Birds on bushwalks

menu_book picture_as_pdf book Eva Gomiscek Environment Australia

Issue_17_June_2016-58

Eastern Spinebill about to feast on a WaratahIandsmith

Walking down the track you hear a beautiful sound. You know it's a bird, but which one is it? Do you know the birds of Australia?

Birds on bushwalksEva Gomiscek

58 | BWA June 2016

Australia has more than 890 species of birds, about half of them endemic, meaning they only live here. You'd think that with such a large number of different birds we're at the top of the list, but many countries have a larger number of bird species, starting with Columbia, which has 1821.

We focused on the ones that can be found while bushwalking.

For instance, do you know which is the smallest bird in Australia? It's the Weebill. Although small, it has a loud whistling voice that makes up for it. You can find it anywhere across Australia, just listen for its call. To find it, search for a 8 to 9 centimetres olive-yellow bird that has a grey bill, brown wings, pale yellow eyes and grey feet.

The rarest bird in Australia is the critically endangered Western Ground Parrot. There are only 140 birds still living. You can spot them at a handful of sites in the Fitzgerald River and Cape Arid National Parks on the south coast of Western Australia. They have also been recorded in the Nuytsland Nature Reserve and Waychinnicup–Many Peaks area. Read more about the bird on the Friends of the Western Ground Parrot website.

Male Superb LyrebirdBrian Ralphs

WeebillPatrick_K59

Western Ground Parrot Brent Barrett

BWA June 2016 | 59

The special one is the Superb Lyrebird. This one metre long bird with brown and grey plumage has a fantastic ability to accurately mimic a huge variety of sounds. The male's tail has sixteen feathers, with the two outermost together forming the shape of a lyre.

The New Holland Honeyeater (image below) is about 17 centimetres in size. It's streaked black and white, has a distinctive large yellow wing patch and yellow edges on the outer tail feathers and a small white ear patch.

Lewin's honeyeater is about 21 centimetres long in dark greenish grey colour. It has a creamy yellow gape (fleshy corners of the mouth) and large yellowish crescent-shaped ear patches that differentiates it from other honeyeaters.

Grey Shrike-thrush is also known as a Grey Thrush or a Joe Wicky in Tasmania. It is about 24 centimetres long with (as the name tells) grey plumage and a special gift for ringing melody.

New Holland HoneyeaterBrian Eglinton

Grey Shrike-ThrushCameron Semple

Lewin's Honeyeater Ian Smith

60 | BWA June 2016

Satin Bowerbird is has violet-blue eyes with completely shiny black plumage that seems metallic blue. They got their name for the courtship ceremony. Males build specialised structures (bowers) of sticks and colourful objects, including berries, flowers, and even ballpoint pens, drinking straws and other discarded plastic items like clothes pegs.

Olive-backed Oriole (image below) is about 25-28 centimetres long with head and back in olive-green colour grey wings and tail and a light coloured chest with black streaks.

Eastern Spinebill (image at the start of this article) is about 15 centimetres long, and has a distinctive black, white and chestnut plumage, a red eye, and a long downcurved bill. The best time of day to spot spinebills is around breakfast. They love to eat early in the morning, particularly in the first 90 minutes after they wake up.

Learn moreThere are several websites on the topic.

Birds in and around your backyard backyardbuddies.net.au

Birds in Blue Mountains and Sydneybmbirding.com.au

If you don't know which bird you saw – try these websitesbirdsinbackyards.net/finder orbirdlife.org.au

To learn of sounds of birds download one of these appsBird Calls for iphones or Australian Birds Sounds for androids

Have fun searching and exploring bird life next time you're on a track.

Olive Backed OrioleIandsmith

Female Bower Bird Cameron Semple

BWA June 2016 | 61