Australia is a blessed nation and enviable too. It is one single nation where it has everything that a nature lover and wildlife enthusiast can expect Australian Birds.
Australia has:
- A very long coast where you can sit in a beachfront cabin and watch numerous sea birds
- Dense rain forests that are an ideal habitat for a diverse species of birds
- Vast desert area that is home to a set of birds that feed on desert insects and reptiles including snakes and desert lizards.
- Countless mountain ranges in Australia that are a haven for ornithologists and bird watching buffs
- Extensive grasslands where you can spot insect preying birds
Which are all the places to go in Australia for bird watching?
So, where exactly should you go to spot exclusive Australian birds and migratory Avifauna?
Let us start our Australian birding tour in Down Under.
Macquarie Island
Which place is better than an island to watch Australian Birds? We start with Macquarie Island that is located in the South Pacific Ocean.
Due to the island’s beautiful flora and a wide range of Avifauna, it is protected under the UNESCO World Heritage Site body.
Birds of Macquarie Island:
This island is home to a range of penguins. We all love to watch penguins when they are on land. Their clown-like walk, the way they look up at the sky, their huddles are fun to watch.
In fact, identifying and counting the number species, especially the sea birds ( 13 species) in Macquarie Island, BirdLife International has earmarked it as an important Australian bird watching area.
Here is a few penguin names that you can spot in Macquarie Island.
- Royal Penguin
- Snares crested penguin
- Adelie penguin
- Erect-crested penguins
- Gentoo penguin
- Chinstrap penguin
- Rockhopper Penguin
- Petrels
Then, there are the elegant petrels that you can spot and identify in Macquarie Island. You should watch them in flight and especially when they swoop down on prey in a water body. You will be delighted to watch petrels in action.
- Macquarie Shags
This is an endemic bird.
- Albatrosses
These large Australian sea birds are also are spotted in a few numbers of species in this Australian island. Their pure white color would attract anyone instantly.
Sooty albatross
Wandering Albatross
- Passerine
Too many birds are classified under ‘Passerine’ including the cute finches with small beaks.
- Great Cormorant
- Australian Gannet
Several species of Egrets are seen waiting patiently for the big fish.
- Yellow Hammer
- Welcome Swallow
- Southern Fulmar
Beautiful birds of Chiltern:
Next, we move on to Chiltern, a small town that can be reached in about 4 hours drive from Melbourne. There is a national park in Chiltern and is called Chiltern Box-Ironbark National Park.
Avid bird watchers should know that Chiltern is one of the important birding places in Australia. Its exact location is somewhere between Wangaratta and Wodonga, states of Australia.
Inside the national park, two distinct areas are visited by regular Australian Birds and some migratory birds.
- Dry woodland
- Forests on the hills those are wet and evergreen.
More than 200 species of avifauna are identified and recorded in Chiltern, Australia, some of which are mentioned below with their striking images.
- Square Tailed Kite
- Turquoise Parrot
- Regent Honeyeater
- Barking owl
- Swift Parrot
- Painted Honeyeater
- White-throated Nightjar
- Diamond Firetail
- Scarlet-chested Parrot
Since reaching Chiltern is rather easy than going to Macquarie Island, passionate bird watchers are urged to book a half-day birding tour of Chiltern, Victoria, Australia.
Australian Birds Watching at Broome Bird Observatory, Roebuck Bay,
As mentioned earlier in this article about the places in Australia that are good for bird watching, Australia has a very long coastline that attracts numerous seabirds that are also called ‘shorebirds’.
Roebuck Bay is located 25 km from the town of Broome in the north-west part of Australia. The region is known as Kimberly Region.
Australian Birds that are spotted at the Broome bird Observatory:
- Bowerbird
- Yellow Chat
- Red-collared Lorikeet
Oh, magnificent!
- Asian Dowitcher
- Eastern Curlew
Whoops! What a scary-looking beak!
Australian Birds in Lascar Abattoir Swamp, Julatten, Queensland
This birding site is a world heritage site and it is not without a valid reason. The range of avifauna comprising brightly colored birds thrives in the swampland is quite large.
The wetland is very vast measuring nearly 9000 sq.km! You can imagine how many species of Australian Birds that one can identify if only you have immense patience and big luck.
Here, I have only mentioned only a few Australian bird species that caught my attention.
- Southern cassowary
- Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher
Breathtakingly beautiful-right?
- Victoria’s Riflebird
- Blue-face Parrotfinch
- Olive-backed sunbird
- Red-necked Crake
- Eastern Spinebill
- Emerald Dove
- Red-browed Finch
Australian Birds Watching at Mount Lewis National Park, Australia
Mount Lewis National Park is home to more than 300 species of birds. Eleven species are endemic but I don’t know whether they are endemic to the Mount Lewis National Park or to entire Australia.
If you happen to go bird watching in Queensland, Australia, you are in for a wonderful visual treat as you can visit not one but three national parks in Queensland that are not far away from each other.
The three top places of watch birds are:
- Mount Lewis National park
- Mount Spurgeon National Park
- Daintree National Park
If you are an avid birder, you must know that the wet tropical forests are fantastic places to spot rare and colorful Australian Birds.
Well, all the national parks mentioned above are part of the Wet Tropics of Queensland, a World Heritage Site. The three national parks combined together are spread over approximately 9000 km².
Why generally the tropical forests are chosen by the birds as their ideal habitat?
The copious rainfall and the glorious sunshine in rainforests are just the right conditions for a range of flowering plants. The flowers are pregnant with bags and bags of honey that the avifauna preys on.
Australian Birds that you can spot in the Mount Lewis National Park:
- Victoria’s Rifle Bird
- Yellow and Grey Wagtail
You should these wagtails when they land on the ground, vigorously wagging their tails up and down. Wonderful sight!
- Bassian Thrush
- Red-rumped Swallow
It is a very rare bird and migrates to Australia during winter.
- Chestnut-breasted Manikin
The Manikin is also known as ‘Munia’.
- Double-barred Finch
It is endemic to Australia.
- Yellow-bellied Sunbird
- Myna
- Russet-tailed thrush
- Australian Reed Warbler
- Pied Monarch
Pied Monarch is endemic to Australia
- Blue-faced Parrot Finch
OMG! What a beautiful color combination!
- Golden Bowerbird
There are many more Australian Birds that you can watch in Queensland in Australia. The above-mentioned birds just samples to entice you to plan a birding trip to Australia.
The nearest city to watch these exotic birds in Queensland, Australia is Cairns.
Birding Trip Darwin, Australia
The most sought after bird to watch in its natural habitat by the ornithologists of Australia is the ‘Rainbow Pita’.
Australia’s Northern Territory is a gateway to southeast countries such as Indonesia. In addition, the Kakadu National Park is located nearby and it is a vantage place to watch several Australian birds and the Rainbow Pita is one of them. Other birds of Darwin area are:
- Lemon-bellied Flycatcher
- Rufous Owl,
As a very wet region of Australia, Darwin is a haven to birds of local origin and migratory.
Rushworth Box-Ironbank region, Victoria, Australia
This is a major bird watching site in Australia. Munching over my research about the top 10 places for bird watching in Australia, Queensland is repeatedly mentioned as the best place for birding.
The Rushworth Box-Iron bank region is home to the Heathcote-Graytown National Park and a few state parks.
Some of the Australian Birds that you can spot in Rushworth Box region are:
- Swift Parrot
- Diamond Firetail
- Flame Robin
- Pink Robin
- Black Honeyeater
- Hooded Robin
- Treecreeper
- Gilbert’s Whistler
Lord Howe Island, Australia
Lord Howe Island is a typical island with tropical forest and tropical climate. Blessed with abundant fish and coral, it is home to a range of seabird species including Boobies and Petrels.
The Howe Island is small, measuring just 10 km in length and 2 km in width. I think one can walk across the island by its length and width.
Though this Australian island is very small, more than 200 species live and come here from other nations.
Australian Birds that you can spot in Howe Island, Australia
- Woodhens
- Red-tailed Tropicbird
- Flesh-footed Shearwaters
- Kermadec Petrel
- \Wwhite-bellied storm petrels
- Providence Petrels
- Masked Booby
- Nazca Booby
- Sooty tern
- Black Noddy
Out of 200+ birds in Howe Island, Australia, several birds are endemic sharing their prey and home with migratory birds.
List of endemic birds
- Silvereye
- Robust white-eye
- Golden Whistler
- Boobook (an owl)
Pretty attractive-eh? Why not book a birding tour of Australia? I am sure there are numerous companies that organize bird watching expeditions in Australia. Book and enjoy the beauty of Australian Birds.
