Eastern Australia birding trip report 2004

Tropical Birding Tour

17 days, starting September 29th and finishing October 15^th

Iain Campbell

Although Tropical Birding had run custom trips to Australia, this was the first set departure tour to my old stamping ground. We included sites that I had birded a lot as a teenager, so there were moments of birding nostalgia thrown in with the intense birding and cultural interpretation; Mount Molloy is not quite like England.

The group of seven birders was an eclectic mix of three English and four American birders, with vastly different life experiences, which made for entertaining conversations on some of the longer drives. The trip participants were Mark, Shirley and Richard Harper, Don and Doris Pearson, and Karen and Duncan Brown. I was the sole guide for the tour.

We were very successful and saw 368 species, including most of the possible resident birds; there were not many holes in the trip list when we finished.

Day 1. (29^th) We were to start the tour on the afternoon of the 29^th, however because everyone had arrived early we decided to make the most of the extra time and do some of the areas around Cairns. We started with the Century Lakes and the Botanical Gardens where we picked up sought after species such as the Little Kingfisher and Metallic Starling, as well as representatives of Australasian families new to the group such as Red-footed Scrubfowl, Large-billed Gerygone, Brown, Lewin’s and Yellow Honeyeaters. We were happy to see the sky laden with migrating Torresian Imperial Pigions, which had only just arrived, and I was a little nervous about dipping.

After lunch we headed to the Cairns Esplanade, arguably one of the best places to start birding in Australia. Along this pleasant beach-front walk we had many of the common North Queensland species such as White-breasted Woodswallow, Dusky Myzomela (a diminutive Honeyeater), Varied Honeyeater, Yellow Oriole, Green Figbird, Peaceful and Bar-Shouldered Doves, Rainbow Lorikeets, and the suite of Laughing Kookaburra with Forest, Sacred and Collard Kingfishers, making it a five Kingfisher day. Once we had taken a chunk out of the land birds, it was time to hit the muddy shore where we had things such as the Great, Intermediate and Little Egrets, the White-faced Heron and the Pacific Reef-Heron, mixed with the Sacred and Straw-necked Ibis and the majority of the shorebird species wintering in Australia.

Day 2 (30^th) Michealmas Cay is a must for any visitor to North Queensland because a seabird nesting colony in such proximity to the main reef snorkeling area makes for a wonderful day from Cairns for birders and partners alike. We took a slower boat than many groups to allow the chance of some seabirds that are not regularly seen on the cay itself. On the trip over to the cay we saw Gull-billed, Great-Crested, Black-naped and Bridled Terns as well as more migrating Torresian Imperial Pigeons far out at sea. On the Cay itself we had nesting Sooty Terns and Brown Noddys, 20+ Lesser Crested Terns, a few Roseate Terns and small group of Lesser Frigatebirds. We finished the day with the short driver up to Cassowary House near Kuranda.

Day 3 (1st) Cassowary House is just wonderful; set in rainforest on an escarpment near Cairns, it was a perfect place for us to spend a few days. As the name suggests we were keen to see the star bird there, but Sue (the owner), was adamant that we should just bird the road for the first hour or so and let her get the breakfast in peace- No worries, if it comes I will race to get you. We birded the road and had wonderful looks at Spectacled, White-eared and Pied Monarchs within seconds of each other, Graceful and Yellow-Spotted Honeyeaters and a Chowchilla scraping around the edge of the road. As promised by Sue, the Cassowary came, as did she, and we enjoyed the breakfast with a female and juvenile Cassowary below the deck which we shared with a host of other species coming to the feeders including Macleay’s Honeyeater, Silver-crowned Friarbird, Spotted Catbird which was the first Bowerbird for the guests, and our first Bird-of-Paradise, the absolutely mind-blowingly stunning Victoria’s Riflebird.

Now the pressure was on. Everyone was saying how incredible the morning was, so I had to come up with the goods for the rest of the day. Birding the garden there and walking the Black-Mountain Road, this came in the form of the Yellow-breasted Boatbill, a classy little brightly coloured flycatcher, and cracking face to face looks at the Eastern Whipbird which was another new family for the group. The bird which made my day was a group of Yellow-eyed Cuckoo-Shrikes, whose name and illustrations in most fieldguides do nothing to convey what a ripper it is.

Day 4 (2^nd). Another morning at Cassowary House to pick up some things such as Double-eyed Fig-Parrot and White-headed Dove, before we were off to the Daintree. Along the way we stopped at a beach spit with mangroves to look for Beach Thick-knee, another species whose pictures rarely do it justice. We saw two before they shot into the mangroves, but with the rising tide we could not get another angle on them. Everyone had good looks, so it was decided that we were happy to go rather than wade through crocodile infested mangroves to put them in the scope.

We arrived at Red Mill House in the Daintree and were greeted by the very friendly owners Trish and Andrew Forsyth. I really liked the layout and ambiance of this place, and although the owners are new to birding, they are doing there utmost to stake the area out to facilitate birders basing themselves there. We had a few hours birding the road in the afternoon where we had the recently arrived Australian Koel, Fairy Gerygone and Scarlet Myzomela.

Day 5 (3^rd) This morning the birding started on a Daintree cruise in a dingy where we got into some small mangrove fringed creeks that you cannot easily access from land. As expected we had fantastic looks at the common species such as the Shining Flycatcher, Varied Triller, Scaly-breasted Lorikeets, and a nesting Wompoo Pigeon. One of the target birds of the morning was the Great-billed Heron, and we were delighted to have an adult and juvenile perched close together towards the end of the trip. We were surprised to find that Mangrove Gerygones were vastly outnumbered by the closely related Large-Billed Gerygones, but we did have good views of both species in close proximity.

After the boat trip and some White-throated Needletails we headed SW from the Daintree, towards Kingfisher Park near Julatten where we were to spend the next two nights. Along the way we stopped at a small pond for Black-necked Stork, Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo, Brown-backed Honeyeater and Pheasant Coucal, and a quick visit to the Mount Molley School gave us displaying Great Bowerbirds. We arrived at Julaten and called out a Noisy Pitta where we had great looks and most of the group became convinced that they have to spend more time in Asia to see more of this spectacular family. At the edge of the forest we saw our first Rufous Whistler and within the forest we picked up Bower’s Shrike-thrush and Atherton Scrubwren.

We finished the day with dinner at the Mount Molloy pub, which with the old building and interesting mix of grazers, cane farmers and mine workers looks far more like a set for a crocodile Dundee movie than a normal pub.

Day 6 (4^th) We left the rainforest this day to explore the Savanna grasslands. This habitat which starts just west of the Atherton rainforests forms a belt which extends more or less continuously right across to the Kimberly’s in Western Australia. You do not need to go far into the area to get a completely different suite of bird species, and we started the morning with 6 or more Australian Bustards on the road, giving us great looks at them. One of the target birds out for the day we took our time watching more inland birds such as Common Bronzwing, Crested Pigeon, Pale-headed Rosella, nesting Red-browed Pardalotes, Weebill, and Grey-crowned Babbler. We were surprised to see Channel-billed Cuckoo which I had not expected to arrive for another week

After a late lunch we headed up Mt Lewis for a few hours. I expected it to be slow, but thought that we might pick a few things up and take the pressure of the next day. Towards dark the birding became surprisingly good, and we have great views of a Grey-headed Robin on a nest, Grey and Brown Goshawk, Superb Fruit-Dove, Cicadabird, Grey Whistler, and Fernwren.

Day 7 (5^th) We started out in the dark today towards Mt Lewis because we wanted to have a crack at Platypus, and were rewarded with very good looks of one only metres away from us. Our birding started with Yellow-throated Scrubwrens, Mountain Thornbill, and our first of many Pied Currawong and Australian King-Parrots. Persistence paid off with very good looks at the Tooth-billed Catbird (or Bowerbird which may be a better name) and our first Black-faced Monarchs.

In the afternoon we headed to the Hasties swamp and Mareeba Wetlands, as well as the Mareeba golf course for close up looks at Eastern Grey Kangaroos. The Mareeba reserve itself is very nice, but we did not add that much to the trip, and the late opening-early closing times are not conducive to great birding without staying there. At Hasties Swamp we picked up Plumed Whistling-Duck, Maned Duck, White-browed Crake, Swamp Harrier, and Red-backed Fairywrens. We stopped off at a roadside pasture to checkout both the Brolga and Sarus Cranes, where we had great looks at both species side by side and had some Brolgas dancing.

Day 8 (6^th) Today we had to fly down to Brisbane, but before we flew, we headed back into the Atherton rainforests near Lake Eacham. This was going to be our last chance at a few of the target birds so we got down to business very early. As we walked up the entrance road we had an overly inquisitive Cassowary that crash-tackled Richard, and ended up flat on the road after slipping when trying to make a quick getaway. After the close encounter we picked up the White-throated Treecreeper giving a call which I had never heard either in the field or on tape, which is a nice way of saying I did not have a clue what was calling when I first heard it. After sorting out that embarrassing little problem, we came across Tooth-billed Catbirds and our first Satin Bowerbirds. We decided to hang around the fruiting tree for a while and we were rewarded with views of both male and female Golden Bowerbirds.

Happy that we had pretty much cleaned up in the north, we raced to the airport and flew to Brisbane. In Brisbane we were met at the airport by our driver, who doubles as my brother-in-law, and were driven to our hotel in Surfer’s Paradise.

Day 9 (7^th) We started the day with some birding in fairly trashed coastal scrub near Surfer’s Paradise. Despite feeling as though we were in an area that will soon be very tacky condos, there were some good looks at some new species for the trip such as Eastern Rosella, Tawny Grassbird, Satin Flycatcher, Yellow Robin, Variegated Fairywren, and Brown Thornbill. On the way up to Lamington National Park, we stop for new birds including a flock of Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo, Brush Wattlebird, Noisy Miner, and Olive-backed Oriole.

We arrived at Binna Burra for lunch, and I think everyone was very impressed by how beautiful the location and lodge are. There is a distinct difference between this lodge and the other main location O’Reilly’s, that being that here, there are far fewer day dudes making for more enjoyable birding along the trails at Binna Burra. We went for the afternoon session and were rewarded by very good looks at the Regent Bowerbird, which I regard as the continent’s star bird. It is hard to look at a male without uttering expletives about its beauty. The other great bird for the day, frustrating as it is, was the Albert’s Lyrebird. We toyed with this bird (or it toyed with us) for nearly an hour and we were only rewarded with fleeting glimpses, though most of the group had its song etched on their brains. The day ended with long clear looks at a Boobook Owl at the main trail head.

Day 10 (8^th) This was both a rewarding, yet frustrating day. We started with a morning walk along the Ridge trail at Binna Burra, where we had fantastic looks at Scaly Thrush (great), followed by Green Catbird (better) and then Logrunner (look at the photo). After a great morning we wanted to get into some open woodland and mangroves on the coast before we caught the plane to Sydney. This is where it went wrong; as we drove down the hill towards the coast a very strong, extremely dry wind came across and bushfires broke out all through the area. We aborted the woodland search and hit the mangroves which were deader than dead. Nothing was moving at all in what was near debilitating heat. A last ditch effort to get some birds before we boarded was to visit the headland for fifteen minutes or so; here, amongst other things, we found our first Sooty Shearwater of the trip so we flew to Sydney happy and very tired.

Day 11 (9^th) Pelagics are always problematical on a birding tour especially the Sydney pelagic in October. The last tour I did was hampered by bad weather, and the pelagic was aborted, so I had a backup plan just in case. As it was, the weather was near perfect for the trip with a small swell, and light winds; basically enough to keep the birds up, yet gentle enough so my food was kept down.

We had great looks at the Providence, Great-winged and Cape Petrels, Wedge-tailed, Sooty, Short-tailed and Fluttering Shearwaters. Wilson’s and White-faced Storm-Petrels were common, and we had a single Grey-backed Storm Petrel. All hell broke loose on the boat when a Soft-plumaged Petrel came close by a few times, and was photographed by some people.

The albatross situation was looking very good with Wandering, Shy, Black-browed and Yellow-nosed Albatross all coming around the boat. We were also visited by an albatross that was thought to be Royal Albatross at the time by all the seabird people on the boat. Just about everyone photographed it, and it was only after the tour finished that one of our clients, Mark Harper, wrote to me to question the record. I am still out on it given the experience of the Sydney pelagic fiends, but I agree with Mark that the record looks dodgy in hindsight(though I admit that I would have let it slip without noticing the problem so Mark should get the credit as the one man records committee). In the end regardless of whether it is a five albatross day or a four albatross day, it was absolutely fantastic.

Day 12 (10^th) We left Sydney early to get down to Royal National Park before the day trippers arrived. We were joined for the day by a birding mate of mine Steve Anyon-Smith, which certainly added flavour to the day. We started at Wattle Flats with the endemic Rock Warbler, and very good looks at the Superb Lyrebird. Walking along Lady Carrington Drive was a good introduction to Southern Australian birds. In a fairly short period we added Superb Fairywren, Striated Thornbill, White-plumed Honeyeater and Red Wattlebird. We then worked the heathlands towards Bundenna where we had the star bird of the area, the Beautiful Firetail, along with other little gems such as the New Holland and White-eared Honeyeaters. After the heathlands, we ventured down to Bundena for the Rufous Night Heron, back to Audley for the Yellow-tufted Honeyeater, Sutherland for the two roosting Powerful Owl, and a quick stop at Botany Bay to pick up the Pied Oystercatchers. We spent the night in Jamberoo, a few hours south of Sydney at a lovely forest lodge.

Day 13 (11^th) Almost every tour has a slow morning, and this was ours. Actually, Barren Grounds was not slow, it was dead, I mean god-awfull. I know this place well and had promised a morning of good birding, but I was pulling teeth even to get good looks at the Southern Emuwrens. The Bristlebirds, so easy on the last five visits or so, were not responsive and although I had a few extremely bad views, only Shirly, managed even non-tickable views, so it stayed off the trip list. of the clients could connect with it. A few people saw Grey Currawong, and there were plenty of Tawny-crowned Honeyeaters to consol us, but we embarked on the long drive to Leeton with that sinking feeling.

It is funny how a few birds can make a day, and once we connected with a family of Emus near Yass, the spirits in the bus were way back on high again. We watched them and a group of Singing Honeyeaters for a good twenty minutes while Mark tried some digiscoping. This was followed shortly by both male and female Superb Parrots feeding in a bottlebrush very close to the car, again giving Mark photographic opportunities.

We finished the birding at Fivebough Swamp near Leeton. This is an impressive little setup with a walkway going along way through Bullrush swamp to get to a seasonal lake. Along the walk into the lake we saw a new family for the group with White-fronted Chat, along with Brown Quail, Little Grassbird and Australian Reedwarbler. At the edge of the lake we had both Spotless and Ballions Crake showing, and we heard the Australian Crake. Our waterbird list for the trip jumped with our first Glossy Ibis, Yellow-billed Spoonbill, and Australian Shelduck for the tour.

Day 14 (12^th) The Binya day was one of my favorite of the trip. We started birding at Binya State Forest near Leeton, which when you arrive does not seem to hold much promise; rubble from an old shack, a few Eucalypts and a load of Cypress pine is not the prettiest area, but when it started it was great.

The birding started trying to chase down a calling Yellow-Plumed Honeater, which we got in the end, but not before we had a group of Yellow-rumped Thornbills and Southern Whiteface. We chased down a group of White-browed Babblers, and whatched a roosting Owlet Nightjar. Walking further down the main track, we spent some time with Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters, Western Gerygone, Yellow, Buff-rumped, and Chestnut-rumped Thornbill. Red-capped Robins were not as common as on previous trips but when we found one, the male was in fine form and most obliging. A group of Splendid Wrens and a Speckled Warbler just about called an end of play for the morning when the morning was capped off with White-winged Triller and Dusky Woodswallow.

We headed out to Griffith for my favorite meat pies and to stake out the Pink Cockatoo. The day was becoming extremely hot so after watching Bluebonnets, Mulga Parrots and Mallee Ringnecks on the golf course, we headed for shade where we watched some nesting Tawny Frogmouth. Later we headed back to Fivebough Swamp where we picked up Red-necked Avocet.

Day 15 (13^th) We started the day in a patch of Mallee scrub near West Wyalong. The main target was the Shy Heathwren, which some people saw but overall it did not perform well. We also picked up Brown Treecreeper andBrown headed Honeyeater. As we were walking out a huge flock of and both Masked and White-browed Woodswallow came through and we had stunning views of both species. We continued on to Forbes where we went to “Lake Urine” and picked up the Blue-billed Duck.

Backyamma State Forest was only really an option if we had cleaned up in the Mallee and at Forbes and had the time to do it properly. I decided it would be worth even an hour to have a go at the Turquoise Parrot, which we did see, but I was very happy to get the Crimson Finch, which was not expected at all. The male is absolutely stunning and was worth the effort for it alone. Other birds there included Jacky Winter, Horsfield’s Bronze-Cuckoo, and Diamond Firetail.

Day 16 (14^th) Originally this, the last birding day of the trip, was supposed to be in the Blue Mountains, but recent rains in the Capertee Valley, made me change the plan and head to Glen Davis instead. The last minute change paid off, when possibly the star bird of the trip, the very endangered and exquisite Regent Honeyeater flew in to us less than 5 minutes after arriving there. We watched the small group move about and Mark even managed to digiscope the birds. We were in a very good mood and decided to head up to the Blue Mountains, birding slowly on the way. On the way out of the Glan Davis we picked up Zebra Finch, Crested Shrike-tit, and Pallid Cuckoo. Closer to Capertee we stopped at a small bridge with some Eucalypts flowering, where we saw Fuscous Honeyeater, White-throated Honeyeater, and Red-browed Treecreeper.

The Blue Mountains were again very slow. The winds were so intense that the birds were all hunkered down, you could not pick up any movement even if they did pop up because of the movement of the trees. We decided to give the Windsor swamps a blast. After trying Magrath’s Hill and Pit Town Lagoon, both of which were pretty slow, we headed up to Longneck Lagoon where we had our last bird of the tour, the Red-kneed Dotterel.

We headed back into Sydney where we had the farewell dinner. From the general mood and discussions about future Brazil trips and Borneo trips, I gathered that the group was very happy with the trip. The next morning Don and Doris flew to Tasmania (which will be included in the 2005 tour), Duncan and Karen went back to the U.S., and I headed back to the U.K. with the Harpers, connecting with a flight to Tana to start my Madagascar tour.

SPECIES SEEN

CASSOWARIES

Southern Cassowary

EMU

Emu

GREBES

Australasian Grebe

Hoary-headed Grebe

Great Crested Grebe

ALBATROSSES

Wandering Albatross

Black-browed Albatross

Shy Albatross

Yellow-nosed Albatross

SHEARWATERS AND PETRELS

Cape Petrel

Great-winged Petrel

Providence Petrel

Soft-plumaged Petrel

Parkinson's Petrel

Wedge-tailed Shearwater

Sooty Shearwater

Short-tailed Shearwater

Fluttering Shearwater

STORM-PETRELS

Gray-backed Storm-Petrel

Wilson's Storm-Petrel

White-faced Storm-Petrel

PELICANS

Australian Pelican

GANNETS AND BOOBIES

Australian Gannet

Brown Booby

CORMORANTS

Little Black Cormorant

Great Cormorant

Pied Cormorant

Little Pied Cormorant

ANHINGAS

Darter

FRIGATEBIRDS

Lesser Frigatebird

HERONS, EGRETS AND BITTERNS

Pacific Heron

Great-billed Heron

Great Egret

Intermediate Egret

White-faced Heron

Little Egret

Pacific Reef-Heron

Cattle Egret

Striated Heron

Rufous Night-Heron

STORKS

Black-necked Stork

IBIS AND SPOONBILLS

Australian Ibis

Straw-necked Ibis

Glossy Ibis

Royal Spoonbill

Yellow-billed Spoonbill

DUCKS, GEESE AND SWANS

Magpie Goose

Plumed Whistling-Duck

Wandering Whistling-Duck

Mute Swan

Australian Shelduck

Green Pygmy-goose

Maned Duck

Gray Teal

Chestnut Teal

Mallard

Pacific Black Duck

Australian Shoveler

Pink-eared Duck

White-eyed Duck

Blue-billed Duck

OSPREY

Osprey

HAWKS, EAGLES AND KITES

Australian Kite

Black Kite

Whistling Kite

Brahminy Kite

White-bellied Sea-Eagle

Swamp Harrier

Spotted Harrier

Gray Goshawk

Brown Goshawk

Collared Sparrowhawk

Wedge-tailed Eagle

FALCONS AND CARACARAS

Australian Kestrel

Australian Hobby

Brown Falcon

Black Falcon

Peregrine Falcon

MEGAPODES

Australian Brush-turkey

Orange-footed Scrubfowl

PHEASANTS AND PARTRIDGES

Brown Quail

CRANES

Sarus Crane

Brolga

RAILS, GALLINULES AND COOTS

Red-necked Crake

Buff-banded Rail

Baillon's Crake

Spotless Crake

White-browed Crake

Purple Swamphen

Dusky Moorhen

Eurasian Coot

BUSTARDS

Australian Bustard

JACANAS

Comb-crested Jacana

OYSTERCATCHERS

Pied Oystercatcher

AVOCETS AND STILTS

White-headed Stilt

Red-necked Avocet

THICK-KNEES

Bush Thick-knee

Beach Thick-knee

PLOVERS AND LAPWINGS

Masked Lapwing

Red-kneed Dotterel

Pacific Golden-Plover

Red-capped Plover

Mongolian Plover

Greater Sandplover

Black-fronted Dotterel

SANDPIPERS

Black-tailed Godwit

Bar-tailed Godwit

Little Curlew

Whimbrel

Far Eastern Curlew

Common Greenshank

Common Sandpiper

Gray-tailed Tattler

Ruddy Turnstone

Great Knot

Sanderling

Red-necked Stint

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper

Curlew Sandpiper

JAEGERS AND SKUAS

Long-tailed Jaeger

GULLS

Silver Gull

TERNS

Gull-billed Tern

Caspian Tern

Lesser Crested Tern

Great Crested Tern

Roseate Tern

Black-naped Tern

Little Tern

Bridled Tern

Sooty Tern

Whiskered Tern

Brown Noddy

PIGEONS AND DOVES

Rock Dove

White-headed Pigeon

Spotted Dove

Brown Cuckoo-Dove

Emerald Dove

Common Bronzewing

Brush Bronzewing

Crested Pigeon

Peaceful Dove

Bar-shouldered Dove

Wonga Pigeon

Wompoo Fruit-Dove

Superb Fruit-Dove

Torresian Imperial-Pigeon

Topknot Pigeon

COCKATOOS

Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo

Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo

Galah

Little Corella

Sulphur-crested Cockatoo

Cockatiel

PARROTS

Rainbow Lorikeet

Scaly-breasted Lorikeet

Double-eyed Fig-Parrot

Mallee Ringneck

Crimson Rosella

Yellow Rosella

Eastern Rosella

Pale-headed Rosella

Mulga Parrot

Red-rumped Parrot

Bluebonnet

Turquoise Parrot

Australian King-Parrot

Red-winged Parrot

Superb Parrot

CUCKOOS

Oriental Cuckoo

Pallid Cuckoo

Brush Cuckoo

Fan-tailed Cuckoo

Black-eared Cuckoo

Horsfield's Bronze-Cuckoo

Shining Bronze-Cuckoo

Little Bronze-Cuckoo

Australian Koel

Channel-billed Cuckoo

Pheasant Coucal

OWLS

Powerful Owl

Southern Boobook

OWLET-NIGHTJARS

Australian Owlet-Nightjar

FROGMOUTHS

Tawny Frogmouth

SWIFTS

Australian Swiftlet

White-throated Needletail

Fork-tailed Swift

KINGFISHERS

Azure Kingfisher

Little Kingfisher

Laughing Kookaburra

Blue-winged Kookaburra

Forest Kingfisher

Collared Kingfisher

Sacred Kingfisher

BEE-EATERS

Rainbow Bee-eater

ROLLERS

Dollarbird

PITTAS

Noisy Pitta

LYREBIRDS

Albert's Lyrebird

Superb Lyrebird

LARKS

Australasian Bushlark

SWALLOWS

Welcome Swallow

Tree Martin

Fairy Martin

WAGTAILS AND PIPITS

Australasian Pipit

CUCKOO-SHRIKES

Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike

Yellow-eyed Cuckoo-shrike

White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike

Cicadabird

White-winged Triller

Varied Triller

BULBULS

Red-whiskered Bulbul

THRUSHES

Scaly Thrush

Eurasian Blackbird

CISTICOLAS AND ALLIES

Golden-headed Cisticola

OLD WORLD WARBLERS

Australian Reed-Warbler

Tawny Grassbird

Little Grassbird

Brown Songlark

Rufous Songlark

FANTAILS

Willie-wagtail

Gray Fantail

Rufous Fantail

MONARCH FLYCATCHERS

Black-faced Monarch

White-eared Monarch

Spectacled Monarch

Pied Monarch

Leaden Flycatcher

Satin Flycatcher

Shining Flycatcher

Yellow-breasted Boatbill

AUSTRALASIAN ROBINS

Jacky-winter

Lemon-bellied Flycatcher

Red-capped Robin

Pale-yellow Robin

Yellow Robin

Gray-headed Robin

WHISTLERS AND ALLIES

Crested Shrike-tit

Gray Whistler

Golden Whistler

Rufous Whistler

Rufous Shrike-Thrush

Bower's Shrike-Thrush

Gray Shrike-Thrush

PSEUDO-BABBLERS

Gray-crowned Babbler

White-browed Babbler

LOGRUNNERS

Logrunner

Chowchilla

WHIPBIRDS AND QUAIL-THRUSHES

Eastern Whipbird

FAIRYWRENS

Red-backed Fairywren

Superb Fairywren

Splendid Fairywren

Variegated Fairywren

Lovely Fairywren

Southern Emuwren

THORNBILLS AND ALLIES

Rock Warbler

Fernwren

Yellow-throated Scrubwren

White-browed Scrubwren

Atherton Scrubwren

Large-billed Scrubwren

Speckled Warbler

Shy Hylacola

Buff-rumped Thornbill

Mountain Thornbill

Brown Thornbill

Inland Thornbill

Yellow-rumped Thornbill

Chestnut-rumped Thornbill

Yellow Thornbill

Striated Thornbill

Weebill

Fairy Gerygone

White-throated Gerygone

Large-billed Gerygone

Brown Gerygone

Western Gerygone

Mangrove Gerygone

Southern Whiteface

AUSTRALIAN CHATS

Crimson Chat

White-fronted Chat

SITTELLAS

Varied Sittella

AUSTRALASIAN TREECREEPERS

White-throated Treecreeper

Red-browed Treecreeper

Brown Treecreeper

SUNBIRDS AND SPIDERHUNTERS

Olive-backed Sunbird

FLOWERPECKERS

Mistletoebird

PARDALOTES

Spotted Pardalote

Red-browed Pardalote

Striated Pardalote

WHITE-EYES

Silver-eye

HONEYEATERS

Brown Honeyeater

Dusky Myzomela

Scarlet Myzomela

Graceful Honeyeater

Yellow-spotted Honeyeater

Lewin's Honeyeater

Bridled Honeyeater

Yellow-faced Honeyeater

Varied Honeyeater

Singing Honeyeater

Yellow Honeyeater

White-eared Honeyeater

Yellow-tufted Honeyeater

Fuscous Honeyeater

Yellow-plumed Honeyeater

White-plumed Honeyeater

Macleay's Honeyeater

White-throated Honeyeater

Black-chinned Honeyeater

Brown-headed Honeyeater

Little Friarbird

Helmeted Friarbird

Silver-crowned Friarbird

Noisy Friarbird

New Holland Honeyeater

Tawny-crowned Honeyeater

Brown-backed Honeyeater

Painted Honeyeater

Regent Honeyeater

Eastern Spinebill

Blue-faced Honeyeater

Bell Miner

Noisy Miner

Yellow-throated Miner

Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater

Red Wattlebird

Brush Wattlebird

ORIOLES

Olive-backed Oriole

Green Oriole

Green Figbird

DRONGOS

Spangled Drongo

MUDNEST BUILDERS

Magpie-lark

WHITE-WINGED CHOUGH, APOSTLEBIRD

White-winged Chough

Apostlebird

WOODSWALLOWS

White-breasted Woodswallow

Masked Woodswallow

White-browed Woodswallow

Dusky Woodswallow

Little Woodswallow

BELLMAGPIES AND ALLIES

Gray Butcherbird

Pied Butcherbird

Black Butcherbird

Australasian Magpie

Pied Currawong

Gray Currawong

BIRDS-OF-PARADISE

Paradise Riflebird

Victoria's Riflebird

BOWERBIRDS

Spotted Catbird

Green Catbird

Tooth-billed Catbird

Golden Bowerbird

Regent Bowerbird

Satin Bowerbird

Great Bowerbird

CROWS AND JAYS

Torresian Crow

Australian Raven

Little Raven

STARLINGS

Metallic Starling

Common Myna

European Starling

OLD WORLD SPARROWS

House Sparrow

WAXBILLS AND ALLIES

Beautiful Firetail

Diamond Firetail

Red-browed Firetail

Chestnut-eared Finch

Double-barred Finch

Nutmeg Mannikin

Chestnut-breasted Munia

FINCHES, SISKINS, CROSSBILLS

European Goldfinch