The below list (work in progress) is compiled from the Gympie and District Field Naturalist’s Club bird list, the Noosa Parks Association (NPA) listing of birds sighted in the park, and the Sunshine Coast Council’s two bird guide sheets, plus from first-hand observation. Descriptions are based on information from ‘A Field Guide to the Birds of Australia‘ by Graham Pizzey.
| Bird name | Latin name | Habitat | Family | Call / voice and alternative names |
| Australasian Bittern | Botaurus poiciloptilus | Reedbeds, rushes, cumbungi, swamps, lagoons rivers, wet paddocks, drains |
Ardeidae Bitterns, Herons, Egret |
Unusual voice resembling a distant foghorn, and thought to have inspired aboriginal bunyip legends. This bird is also known as: Boomer, Bullbird, Bunyip |
| Australasian Figbird | Sphecotheres viridis | rainforests, eucalypt forests and woodlands, swamp woodlands, vegetation on watercourses, mangroves, leafy trees on farms, streets, parks, gardens, and orchards |
Oriolidae Orioles, Riflebirds, Drongo, Starlings |
Squeeky voice with downward inflection. This bird is also known as Banana-bird, Mulberry-bird, Shrike |
| Australasian Gannet | Morus serrator | Seabird, seldom ashore |
Sulidae Boobies, Gannet |
Spectacular high-diving white seabird, also known as Diver |
| Australasian Grebe | Podiceps ruficollis | still fresh waters, prefers smaller waters, usually with sub-aquatic growth; in winter flock occasionally with Hoary-headed grebes on larger open waters | Podicipedidae | Its alarm call is a sharp ‘tik’; has a clear, angry chitter |
| Australian Hobby | Falco longipennis | typically found in open country with large trees and timbered watercourses, but also in nearly treeless plains and in city parks, gardens and well-vegetated suburbs | Falconidae Falcons |
Has a shrill rapid-fire call that sounds like ‘kee-kee-kee-kee-kee’, more twittering than the Kestrel. This bird is also known as Little Falcon, Black-faced or Duck Hawk, Little Duck-Hawk, and White-fronted Falcon |
| Australian Kestrel | Falco cenchroides | Plains, open foothills, coastal dunes and cliffs; also in farmlands, around market-gardens, city buildings, and railyards | Falconidae Falcons |
Shrill, excited rapid-fire keekeekeekeekee near nest and when playing, else thin squealing ‘keer keer keer’. This bird is also known as Nankeen Kestrel, Hoverer, Mosquito Hawk, Sparrow Hawk, and Windhover |
| Australian King-Parrot | Alisterus scapularis | Rainforests, wet eucalypt woodlandss and clearings, coastal woodlands and scrubs, areas with berry-bearing shrubs, crops, potato-fields, orchards, parks and gardens |
Polytelitidae Longtailed Parrots |
Scratchy brassy in-flight ‘chack! chack!’ calls, and harsh alarm screeches. Also known as Blood Rosella, King Lory, Scarlet-and-Green or Spud Parrot |
| Australian Magpie | Gymnorhina tibicen | Likes trees and open areas, and can be found in orchards, on golf courses, playing fields, in suburban areas and gardens |
Gymnorhina Australian Magpies |
Rich mellow flute- or organ-like call, and is therefore also known as Flutebird, Organbird, or Piper |
| Australian Magpie-lark | Grallina cyanoleuca | Very wide. Absent only from dense forests and waterless deserts; likes trees, rivers, and swamps as well as urban areas |
Grallinidae Magpie Larks |
Mated pairs perform a duet that goes as follows: loud metallic ‘tee-hee’, instantly answered antiphonally with a ‘pee-o-wee’ or ‘pee-o-wit’ |
| Australian Pelican | Pelecanus conspicillatus | Large shallow waters, coastal and inland, occasionally on open sea; also found inlands on mudflats, sandpits, piles, and jetties | Pelecanoididae Diving-Petrels |
A rather silent bird that only utters the occasional gruff croak. Also known as Spectacled Pelican |
| Australian White Ibis | Threskiornis molucca | wide-ranging, from pastures and swamps, over woodlands, tidal mudflats, to garbage tips and grassed areas |
Plataleidae Ibises and Spoonbills |
Utters harsh barks and shouts. Also called Sticklebill and Sicklebird. As it is often found on rubbish dumps also known as dump bird |
| Australian Wood Duck | Chenonetta jubata | Earth dams, tanks, water among timber, swamps, lakes, reservoirs, sewage farms, ricefields. On sea, in bays and inlets |
Cairininae Perching Ducks |
The female does a long-drawn nasal ‘gnow?’ rising at the end; males have shorter, higher, more rising calls |
| Azure Kingfisher | Ceyx azureus | Mostly tree-lined creeks, rivers, lakes, and swamps with banks suitable for nesting. Also lives in tidal creeks, well-vegetated estuaries, and mangroves |
Alcedinidae Kingfishers |
Shrill squeaked ‘peet peet’, often in flight. Also known as Blue, Creek, Purple, River, or Water Kingfisher |
| Baillon’s Crake | Porzana pusilla | Vegetation growing and floating in freshwater swamps, tussocks, waterside vegetation |
Rallidae Crakes, Rails, Bush-hen, Native-hens, Swamphens, Moorhens, Coot |
Various tones: a harsh ‘krek-krek’, a whirring ‘chirr’, and a soft whining complaint note. This bird is also known as Marsh Crake, Little Crake, or Little Water Crake |
| Barn Owl | Tyto alba | Open forests and woodlands, grasslands with stands of timber, offshore rocks, islets and islands, farmlands, suburbs, cities. Occasionally roosts or nests in buildings. Also likes drive-in cinema screens and can be found in treeless areas where it nests in caves or on ledges |
Strigidae and Tytonidae Owls |
Utters hoarse thin wavering reedy screech ‘sk-air!’ or ‘skee-air!’ in-flight and when perched |
| Barred Cuckoo-shrike | Coracina lineata | Tropical and sub-tropical rainforest, scrub and scrub-margins, eucalypt forest and woodlands and clearings, swamp woodlands, timber along water courses, plantations, and gardens |
Campephagidae Cuckoo-shrikes and Trillers |
Pleasantly chatters, often in flight, and sounds like a toy mouth-organ: ‘aw-loo-ack, aw-loo-ack, aw-lack, aw-lack’. Apparently its range also includes a plaintive whistled ‘whee’. Also known as Yellow-eyed Cuckoo-shrike |
| Bar-shouldered Dove | Geopelia humeralis | Typically found in vegetation near water, also in (sub)tropical scrubs, inland and coastal, scrubby vegetation and mangroves by creeks and swamps, eucalypt woodlands, crops, plantations, lantana thickets, and gardens |
Columbidae Pigeons and Doves |
Very high pitched melodious ‘coolicoo’ as well as an emphatic ‘hook, coo! Hook, coo!’ Also known as Kook-a-wuk, Pandanus or River Pigeon |
| Beach Stone-Curlew | Burhinus neglectus | Likes undisturbed open beaches, exposed reefs, mangroves, and tidal sand or mudflats | Burhinidae Stone-curlews |
Utters a feeble alarm call ‘klee-klink’ This bird is also known as Beach or Reef Thick-knee |
| Bell Miner | Manorina melanophrys | Tmperate rainforest, wetter eucalypt or angophora woodland, with fairly dens shrubby understorey, visits garden feeders | Philemon Friarbirds |
Clear high-pitched bell-like ‘tink’, varying in pitch. Typically uttered by many birds in a colony with beautiful tinkling effect, that can be tryingly persistent. Also sharp repeated ‘jak jak jak’ and hard complaining ‘kwee-kwee-kwee-kwee’; immature birds make a continual ‘yik,yik’ Also known as Bellbird |
| Black Bittern | Dupetor flavicollis | Leafy riverside, creekside or swampside trees, mangroves, in willows, on river margins, in swamps, tidal creeks and mudflats |
Ardeidae Bitterns, Herons, Egret |
Low pronounced ‘w-h-o-o-o-o’, repeated at intervals. Also known as Yellow-necked or Mangrove Bittern |
| Black-breasted Buttonquail | Turnix melanogaster | Leaf-strewn floors of drier (sub)tropical rainforests, vine scrubs and adjacent thickets, including lantana, occasionally in pastures |
Turnicidae Button quails, Bustard-quails |
The female makes a deep ‘oo-oom, oo-oom, oo-oom’ sound. The male seems to hold his breath |
| Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike | Coracina novaehollandiae | Grasslands with trees, timber along watercourses, woodlands, scrublands, forests, as well as orchards, parks, and gardens |
Motacillidae Pipits and Wagtails |
Musical rolling or purring sound, as well as a higher note ‘chereer, chereer’ and a harsh scolding ‘skair’. This bird is also known as Blue or Grey Jay, Cherry Hawk, Leatherhead, Shufflewing, or Summerbird |
| Black-faced Monarch | Monarcha melanopsis | Likes damp gullies in temperate forest to breed, then disperses into more open woodland |
Monarcha Monsrch Flycatchers |
Notes vary greatly, from ‘why-you, which-you’, over a harsher ‘which-a-where’ to a mellow, descending ‘which you’ or even a ‘why you, witch’. Seems to be able to slur as well, as in ‘r,r,rerr’ or ‘shsh-shsh-shirr’ |
| Black-fronted Dotterel | Charadrius melanops | Shallow margins of rivers, lakes, on pebbles, gravel, or mud; in swamps and on the edges of dams; also in brackish lakes and on saltmarshes |
Charadriidae Plovers and Dotterels |
Single, explosive ‘dip!’ and tinkling rattles and churrings, often while flying This bird is also known as Guttersnipe and Sandpiper |
| Black Kite | Milvus migrans | Open country, also along timbered watercourses, beaches, towns, airfields, rubbish dumps, slaughter-yards,cattle camps, homestead environs |
Milvinae Soaring Kites |
Feeble plaintive whinnies and trills. Also known as Fork-Tailed Kite, Kimberley Hawk, and Kite-Hawk |
| Black-necked Stork | Xenorhynchus asiaticus | Swamps, mangroves, and mudflats, dry floodplains, irrigated lands, bore-drains, sub-artesian pools, occasionally seen in open grassy woodland |
Ciconiidae Storks |
Clappers its bills, and utters dull booms. Also known as Policemanbird and Jabiru |
| Black-shouldered kite | Elanus notatus | Open forest, grasslands with groups of trees, farms, market gardens, sewage farms, vacant land with rank growth,attracted by mice it can also be seen in outskirts of towns |
Elaninae Hovering Kites |
Its voice is a clear ‘chee’ with a sob in it, often repeatedly in flight; also utters a harsh ‘skairr!’ |
| Black Swan | Cygnus atratus | Large open waters: fresh, brackish and salt, flooded pastures, green crops, tidal mudflats, prefers permanent swamps and lakes with emergent and sunaquatic vegetation, ornamental lakes. Occasionally on open sea |
Cygninae Swans |
Far-carrying musical bugle with a break, uttered in flight and when on water; also softer crooning notes |
| Black-winged Stilt | Himantopus himantopus | Fresh or brackish swamps, shallow river or lake-margins, dams, sewage farms, commercial saltfields, estuaries, mudflats |
Recurvirostridae Stilts and Avocets |
Falsetto yaps or repeated ‘boo’, mostly when nesting, immature birds have a thin whistle. Also known as Pied Stilt, White-headed Stilt, Stiltbird, Longshanks |
| Blue-faced Honeyeater | Entomyzon cyanotis | Open forests and woodlands, timber along watercourses and in farmlands, roadsides, taller sub-inland scrubs, also sugarcane, orchards, golf courses, parks, gardens |
Philemon Friarbirds |
Strong, strident and distinctive: typically a penetrating querulous ‘woik, woik, woik’, or ‘queet, queet’, each note rising at the end. Also a softer ‘hwit, hwit’ This bird is also known as Blue-eye, Gympie, Banana-bird, Pandanus-bird (n.Aust) |
| Brahminy Kite | Haliastur indus | Coastlines, especially with sandflats, mudflats, mangroves, islands, tidal sections of larger rivers, beaches, harbours, coastal towns |
Milvinae Soaring Kites |
Stuttered ‘peeah-h-h’, feeble peevish trills, mews and squeals. Also known as Red-backed Kite or Sea-eagle |
| Brown Booby | Sula leucogaster | found in (sub)tropical waters |
Sulidae Boobies, Gannet |
Also known as Brown Gannet |
| Brown Falcon | Falco berigora | Wide-spread: from clearings in mountain forests to open woodlands and treeless plains, farmlands, roadsides, coastal dunes | Falconidae Falcons |
Probably the noisiest of teh Australian raptors: screeches, demented hoarse cracklings, at times like laying hen |
| Brown Cuckoo-Dove | Macropygia amboinensis | Mostly on margins of rainforests |
Columbidae Pigeons and Doves |
Mellow, high-pitched ‘coo-crrork’ or ‘cucu-rrorrk’, rising at end (‘did you walk?’) repeated deliberately seval times, In display a rolling ‘c-croor’. Also known as Brown Pigeon, Brownie, Large-tailed or Pheasant Pigeon, Pheasant-tailed Pigeon |
| Brown Goshawk | Accipiter fasciatus | Anywhere with trees, but typically more in open forests and woodlands, partly cleared farmlands, shelter-belts, roadside timber, city parks, gardens |
Accipitrinae Goshawks and Sparrowhawks |
Male utters a high-pitched rapid-fire ‘kikikiki!’, whereas the female voices a slower mellow whistled ‘yuik, yuik, yuik’, mostly near the nest. This bird is also known as Australian Goshawk, Chicken Hawk, Pacific Goshawk |
| Brown Honeyeater | Lichmera indistincta | Inland scrubs, (sub)tropical woodlands, rainforest-margins, coastal shrubs, swamp woodlands and mangroves. Also in vegetation near watercourses, golf courses, parks, gardens |
Philemon Friarbirds |
Its song is strong, sweet and varied, typically ‘sweet-sweet-quarty-quarty’. Its alarm call however is somewhat harsh and grating. Also known as Least Honeyeater |
| Brown Quail | Coturnix australis | Rank vegetation on low wet swampy ground, heavy pasture in damp paddocks, clover, lucerne, rice stubbles, grassy woodlands, in coastal areas it likes swampy heaths of sword grass and melaleuca and banksia-thickets |
Phasianidae Quails, Pheasants and Fowls |
A fairly loud whistled ‘f-weep’, ‘tu-weeeee’, or ‘bee-quick, bee-quick’, rising at end and uttered at frequent intervals. When flushed, sharp chirp or quick fluty chatter. Calls are heard often early morning, late afternoon and at night. Also called Swamp, Partridge or Silver Quail |
| Brown Thornbill | Acanthiza pusilla | Foliage and undergrowth of rainforests, wetter eucalypt forests, woodlands, scrubs, creekside vegetation, bracken, rushes on swamp and river-margins, dune-vegetation on coast. Saltmarsh vegetation, mangroves, parks, gardens |
Acanthiza Thornbills |
Notes varied, many surprisingly deep, typical call is a baritone ‘pee-orr’, also many fussy squeaks and churrs. Excellent mimic, especially when stressed and during sub-song; its alarm call is a deep zizzing scolding like scrubwren. |
| Brush Bronzewing | Phaps elegans | Generally in cover with a scrubby thick understorey, coastal scrubs and heaths, understorey of eucalypt forests and woodlands, and on the dry sparser scrubs of coastal islands |
Columbidae Pigeons and Doves |
Muffled ‘oom’, uttered incessanly when breeding. Also known as Box-poison Pigeon, Little Bronze-Pigeon |
| Brush Cuckoo | Cuculus variolosus | Rainforests and woodlands, leafy trees along watercourses, mangroves, roadsides |
Cuculidae Cuckoos |
A shrill far-carrying deliberate, usually descending phrase of 3-8 notes ‘fear-fear-fear….’. Displaying males utter noisy shrill rising phrases such as ‘where’s-the-tea’, ‘where’s-the-tea-Pete’, or ‘where’s-the-pippy’, becoming demented. Also known as Square-tailed Cuckoo |
| Brush-turkey | Alectura lathami | Mainly coastal (sub)tropical and temperate rainforests and scrubs |
Megapodiidae Mound Builders |
Deep, fairly loud ‘kyok!’ with nasal quality, as well as loud cluckings and deep subdued grunts. Also known as Scrub or Wild Turkey, Yellow-wattled Brush-turkey |
| Buff-banded Rail | Rallus philippensis | Vegetation by swamps, streams, tussocks in wet paddocks and woodlands, crops, rank pastures, samphire in brackish swamps or saltmarsh, and in homestead gardens |
Rallidae Crakes, Rails, Bush-hen, Native-hens, Swamphens, Moorhens, Coot |
Possesses an arsenal of sounds: sharp squeak like scratching a slate, sharp ‘click click’ notes, coos, thudding grunts. A sharp ‘crek’ or squeak when flushed. A call ‘coo-aw-ooo-aw-ooo-aw’, has even been described as ‘somewhat like a braying donkey’ |
| Bush Stone-curlew | Burhinus magnirostris | Open woodland with fallen branches, leaf-litter, sparse grass, timber along dry watercourses, sandy scrub near beaches, mangrove-fringes, country golf courses |
Burhinidae Stone-curlews |
A far-carrying eerie mournful whistle of successive parts: starts low and slowly, is repeated, rises, quickens, breaks, descends, and may end in staccato chorus of ‘wee-wiff, wee-wiff, wee-wiff’ often by several birds and usually at night. Also known as Stone Plover, Weeloo, Willaroo |
| Cattle Egret | Ardeola ibis | Floodplains, swamp margins, pastures, low fodder crops |
Ardeidae Bitterns, Herons, Egret |
Guttural croak, softer than other egrets. Also known as Buff-backed Heron |
| Channel-billed Cuckoo | Scythrops novaehollandiae | Open forests, woodlands, swamp woodlands and scrublands, sometimes in rainforest |
Cuculidae Cuckoos |
A raucous, deliberately-spaced shout of ‘oik’, ‘awk’, or ‘wark’, repeated, rising slightly. Uttered flying or perched, often at night. Also known as Flood, Rain or Stormbird, Giant or Storm Cuckoo, Fig Hawk, Hornbill, Toucan |
| Chestnut-breasted Mannikin | Lonchura castaneothorax | Grasslands near water, swamp-vegetation,coastal heaths, mangroves, overgrown wastelands and roadsides, pastures and cultivation, canefields, ricefields, and other cereal crops, lantana thickets |
Ploceidae Australian Grass Finches and Allies |
Bell-like notes, becoming a merry tinkling when a flock is put to flight, song of male very high-pitched wheezing, not easily heard Also known as Barleybird, Barley Sparrow, Bullfinch, Chestnut(-breasted) Finch |
| Cicadabird | Coracina tenuirostris | Heads of trees in temperate and tropical rainforests, scrubs, open woodlands, paperbark-swamps, mangroves |
Campephagidae Cuckoo-shrikes and Trillers |
Male sounds like cicada beginning to call: a strange, loud, rather harsh, staccato buzzing repeated 8-20 times or more, slowing and dropping slightly; when chasing, reported to utter a soft, explosive ‘twik’ or ‘twok’; alarm-call, quick, slightly rolling ‘chuit’ Also known as (Jardine) Caterpillar-eater, Triller |
| Clamorous Reed-warbler | Acrocephalus stentoreus | Stands of reeds, cumbungi, river red gum regrowth, weeping willows, bamboos, even tall cereal crops over or beside lakes, swamps, or rivers, lantana thickets; often in public gardens |
Sylviidae Old World Warblers |
Rich variable liquid phrases, some metallic and guttural, others sweet, repeated in chant: ‘chutch chitch chutch, dzee-dzee-dzee, quarty-quarty-quarty’. Alarm-call sharp ‘t!’, also dry scolding rattle This bird is also known as Nightingale, Reedbird, Reedlark, Swamp Tit, Water Sparrow |
| Collared Sparrowhawk | Accipiter cirrhocephalus | Temperate rainforests, coastal woodlands, to inland mulga and mallee scrubs |
Accipitrinae Goshawks and Sparrowhawks |
Shrill rapid ‘kikiki’, faster and thinner than Goshawk or Kestrel; can resemble alarm of Honeyeater; also slow mellow piping ‘yuik, yuik, yuik’; near nest, thin squeals Also known as Chicken Hawk |
| Comb-crested Jacana | Irediparra gallinacea | Offshore vegetation on surface of lagoons, swamps and dams |
Jacanidae Jacanas or Lotusbirds |
Thin squeaky chitter or piping, usually in flight. Also known as Lotusbird, Skipper, Lily-trotter, Water Pheasant |
| Common Koel | Eudymanys scolopacea | Rainforest, open forest, tall leafy trees on fringes of rainforest or woodland along streams or in stands in farmland, parks and streets |
Cuculidae Cuckoos |
Very vocal day and night during breeding period, specially in wet. Rather silent after breeding. Males utter repeated far-carrying ‘kooeel’, also brisk rising ‘quoy-quoy-quoy-quoy’, falsetto ‘quodel-quodel-quodel’ or slightly mad, rising ‘weir-weir.weir-weir!’. Female has shrill four-note brassy piping. Also known as Black or Flinders’ Cuckoo, Cooee or Rainbird, Indian Koel |
| Common Myna | Acridotheres tristis | Urban areas, pastoral and agricultural districts near towns |
Sturnidae Starlings and Mynas |
Various raucous creaky notes, growls, and rattles, often strung together as song; on taking flight, a mellow liquid note. Alarm-call harsh ‘scairr!’ somewhat like tearing cloth Also known as Indian Myna or Mynah |
| Common Starling | Sturnus vulgaris | Urban areas, settled, cleared lands, pastoral country, open habitats, reedbeds, tidal mudflats, beaches, islands, gardens, orchards |
Sturnidae Starlings and Mynas |
Characteristic descending whistlling voice. Alarm call is a harsh decending ‘tcheer’ or a sharp ‘dick!’ singly or staccato. Also known as English Starting |
| Crested Pigeon | Ocyphaps lophotes | Open country, generally where water is present, in settled districts often on roadsides, stubble-fields and other croplands, weed-grown paddocks, sportsgrounds, farmyards, country railyards |
Columbidae Pigeons and Doves |
Whoop!’ singly in alarm, or repeated Also known as Crested Bronzewing or Dove, Saddleback, Topknot, Whistling-winged Pigeon, Wirewings |
| Crested Tern | Sterna bergii | Offshore usually near coast, bays, inlets, tidal rivers, salt or brackish coastal swamps or lakes, occasionally large fresh waters, occasionally follows rivers well inland |
Laridae Gulls, Terns, and Noddies |
Noisy, a somewhat rasping ‘carrik’ or ‘kirrik’ Also known as Diver, Greater Crested, Ruppell’s Swift |
| Crimson Rosella | Platycercus elegans | Rainforests, wetter forests and woodlands to above snowline, fern-gullies |
Platycercidae Broad-tailed Parrots |
Contact call mellow ringing ‘trip-klee’ or slow bell-like ‘klee-kleekeee’; in flight raucous brassy clanging ‘klee klee klee’ Also known as Crimson Parrot, Red Lowry |
| Darter | Anhinga melanogaster | Larger shallow waters, fresh and salt, rivers, lakes, swamps, lagoons, reservoirs, tidal inlets, estuaries, but not open sea |
Anhingidae Darters |
A brassy clanging, alarm-note is a mechanical-sounding clicking Also known as Diver, Needle-beak Shag, Snake-bird |
| Diamond Dove | Geopelia cuneata | Near water in dry inland scrubs and woodlands, hilly country with scrubby trees, timbered watercourses |
Columbidae Pigeons and Doves |
Slow, level, mournful four-note coo, syllabized ‘oh-my-papa’, also plaintive slow high-pitched ‘coo-cooooo’ Also known as Little or Red-eyed Dove or Turtle-dove |
| Dollarbird | Eurystomus orientalis | Forests, open woodlands, and timber along watercourses, over open swamps at dusk, timbered suburbs of towns and cities | Coraciidae Rollers |
Loud rasping accelerating ‘kak, kak,kak-kak-kak-kak-kak’ or ‘yap, yapapapap’ Also known as (Eastern) Broad-billed Roller, Starbird |
| Double-barred Finch | Poephila bichenovii | Vegetation along watercourses, drier grassy woodlands and scrublands, open forests and adjacent cleared lands, canefields, roadsides, wastelands, golf courses, plantations, gardens, parks |
Ploceidae Australian Grass-finches and Allies |
Toot like toy-trumpet, decribed as long-drawn-out ‘tiaat, tiaat’ Also known as Bicheno, Banded, Black-ringes, Owl, Owl-faced, or Ringed Finch |
| Dusky Honeyeater | Myzomela obscura | Coastal woodlands and scrubs, rainforests, vegetation along watercourses, mangroves, swamp-woodlands, gardens |
Meliphagidae Honeyeaters |
An obscure squeak, excited ‘see see see’ when birds chase, also a short mournful whistle with soft triling chatter |
| Dusky Moorhen | Gallinula tenebrosa | Well-vegetated swamps, town lakes, rivers with wide grassy margins and stands of rushes or reeds, dense trees along banks or in water |
Rallidae Crakes, Rails, Bush-hen, Native-hens, Swamphens, Moorhens, Coot |
Noisy strident ‘kerk!’ Also known as Black Gallinule or Moorhen |
| Eastern Bristlebird (subsp) | Dasyornis brachypterus | Coastal scrubs, wet heathlands, reedbeds and thickets overgrown with rank vegetation |
Dasyornis Bristlebirds |
Loud and melodious, with sweet but strangely penetrating quality, ends in something of a whipcrack Also known as Brown Bristlebird |
| Eastern Grass Owl | Tyto longimembris | Tall grass-tussocks in extensive swampy areas, grassy plains, swampy heaths |
Strigidae and Tytonidae Owls |
Hoarse thin wavering reedy screech ‘sk-air!’ or ‘skee-air!’ in flight and perched. Has alse been heard to utter a ‘thin quavery little whistle’ |
| Eastern Reef Heron | Egretta sacra | Exposed reefs, rocky shores, beaches, mudflats, islands; roosts and nests in woodland, scrub, pandanus adjacent to beaches |
Ardeidae Bitterns, Herons, Egret |
A hoarse croak Also known as Blue, Sacred, or White Heron, White or Blue Reef Hero, Reef Egret |
| Eastern Spinebill | Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris | Forests and woodlands, thickets along watercourses, chiefly in coastal areas or on Divide, occasional inland, coastal scrubs and heaths, well-vegetated gardens (especially on cultivated fuchsias, abutilons) |
Meliphagidae Honeyeaters |
Clear high-pitched staccato piping, sometimes long-repeated, may be brisk and explosive or soft and wavering Also known as Cobbler’s Awl, Hummingbird, Spine-billed Honeyeater, Spiny |
| Eastern Whipbird | Psophodes olivaceus | Dense closed habitats, near ground: coastal scrubs, creek and riverside vegetation, undergrowth and floor of rainforests, wetter eucalypt forests and woodlands, dense thickets of blackberries, bracken, lantana, overgrown gardens |
Orthonychidae Logrunners, Whipbirds, Wedgebills, adn Quail-thrushes |
Loud whipcrack, typically uttered as duet by pairs Also known as Coachwhip or Stockwhip-bird |
| Eastern Yellow Robin | Eopsaltria australis | Shaded cover, from lower levels of mountain rainforests to coastal swamp-woodlands and tea-tree thickets, orchards, golf courses, gardens, parks |
Muscicapidae (subfamily Muscicapinae) Old World Flycatchers |
Oft-repeated quick explosive ‘chop-chop!’ Also called Yellowhammer, Yellow Bob, Yellow-breasted Robin |
| Emerald Dove | Chalcophaps indica | Rainforests, (sub)tropical scrubs, wet eucalypt forest, streamside timber, lantana thickets, coastal and island scrubs, mangroves, farms, gardens, tourist centres |
Columbidae Pigeons and Doves |
Monotonous low-toned ‘coo-coo’ and ‘hoo-hoo-hoon’, with nasal ending Also known as Green-winged Pigeon |
| Eurasian Coot | Fulica atra | Large fresh or brackish waters, inland floodwaters, permanent swamps, town lakes, reservoirs, sewage farms, brackish coastal swamps |
Rallidae Crakes, Rails, Bush-hen, Native-hens, Swamphens, Moorhens, Coot |
Noisy, with a variety of harsh notes, typically a sharp ‘kyik!’ or ‘kyok!’, and repeated raucous screeches |
| Fairy Martin | Cecropis ariel | Generally in open country, near water |
Hirundinidae Swallows and Martins |
Slight churring ‘drrt drrt’ or rolling ‘dzee dzee’ This bird is also known as Bottle, Cliff, or Land Swallow |
| Fan-tailed Cuckoo | Cuculus pyrrhophanus | Dense wooded habitats, from rainforests to red gum forests, also in open country, paddocks, roadsides, orchards, gardens, mangroves |
Cuculidae Cuckoos |
Strong, rather sad slow downward trill: ‘peeeee’, also a small voice ‘get-woorrk’ with rising inflection, or shrill slurred high-pitched ‘pree-eee’ or ‘to-brrreeet’ Also known as Ash-coloured Cuckoo |
| Feral Pigeon | Columba livia | Ledges and cavities in buildings, grain-handling installations, railyards, wharfs, streets, parks, gardens |
Columbidae Pigeons and Doves |
A deep ‘cocoocoo’ or ‘rackitty-coo’; persistent ‘ooms’ Also known as Domestic, Homing, or Rock Pigeon, Rock Dove |
| Forest Kingfisher | Halcyon macleayii | Open woodlands, timber and scrub along watercourses, swamps, beaches, mangroves |
Alcedinidae Kingfishers |
Loud high-pitched scratchy ‘krree-krree-krree’ and a high-pitched rattle. Scolding speech and chatterings near nest |
| Fuscous Honeyeater | Lichenostomus fuscus | Drier open forests and woodlands, river red gums along watercourses, margins of rainforests, inland scubs including belar and other casuarinas, and brigalow; gardens |
Meliphagidae Honeyeaters |
Often ‘arig-arig-a-taw-taw’; in song-flight deep metallic twanging ‘tew-tew-tew-tew’, ‘permewan-permewan-permewan’ or ‘clitchit-clee-you, clitchit-clee-you’, repeated |
| Galah | Cacatua roseicapilla | Open country with suitable trees, typically on watercourses. Grasslands, cereal crops, town parks, playing fields, even beaches |
Cacatuidae Cockatoos |
High-pitched splintered call ‘chill chill’, harsher screeches Also known as Goolie, Goulie, Roseate or Rose-breasted Cockatoo, Willie-willock, Willock |
| Glossy Black-Cockatoo | Calyptorhynchus lathami | Usually associated with casuarinas in coastal forests and woodlands, timbered watercourses |
Cacatuidae Cockatoos |
Feeble whining or wailing, described as a soft ‘tarr-red, tarr-red’ This bird is also known as Casuarina (Black) Cockatoo, Leach’s Black Cockatoo |
| Golden-headed Cisticola | Cisticola exilis | Tall grasses, rushes, and rank herbage aroundswamps, drainage and in wet or neglected paddocks, roadsides, crops, blackberries, samphire on saltmarsh margins |
Sylviidae Old World Warblers |
Perched and in flight, breeding males utter incessant far-carrying insect-like ‘bhzzt’ followed by loud liquid ‘lek’ or ‘pillek’; high-pitched chatterings and scolds Also known as Barleybird, Cornbird,Golden-capped Grass-warbler, Golden-headed Fantailed Warbler, Grassbird, Grass-warbler, Tailorbird |
| Golden Whistler | Pachycephala pectoralis | Closed habitats, rainforests, forests, woodlands, riverside vegetation, coastal and sub-inland scrubs, orchards, shelter-belts, golf courses, parks, gardens |
Pachycephala Whistlers |
Range of sweet notes, many robust and ending in sharp crack, others with curious in-drawn quality; typical phrases are: rising ‘wheat-wheat-wheat-WHITTLE!’, a brisks ‘dee-dee-dee-ah-WHIT!’. Contact-call: a single rising ‘seeep’. Like other whistlers, males often call after thunder, car backfire, shot or other sudden loud noise, hence ‘Thunderbird’, but also known as Cuthroat, Golden-breasted, White-throated, or Yellow-breasted Whistler or Thickhead, Ring-coachie, Whipbird |
| Great Cormorant | Phalacrocorax carbo | Coastal waters, bays, estuaries, larger rivers and lakes, farm dams |
Phalacrocoracidae Cormorants |
Querulous croaking, rising in cadence, rarely heard away from roosts or colnies Also known as (Big) Black Cormorant, Black Shag |
| Great Egret | Egretta alba | Shallows of rivers, mudflats, swamps, lagoons, sewage farms, irrigation areas, larger dams |
Ardeidae Bitterns, Herons, Egret |
A guttural rattling croak Also known as (Great)White Egret, White Crane |
| Green Catbird | Ailuroedus crassirostris | Rainforests and margins, densely-foliaged gullies, nearby cultivated areas |
Paradisaeidae Birds-of-paradise and Bowerbirds |
Loud, harsh. Typical call like yowling cat, frequently starting before dawn; a nasal, drawling ‘here-I-are’ Also known as Spotted Catbird |
| Grey Butcherbird | Cracticus torquatus | Margins of rainforest and eucalypt forests, open woodlands, coastal and inland scrubs, including mallee, vegetation along watercourses, shelter-belts on farms, roadside timber, golf courses, parks, gardens |
Cracticus Butcherbirds |
Beautiful deep mellow piping. In aggression a staccato rollicking descending shriek and a harsh grating ‘karr, karr’ Also known as Silver-backed Butcherbird, Whistling Jack or Jackass, Durbaner, Grey Shrike |
| Grey-crowned Babbler | Pomatostomus teporalis | Open forest, scrubby woodlands and scrublands |
Timaliidae Babblers |
Typical clear call ‘yahoo’ or brisk ‘gowahee, gowahee, gowahee’, rather like braying of distant donkey, also a strident ‘peeoo peeoo peeoo’ heard afar, or falsetto ‘put-yair, put-yair, put-yair’, incessant fussy chatterings Also known as Apostlebird, Barker, Cackler, Catbird, Chatterer, Codlin Moth Eater, Dogbird, Happy Family, Happy Jack, Hopper, Jumper, Parsonbird, Pine-bird, Quackie, Re-breasted Babbler, Yahoo |
| Grey Falcon | Falco hypoleucos | Open habitats, semi-deserts, grassy inland plains, timbered watercourses, pastoral lands |
Falconidae Falcons |
Somewhat hoarse ‘chak-chak-chak-chak’ or loud ‘cluck-cluck-cluck-cluck’ Also known as Blue or Smoke Hawk |
| Grey Fantail | Rhipidura fuliginosa | Almost any cover with some moisture, from coastal scrubs and mangroves to rainforests, inland scrubs and vegetation lining watercourses and rocky gorges |
Rhipidura Fantails |
An oft-repeated, fairly sharp ‘dek’ Also known as Cranky Fan, Mad Fan, Snapper, White-fronted or White-shafted Fantail |
| Grey Shrike-thrush | Colluricincla harmonica | Most forests and woodlands, coastal scrubs, mallee and other inland scrubs, vegetation along watercourses |
Colluricincla Shrike-thrushes |
Typically ‘purr-purr-purr quee yule’, ‘yo-ho-ee’, ‘pip-pip-pip-pip-ho-ee’, ‘e-all, queel’ or ‘crook crook per kweee’, last syllable rising strongly. In winter utters single loud ringing note ‘dite’, ‘yorrick’ or ‘ching’ Also known as Duke Wellington, Jock Whitty, Joe Wickie, Pluff, Whistling Dick |
| Grey Ternlet | Procelsterna albivittata | Oceanic islands and oceans |
Laridae Gulls, Terns, and Noddies |
Round breeding colonies: rolling or purring ‘cror-r-r-‘ Also known as Grey Noddy |
| Ground Parrot | Pezoporus wallicus | Low ground-cover, usually in extensive swampy heaths, preference for drier ridges in same. |
Platycercidae Broad-tailed Parrots |
Calls described as thin and high-pitched, or beautiful and sweet: three or four measured bell-like notes ‘tee…tee…stit’, |
| Gull-billed Tern | Gelochelidon nilotica | Grasslands, plains, ploughed lands, airfields |
Laridae Gulls, Terns, and Noddies |
Throaty rasping ‘ka-huk, ka-huk’ or ‘za-za-za’, an insect-like buzz and a stuttered ‘kerr’ and ‘tirruck-tirruck’ Also known as Long-legged tern |
| Horsfield’s Bronze-Cuckoo | Chrysococcyx basalis | Open woodlands, scrublands and most open or partly open country, mallee, mulga and saltbush in inland to saltmarsh, samphire or mangroves on coast, roadsides, golf courses, orchards, gardens |
Cuculidae Cuckoos |
Single long-descending ‘tseeeuw’, ‘prrelll’ or ‘pir-r-r, repeated persistently Also known as Narrow-billed or Rufous-tailed Bronze-cuckoo |
| House Sparrow | ||||
| Indian Myna | ||||
| Jacky Winter | ||||
| King Parrot | ||||
| King Quail | ||||
| Large-billed Scrubwren | ||||
| Laughing Kookaburra | ||||
| Leaden Flycatcher | ||||
| Lewin’s Honeyeater | ||||
| Lewin’s Rail | ||||
| Little Black Cormorant | ||||
| Little Bronze-Cuckoo | ||||
| Little Eagle | ||||
| Little Egret | ||||
| Little Friarbird | ||||
| Little Grassbird | ||||
| Little Lorikeet | ||||
| Little Pied Cormorant | ||||
| Little Shrike-thrush | ||||
| Little Wattlebird | ||||
| Logrunner | ||||
| Lorikeet | ||||
| Magpie Goose | ||||
| Magpie-lark | ||||
| Maned Duck | ||||
| Marbled Frogmouth | ||||
| Masked Booby | ||||
| Masked Lapwing | ||||
| Mistletoebird | ||||
| Nankeen Kestrel | ||||
| Noisy Friarbird | ||||
| Noisy Miner | ||||
| Noisy Pitta | ||||
| Nutmeg Mannikin | ||||
| Olive-backed Oriole | ||||
| Oriental Cuckoo | ||||
| Osprey | ||||
| Pacific Baza | ||||
| Pacific Black Duck | ||||
| Pacific Heon | ||||
| Painted Button-quail | ||||
| Pale-headed Rosella | ||||
| Pale-vented Bush-hen | ||||
| Pale-yellow Robin | ||||
| Pallid Cuckoo | ||||
| Paradise Riflebird | ||||
| Peaceful Dove | ||||
| Peewee | ||||
| Peregrine Falcon | ||||
| Pheasant Coucal | ||||
| Pied Butcherbird | ||||
| Pied Cormorant | ||||
| Pied Currawong | ||||
| Pied Oystercatcher | ||||
| Plumed Whistling-Duck | ||||
| Powerful Owl | ||||
| Purple Swamphen | ||||
| Rainbow Bee-eater | ||||
| Rainbow Lorikeet | ||||
| Red-backed Button-quail | ||||
| Red-backed Fairy-Wren | ||||
| Red-browed Finch | ||||
| Red-browed Firetail | ||||
| Regent Bowerbird | ||||
| Restless Flycatcher | ||||
| Richard’s Pipit | ||||
| Rock Dove | ||||
| Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove | ||||
| Rose Robin | ||||
| Royal Spoonbill | ||||
| Rufous Fantail | ||||
| Rufous-throated Honeyeater | ||||
| Rufous Whistler | ||||
| Russet-tailed Thrush | ||||
| Sacred Ibis | ||||
| Sacred Kingfisher | ||||
| Satin Flycatcher | ||||
| Scaly-breasted Lorikeet | ||||
| Scarlet Honeyeater | ||||
| Shining Bronze-Cuckoo | ||||
| Shining Flycatcher | ||||
| Short-tailed Shearwater | ||||
| Silvereye | ||||
| Silver Gull | ||||
| Spectacled Monarch | ||||
| Sooty Owl | ||||
| Sooty Oystercatcher | ||||
| Southern Boobook | ||||
| Southern Emu-wren | ||||
| Spangled Drongo | ||||
| Spotless Crake | ||||
| Spotted Turtle-Dove | ||||
| Spotted Pardalote | ||||
| Square-tailed Kite | ||||
| Strawneck Egret | ||||
| Straw-necked ibis | ||||
| Striated Pardalote | ||||
| Striated Thornbill | ||||
| Striped Honeyeater | ||||
| Superb Fairy-wren | ||||
| Superb Fruit-dove | ||||
| Sulphur-crested Cockatoo | ||||
| Tawny Frogmouth | ||||
| Tawny Grassbird | ||||
| Torresian Crow | ||||
| Tree Martin | ||||
| Varied Sittella | ||||
| Varied Thriller | ||||
| Variegated Fairy-Wren | ||||
| Wandering Tattler | ||||
| Wedge-tailed Eagle | ||||
| Wedge-tailed Shearwater | ||||
| Welcome Swallow | ||||
| Whipbird | ||||
| Whiskered Tern | ||||
| Whistling Kite | ||||
| White-bellied Cuckoo-Shrike | ||||
| White-bellied Sea-Eagle | ||||
| White-breasted Woodswallow | ||||
| White-browed Scrubwren | ||||
| White-cheeked Honeyeater | ||||
| White-eared Monarch | ||||
| White-eyed Duck | ||||
| White-faced Heron | incorrectly also called ‘Blue Crane’ | |||
| White-headed Pigeon | ||||
| White Pygmy-goose |
Cairininae Perching Ducks |
Also known as Cotton Teal | ||
| White-tailed Tropicbird | ||||
| White-throated Gerygone | ||||
| White-throated Honeyeater | ||||
| White-throated Needletail | ||||
| White-throated Nightjar | ||||
| White-throated Treecreeper | ||||
| White-winged Tern | ||||
| White-winged Triller | ||||
| Willie Wagtail | ||||
| Wompoo Fruit-dove | ||||
| Yellow-billed Spoonbill | ||||
| Yellow-faced Honeyeater | ||||
| Yellow-rumped Thornbill | ||||
| Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo | ||||
| Yellow-tufted Honeyeater | ||||
| Yellow Thornbill |