Australia’s Northern Territory is home to great birds, from Gouldian Finches, Purple-crowned Fairywrens, Rainbow Pittas, and Hooded Parrots in the Top End, to the Spinifex Pigeons in the Red Center. Along with this is a fascinating landscape with stunning sandstone canyons, and the unforgettable experience of Ayers Rock. While birding, we’ll also get to see the ancient aboriginal rock galleries of Nourlangie Rock in Kakadu for an unforgettable dab of culture.

Day 1: Arrival and East Point Reserve. After arrival in Darwin, we’ll spend the afternoon birding East Point Reserve, searching for Bush and Beach Stone-Curlews and Rose-crowned Fruit-Doves. We will spend the first night in Darwin.

Day 2: Fogg Dam to Katherine. Dawn will see us at one of the Top End’s premier wetlands, Fogg Dam. Around the dam itself we’ll be thrilled with the site of thousands of wetland birds, including Magpie-Geese, Pied Herons, Green Pygmy-geese, and maybe a Buff-banded Rail or White-browed Crake. In the monsoon forest, we go after the Top End’s sexiest bird: the Rainbow Pitta. Later, we head southwards to Pine Creek, stopping for the ultramarine Hooded Parrot. If time allows and the birds are breeding we will also stop off at a good site for Red Goshawk. We overnight in Katherine.

Day 3: Katherine to Victoria River. Today we’ll drive to Victoria River for a two-night stay. This area is home to two rare, localized species that will be our focus for the day. Checking out the tall cane grass near the river should get us our first member of the exquisite fairywrens, the dazzling Purple-crowned Fairywren. The other main target will be White-quilled Rock-Pigeon, a highly localized species of the rugged, sandstone escarpments.

Day 4: Timber Creek and Victoria River. A day trip out to the tiny town of Timber Creek will bring us into Star Finch country. While searching finch flocks we hope to find this rarity and also Long-tailed, Masked and Double-barred Finches, or even the rare and gorgeous Gouldian Finch. A visit to a deserted airfield may produce wintering Oriental Plovers feeding alongside the early morning groups of Agile Wallabies.

Day 5: Victoria River to Mary River. A fairly long drive will take us from the rugged sandstone country of Victoria River to the small settlement of Mary River, perched on the edge of Kakadu Park. Along the way, Cockatiels, Red-backed Fairywrens, Leaden and Restless Flycatchers, and Banded Honeyeaters are all possible. We’ll listen at dusk for the strange, dog-like calls of Barking Owls that can sometimes be found right around our hotel.

Day 6: Gunlom Falls. We need an early morning start to get up to the spinifex escarpment, where we have our only shot at the difficult White-throated Grasswren. The other target for the day is the Chestnut-quilled Rock-Pigeon, which is far more attractive than ever illustrated in a field guide. This is the hardest day of the trip, but exhilarating. We return to Mary River for the night.

Day 7: Nourlangie Rock and the Yellow Waters of Kakadu. Today we head into the heart of Aboriginal country in Kakadu. Our first stop will be the mighty sandstone outlier of Nourlangie Rock, part of the Arnhem Land Escarpment. Among Nourlangie’s many attractions are its extensive galleries of aboriginal art dating back thousands of years, and also the scenically impressive blood-red sandstone cliffs that form this mighty rock. There are a number of local specialties; beautiful Black-banded Fruit-Doves and Black-tailed Treecreepers inhabit the monsoon forest surrounding the base, while Sandstone Shrike-thrushes, and White-lined Honeyeaters may be found on the rock itself. We then head to Cooinda for the night, but we’ll have time to take a lazy afternoon boat trip down the South Alligator River to the Yellow Waters Billabong, where we will get incredible looks at waterbirds.

Day 8: Kakadu to Darwin. We’ll spend the morning in Kakadu searching for some of its key birds, such as Partridge Pigeon and Bar-breasted Honeyeater. We then leave Kakadu behind and head to Darwin. On our return journey we can check more sites for Gouldian Finch if we had no luck in Timber Creek.

Day 9: Darwin to Alice Springs. For our final morning around Darwin we’ll enter the mangroves where we’ll search for Mangrove Golden Whistler, Broad-billed Flycatcher and Mangrove Robin, while scanning a nearby estuary may get us Great-billed Heron or Beach Stone-Curlew. In the afternoon we’ll take a flight to Alice Springs. After arrival we’ll visit a local water treatment plant; in this water-starved region it can be an oasis for waterbirds. Among the many Hardheads, Pink-eared Ducks, and Hoary-headed and Australasian Grebes, we may find Black-tailed Native-hens, Red-necked Avocets, and Australian Pratincoles. We spend two nights in Alice.

Day 10: Ormiston Gorge and Glen Helen. Superb vistas and great birding will be the order of the day, as we visit some stunning sandstone chasms in the heart of the West MacDonnell Ranges. We’ll spend most of the day birding Ormiston Gorge for Dusky Grasswren, Rufous-crowned Emuwren, Western Bowerbird, and the amazing Spinifex Pigeon. Checking out any remaining waterholes may bring Chestnut-eared Finch or a dapper Painted Firetail or two.

Day 11: Alice Springs to Erldunda. We leave Alice behind, and as we begin our journey south we’ll pull off the road and bird an almost lunar-like landscape, barren and arid where only a few trees still cling to life. It may not be much in appearance, but it’s a great spot for some specialist inland birds, such as Crested Bellbird, Chiming Wedgebill, Cinnamon Quail-thrush, and Southern and Banded Whitefaces. We’ll spend the night at a typical Aussie roadhouse with a great art gallery.

Day 12: To Uluru (Ayers Rock). On the way to Uluru we pass through some interesting Mulga habitat that may produce unforgettable views of bright emerald green Mulga Parrots, while flocks of Budgerigars are also a distinct possibility, here in their native home. Searching the low roadside scrub can pay off with views of one of Australia’s most attractive birds: the striking red-and-white Crimson Chat. We spend the night in the Yulara resort.

Day 13: Uluru. We'll have the final few hours around the Rock before transferring to the airport for departures, or to join our Eastern Australia tour.

Tour info:

CLIMATE: Hot. Usually dry, but humid in Darwin. Little rain expected.

DIFFICULTY: Mostly easy, with one or two moderate walks required.

ACCOMMODATION: Moderate to very good, private facilities throughout.