What birds do you want to see in Australia? (1 Viewer)

[The Birder's Guide]

Growing up and living in country (Australia for me), you can forget that the birds around you are fascinating and spectacular to people who have perhaps never birded your country.

This is purely a questions for interests sake.

- If you haven't birded Australia before (or even if you have!), what birds are on the top of your 'must-see' list?

 

[lgonz1008]

List too long to consider all potential must-sees, but here are 10 of them:

1. Southern Cassowary
2. Plains Wanderer
3. Gouldian Finch
4. Superb Lyrebird
5. Pink Cockatoo
6. Southern Emuwren
7. Little Penguin
8. Eastern Whipbird
9. Regent Bowerbird
10. Splendid Fairywren

Even looking at these 10, I realized I missed at least 50 more and Australia is not even in my sights for travel yet. I know the grass is always green on the other side, but being in a place that's smaller than the US (where I live) yet still have more birds (most of which are endemic), is something so amazing that makes it hard to imagine just 10 or even 50 must-see targets within its borders.

 

[The Birder's Guide]

List too long to consider all potential must-sees, but here are 10 of them:

1. Southern Cassowary
2. Plains Wanderer
3. Gouldian Finch
4. Superb Lyrebird
5. Pink Cockatoo
6. Southern Emuwren
7. Little Penguin
8. Eastern Whipbird
9. Regent Bowerbird
10. Splendid Fairywren

Even looking at these 10, I realized I missed at least 50 more and Australia is not even in my sights for travel yet. I know the grass is always green on the other side, but being in a place that's smaller than the US (where I live) yet still have more birds (most of which are endemic), is something so amazing that makes it hard to imagine just 10 or even 50 must-see targets within its borders.

A great list! Can I ask what made you put Eastern Whipbird on there? The rest I can understand from a rarity/spectacular/endemic perspective. Is it the call that makes the Whipbird interesting?

 

[mjh73]

Grasswrens.
Night Parrot.
Grey Falcon.
Letter-winged Kite.

I need to spend more time in the Outback!

 

[Welsh Peregrine]

I need to get back for 4 missing families:-
Plains Wanderer
Shrike Tits
Scrub Birds
Bristlebirds

I would also like to see Malleefowl, Grasswrens, Quail-thrushes, Freckled Duck and better views of Lyrebirds.

Leaving as top of the species I have seen, Golden Bowerbird.

 

[The Birder's Guide]

Grasswrens.
Night Parrot.
Grey Falcon.
Letter-winged Kite.

I need to spend more time in the Outback!

Thanks, you should pick some harder birds to find haha!

 

[The Birder's Guide]

I need to get back for 4 missing families:-
Plains Wanderer
Shrike Tits
Scrub Birds
Bristlebirds

I would also like to see Malleefowl, Grasswrens, Quail-thrushes, Freckled Duck and better views of Lyrebirds.

Leaving as top of the species I have seen, Golden Bowerbird.

There's some good birds on that list, definitely birds worth coming back for! Golden Bowerbird is an awesome bird.

 

[lgonz1008]

A great list! Can I ask what made you put Eastern Whipbird on there? The rest I can understand from a rarity/spectacular/endemic perspective. Is it the call that makes the Whipbird interesting?

I'm not usually birding by ear but the unique calls make the birds memorable for me. The main reason I made my first trip to the Neotropics in Guyana was to hear the Capuchinbird and the Screaming Piha on the same trip.

Simply put, there's something iconic about the Whipbird and Australia's forests that I wish to experience first hand.

 

[Lolo]

Western ground parrot
Naretha bluebonnet
Greater bluebonnet pallid
Platycerus elegans filewoodi
Platycerus elegans melanopterus
SE redtail black cockatoo aka Graptogyne
White bellied crimson finch
Red cheeked parrot
Golden Shouldered Parrot
Platycerus icterotis xanthogenys

 

[Larry Sweetland]

I think with all the recent splits I've got about 40 landbirds still to see in Australia, so maybe I should go for what I think might be 10 of easiest ones I missed if ever I get a chance to go back (potentially manageable without 4wheel drive):-

Red-backed Buttonquail
Plum-headed Finch
Bush-hen
Rufous-crowned Emu-wren
White-throated Grasswren
Hall's Babbler
Chestnut-breasted Quailthrush
Red-lored Whistler
Grey Falcon
Gibberbird

 

[dantheman]

Dromornis stirtoni

Any other 9 would do.

 

[Larry Sweetland]

To add the 10 I'd maybe most want to see:-
Princess Parrot
Night Parrot
Western Ground Parrot
Orange-bellied Parrot
Scarlet-chested Parrot
Rufous Scrub-bird
Buff-breasted Buttonquail
Chestnut-breasted Whiteface
Black Grasswren
Letter-winged Kite

 

[The Birder's Guide]

I think with all the recent splits I've got about 40 landbirds still to see in Australia, so maybe I should go for what I think might be 10 of easiest ones I missed if ever I get a chance to go back (potentially manageable without 4wheel drive):-

Red-backed Buttonquail
Plum-headed Finch
Bush-hen
Rufous-crowned Emu-wren
White-throated Grasswren
Hall's Babbler
Chestnut-breasted Quailthrush
Red-lored Whistler
Grey Falcon
Gibberbird

Only having 40 species to go and not even living in Australia is pretty impressive! I'd say pretty much all of those manageable without a 4WD (grey falcon and gibberbird being the expections, but even those you could manage with some careful driving!).

 

[lvb2]

Sofar I've only seen the black-breasted button-quail and would really love to see the other species of button-quail in Australia. (I'll only be in Australia for the first two weeks in August this year, roughly between Byron Bay and Hervey Bay. Any tips?)

 

[albatross02]

Growing up and living in country (Australia for me), you can forget that the birds around you are fascinating and spectacular to people who have perhaps never birded your country.

This is purely a questions for interests sake.

- If you haven't birded Australia before (or even if you have!), what birds are on the top of your 'must-see' list?

Gang Gang Cockatoo
Yellow taild black Cockatoo
Red-tailed black cockatoo
Crimson Rosella
Southern Cassowary
Emu
Spinifex pigeon
Australian king parrot
Superb fairywren

 

[njlarsen]

Gang Gang Cockatoo
Yellow taild black Cockatoo
Red-tailed black cockatoo
Crimson Rosella
Southern Cassowary
Emu
Spinifex pigeon
Australian king parrot
Superb fairywren

I missed out on the Cassowary - the area where we tried had been hit by a hurricane not too many months ahead of our visit.
Niels

 

[jurek]

Cassowary, emu, wandering albatross, splendid fairy-wren, blue penguin, any scrubbird, noisy pitta, any colorful parrot, Gouldian finch, magpie goose.

Ones which I seen already in my pathetically short visit to Australasia: lyrebird, sicklebill, satin bowerbird, paradise kingfisher, palm cockatoo, eclectus parrot, laughing kookabura, frogmouth.