and the differences between broad groups such as “Passerines” and “Non-Passerines”, you can apply that knowledge to identify and study birds anywhere in the world.
  • Australian Museum

    Website
    The 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

    Website
Organisations
  • Australasian Wader Studies Group (AWSG)

    Website
    The 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

    Website
    Welcome 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 Bird Study Association inc. (ABSA)

    Website
    ABSA aims to support, encourage and promote the study of Australian birds and to contribute to their conservation.
  • Australian Wildlife Conservancy

    Website
    AWC is an independent, non-profit organisation dedicated to the conservation of Australia
  • BirdLife Australia Raptor Group

    Website
    The 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 in Backyards

    Website
    Birds in Backyards is a BirdLife Australia project.
Sightings, News & Forums
  • Birding-Aus

    Mailing List
    Discussion Group BIRDING-AUS offers a free electronic mailing list for anyone with an interest in Australian wild birds.
  • Feathers and Photos

    Forum
    Feathers and Photos - Australian Bird Photography
Guides & Tour Operators
  • Australian Ornithological Services

    Tour Operator
    Philip 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.
  • Bellbird

    Tour Operator
    Top-quality small group birding trips throughout Australia and beyond, led by passionate and experienced professional guides.
  • Birding Ecotours - Eastern Australia

    Tour Operator
    Australia 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 Operator
    Australia 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 Operator
    Coates 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 Operator
    Fine 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 Operator
    I hope you enjoy this website which is designed to assist people in finding Melbourne and Victoria’s diverse birdlife.
  • Nature Travel Specialists

    Tour Operator
    Nature 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 Operator
    WildWatch 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
  • 2004 [04 April] - Fatbirder

    PDF Report
    This is a report on a brief sojourn in Australia
  • 2014 [10 October] - Chris Benesh

    Report
    Part 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

    Report
    During 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

    Report
    Starting 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 [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...
  • 2016 [01 January] - David & Amanda Mason - Australia & New Zealand

    Report
    We 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] - Erik Forsyth

    PDF Report
    This ’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] - Andy Walker - East Coast & Tasmania

    PDF Report
    A 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 [10 October] - Chris Benesh & Jesse Fagan

    Report
    We 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

    Report
    Over 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 [12 December] - Andy Walker - Southwestern Australia

    PDF Report
    A 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

    Report
    It 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] - Rob Gordijn & Helen Rijkes

    PDF Report
    We 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 Report
    This 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 Report
    In 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 Report
    A 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 Report
    A 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 Report
    This 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

    Report
    Noisy 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.
  • 2022 [05 May] v- Henry Detwiler

    PDF Report
    We spent 5-6 days each in the vicinity of three locations: Brisbane, Cairns, and Alice Springs.
  • 2022 [11 November] - Andrew Walker - Eastern Australia Outback to the Wet Tropics

    PDF Report
    The list of highlights is long, and there are way too many to list here, but you can’t go too far wrong with top-quality birds like Southern Cassowary, Malleefowl, Plains-wanderer, Spotted Nightjar, Papuan Frogmouth, Great-billed Heron, Major Mitchell’s Cockatoo, Superb Parrot, Cockatiel, Budgerigar, Squatter Pigeon, Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher, Rufous Bristlebird, Superb Lyrebird, Albert’s Lyrebird, Pilotbird, Fernwren, Chowchilla, Australian Logrunner, Noisy Pitta, Paradise Riflebird, Victoria’s Riflebird, Regent Bowerbird, Great Bowerbird, Green Catbird, Spotted Catbird, Striated Grasswren, Splendid Fairywren, Mallee Emu-wren, Painted Honeyeater, and Diamond Firetail, to name just a few.
  • 2023 [08 August] - Frank van Groen - Sydney to Cairns

    PDF Report
    I made this birdwatching holiday to Australia with my wife Inka. We travelled during 34 days with a hired car (small Suzuki) from Sydney to Cairns and back. Cape Tribulation in the Daintree NP was our northernmoast point. First we followed the Pacific Highway along Australias eastcoast. We drove back to Sydney inland, following the Great Inland Way. In total a distance of 7721 km was covered by hired car. The night was passed in 25 different places, two thirds of them campsites. Camping and fuel turned out to be much cheaper in Australia than in Europe.
  • 2023 [10 October] - Andrew Walker - Outback to Wet Tropics

    PDF Report
    We recorded 379 bird species on this Australian birdwatching tour (three of these were heard only). The list of highlight birds seen is very long and included some of the best birds in Australia, including Southern Cassowary, Emu, Magpie Goose, Malleefowl, Spotted Nightjar, Tawny Frogmouth, Sarus Crane, Brolga, Red-chested Buttonquail, Banded Stilt, Plains-wanderer, Black-necked Stork, Great-billed Heron, Wedge-tailed Eagle, Grey Goshawk, Greater Sooty Owl, Lesser Sooty Owl, Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher, Red-backed Kingfisher, Laughing Kookaburra, Blue-winged Kookaburra, Cockatiel, Glossy Black Cockatoo, Gang-gang Cockatoo, Pink Cockatoo, Superb Parrot, Budgerigar, Noisy Pitta, Albert’s Lyrebird, Superb Lyrebird, Green Catbird, Golden Bowerbird, Regent Bowerbird, Lovely Fairywren, Mallee Emu-wren, Painted Honeyeater, Macleay’s Honeyeater, Rufous Bristlebird, Australian Logrunner, Pied Monarch, Apostlebird, Paradise Riflebird, Victoria’s Riflebird, Flame Robin, Red-capped Robin, Bassian Thrush, and Diamond Firetail.
  • Tim Dolby's bird trip report site

    Report
    Birds 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

    Website
    Everything you ever wanted to know about Australasian cuckoos.
  • Birders Totals

    Website
    Australia Life List Rankings
  • Birdwatching Australia

    Website
    A 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

    Website
    A good starting point to find out information relating to environmental issues
  • Eremaea Birds

    Website
    A free birding records database and atlas
  • Pelagic Birding Homepage

    Website
    Welcome 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

    BLOG
    A 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

    Gallery
    Download movie clips of birds in Australia
  • Photographer - Ian Montgomery

    Gallery
    Ian Montgomery invites you to share the beauty and fascination of wild birds as seen through his eyes and camera
  • Photographer - Jonathan Munro

    Gallery
    An excellent selection of Australian birds and beasts
  • Photographer - Sarah Koschak

    Gallery
    Gallery with some truly stunning photographs
  • Photographer - Simon Bennett - AustralAvianImages

    Gallery
    Photographs 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

    Gallery
    Some lovely pictures of some lovely birds from around the world.

Fatbirder - linking birders worldwide... Wildlife Travellers see our sister site: WAND

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