birds from overseas · to find around here). little wattlebird (28cm) a wattlebird with no wattles....
TRANSCRIPT
Crimson Rosella
King Parrot
· Numbers in red = Approx length of bird in cmfrom tip of bill to end of tail.
· To get a close view of the birds (and other wild-life), a good pair of binoculars makes a hugedifference. 8x40 is a popular size.
· For a full description of all Australian birds, seethe books (Field Guides) by Slater, Morcombe,Pizzey & Knight or Simpson & Day.
· For more information on where to see thesebirds, visit www.illawarrabirders.org
Red-browed Finch(12cm)
Also known as theRed-browed Firetail,this is the commonestlocal finch. Firetails
are so-called becauseof their bright red
rumps.
StarlingGoldfinch
Spotted Dove
House Sparrow
Rock Dove (Feral Pigeon)
Common (Indian) Myna
Birds on Front Page (from top):1. Galah2. Rainbow Lorikeet3. Eastern Rosella4. Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo5. Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
Magpie Lark (28cm)A.K.A. the Peewee.
One of the few birdsthat sings a duet –
when you hear theirmetallic chiming callsit’s usually both the
male and femalesinging together.
Birds From Overseas
Kestrel (32cm)This falcon is the smallestof our 24 birds of prey.It’s one of the few birdsthat can hover, whilst
looking for prey on theground. (Another is themainly white Black-
shouldered Kite.)
WelcomeSwallow
(15cm)A master of flight,
especially lowlevel, high-speedaerobatics that it
uses to vacuum upflying insects.
Peregrine Falcon(42cm)
OK, this awesome birdisn’t common, but can
be seen in our area.When it swoops on its
prey from a greatheight, it is the fastest
creature on earth.
Laughing Kookaburra
Pied Currawong
Crested Pigeon(42cm)
Not to be confusedwith the Topknot Pi-geon (which appearsto be wearing a wig).Makes a distinctive
whistling sound whenit flies.
Satin Bowerbird(25cm)
The male builds his famousbower solely for the purposeof seduction – it’s not a nest.
He decorates it with trea-sures of blue in the hope ofimpressing the greenish-
brown female
Superb Fairy-wren(14cm)
Our familiar ‘BlueWren’. Females andyoung are brown.Most males losetheir bright blue
colouring in autumnand winter.
Eastern Spinebill(16cm)
A beautiful littlebird with a longbeak specially de-signed for probingdeep inside flowers
to extract theirnectar.
Noisy Miner(26cm)
Has a large reper-toire of different
calls as its name sug-gests. It is aggressivetowards other birds,
but at least it’s anative!
New HollandHoneyeater (18cm)
Not a shy bird, it likesto sit on top of bushesand advertise its pres-ence. Shares the samehabitat as the Little
Wattlebird, and soundslike a squeaky toy.
Black-facedCuckoo-shrike
(33cm)Not a cuckoo or ashrike, an older
(better!) name is theShufflewing – whichis what it does every
time it lands.
Grey Butcherbird(28cm)
So-called as it storesprey in a tree fork,
using its hooked beakto tear it up into bite-sized chunks. But it’sa handsome bird and
sings beautifully!
Willy Wagtail (21cm)A feisty little bird,ready to take on
others many times itssize. As well as its
rattling alarm call ithas one which some
say sounds like ‘sweetpretty creature’.
Australian Raven(50cm)
Often called a crow,the Raven is the
biggest member ofthe crow family inAustralia (and the
only one you’re likelyto find around here).
Little Wattlebird(28cm)
A Wattlebird with nowattles. Smaller andplainer than the Red.Common in gardens
and heathlandaround banksias,
grevilleas etc.
Koel (42cm)A member of thecuckoo family. It’sdistinctive, rising
‘cooo-ee, cooo-ee’call is a well-
known sound inthe area in the
warmer months.
Australian Magpie
Little Corella
Red Wattlebird(35cm)
So named becauseof the red ‘wattles’
or skin-flaps onits neck. Its callsounds like a
barking dog witha bad cough.
Produced by Martin Potter for
Illawarra Birders Inc.Production Assistant Penny Potter.
Whilst all due care has been taken to ensure the contents of this brochure are accurate, no legalresponsibility is accepted for any errors or omissions. Copyright material. Photos by Martin Potter.
Pelican(170cm)
It’s bill really canhold more thanit’s belly can.
And the Austra-lian species has
the biggest bill inthe world.
WanderingAlbatross (120cm)This magnificent bird’s3.5m wingspan is thelargest of any bird. A win-ter visitor to our shores, toget a good view you needto be on a boat.
White-facedHeron (68cm)
A common sightnear any body of
water. Like allherons its neck
has a ‘hinge’ - anadaptation for
spearing its prey.
< Sooty / Pied >Oystercatcher
(46cm)Their orange beak
doesn’t quite matchtheir pink legs, but is
perfect for prisingopen shellfish.
Golden Whistler(18cm)
This is a classic ex-ample of how inmany birds the
male is very brightlycoloured, but thefemale is a dull
brown!
Wedge-tailedShearwater (42cm)
Shearwaters arebetter known as
Muttonbirds. Thewaters off the
Illawarra coast are aworld hotspot forseabirds like this.
Ruddy Turnstone(23cm)
Its name tells youhow it finds itsfood. Known to
travel an incredible27,000 km on its
annual migration tothe Arctic and back.
Crested Tern(46cm)
If you see a seagull div-ing into the ocean andcatching fish, then it’s
probably not a seagull!It is most likely to be a Crested Tern, ourcommonest Tern.
Bar-tailed Godwit (40cm)
Breeding in Siberiaand Alaska, it
holds the recordfor the longest
known non-stopmigration flight ofover 11,000 kms.
Masked Lapwing(36cm)
This bird and its‘kek-kek-kek’ alarmcall are well-known.It is a brave defenderof its young, swoop-ing on predators andsometimes humans.
Red-capped Plover(15cm)
A tiny shorebird, commonon our beaches and estuar-ies. When it dashes acrossthe sand it almost appearsto be moving on wheels.
White Ibis(70cm)
Sometimes calledthe Sacred Ibis as itwas worshipped bythe ancient Egyp-
tians. Look out alsofor the Straw-
necked Ibis whichhas a black back.
Little PiedCormorant (60cm)Like all cormorants it’s not very water-proof, to make div-ing and catching fisheasier. So it has to hang its wings out
to dry!
Black Swan(120cm)
It’s not all black- when itspreads its
wings you willsee its white
flight feathers.
Great Egret (90cm)Its enormous neck is longerthan its body. Other white
Egrets you might see are theLittle Egret (smaller, hyperac-tive when feeding) and theCattle Egret (follows cows!)
Eastern Yellow Robin(16cm)
Yes we do have robinswith red breasts in Austra-lia, but they are uncom-mon here. This is the
robin you are most likelyto see, often perching onthe side of a tree trunk.
Grey Fantail(16cm)
A lively, inquisi-tive bird that livesup to its name. Itscall is very high-pitched - beyond
the hearing ofsome people.
White-throatedTreecreeper (17cm)Hunts insects by walk-ing up tree trunks frombottom to top; it thenflies down and starts
again on the next tree.It’s call is a piercing,repetitive whistle.
Great Cormorant(82cm)
The largest of ourfour local cormo-
rants - black with ayellow face. (The
Little Black Cormo-rant has an all-black
face.)
Purple Swamphen(46cm)
Bigger and morecolourful than the
Moorhen. Both havea part of the beak
that extends over theforehead – this iscalled its shield.
Green Catbird(40cm)
Named for it’s ex-traordinary call
which sounds likea cat miaowing –or even a baby
crying!
Dusky Moorhen(38cm)
One of our common-est water birds; in the
breeding season itsbeak is red, with a
yellow tip. The similarCoot has a white
beak.
Whipbird(28cm)
Often heard butrarely seen. The‘whipcrack’ is the
male’s call; a ‘cheepcheep’ afterwards isthe reply of an in-terested female.
Wonga Pigeon(38cm)
Most often seen walk-ing along paths in therainforest. Its call is acontinuous ‘whoop-
whoop-whoop’ - a bitlike a reversing truck!
Silver Gull(40cm)
Gull are pirates,often taking
food from otherbirds, so if one
steals your chipsit’s only behav-ing naturally!
Royal Spoonbill(78cm)
The Spoonbill movesits bill from side to
side in shallow waterto catch fish and oth-er prey. Our other,
rarer Spoonbill is theYellow-billed Spoon-
bill.
Black-wingedStilt (35cm)
Stilts live up totheir name by hav-ing the longest legs(relative to body
length) of any bird.Often seen around
Lake Illawarra.
Pacific Black Duck(54cm)
Also known as thePainted Duck
because of its facialmarkings – it
looks as though it’swearing makeup!
Chestnut Teal(43cm)
Only the male ischestnut. And hishead is green. Or
black – the colour isiridescent and de-pends on the light.
Superb Lyrebird(95cm)
A spectacular bird and oneof the world’s best mimics.As well as the calls of many
other birds, it is said tocopy the sounds of cars,phones, even chainsaws!
Wood Duck(46cm)
Just as likely tobe seen on land
as on water,sometimes
even perchingin trees.
Brown Cuckoo-Dove(40cm)
A long-tailed bronze-coloured pigeon often
seen sitting amongst thefoliage. Its loud ‘wh-oo-rk’call is a familiar sound of
the rainforest
Lewin’sHoneyeater (20cm)One of many Austra-
lian honeyeaters(nectar-feeders), thisone has a yellow ear-patch. Its call has beencompared to the sound
of a machine gun.
White-belliedSea Eagle (80cm)
Watch out for it majes-tically patrolling ourcoastline. With luck
you might see it plucka fish out of the ocean,hardly getting its feet
wet.
Pelican(170cm)
It’s bill really canhold more thanit’s belly can.
And the Austra-lian species has
the biggest bill inthe world.
WanderingAlbatross (120cm)This magnificent bird’s3.5m wingspan is thelargest of any bird. A win-ter visitor to our shores, toget a good view you needto be on a boat.
White-facedHeron (68cm)
A common sightnear any body of
water. Like allherons its neck
has a ‘hinge’ - anadaptation for
spearing its prey.
< Sooty / Pied >Oystercatcher
(46cm)Their orange beak
doesn’t quite matchtheir pink legs, but is
perfect for prisingopen shellfish.
Golden Whistler(18cm)
This is a classic ex-ample of how inmany birds the
male is very brightlycoloured, but thefemale is a dull
brown!
Wedge-tailedShearwater (42cm)
Shearwaters arebetter known as
Muttonbirds. Thewaters off the
Illawarra coast are aworld hotspot forseabirds like this.
Ruddy Turnstone(23cm)
Its name tells youhow it finds itsfood. Known to
travel an incredible27,000 km on its
annual migration tothe Arctic and back.
Crested Tern(46cm)
If you see a seagull div-ing into the ocean andcatching fish, then it’s
probably not a seagull!It is most likely to be a Crested Tern, ourcommonest Tern.
Bar-tailed Godwit (40cm)
Breeding in Siberiaand Alaska, it
holds the recordfor the longest
known non-stopmigration flight ofover 11,000 kms.
Masked Lapwing(36cm)
This bird and its‘kek-kek-kek’ alarmcall are well-known.It is a brave defenderof its young, swoop-ing on predators andsometimes humans.
Red-capped Plover(15cm)
A tiny shorebird, commonon our beaches and estuar-ies. When it dashes acrossthe sand it almost appearsto be moving on wheels.
White Ibis(70cm)
Sometimes calledthe Sacred Ibis as itwas worshipped bythe ancient Egyp-
tians. Look out alsofor the Straw-
necked Ibis whichhas a black back.
Little PiedCormorant (60cm)Like all cormorants it’s not very water-proof, to make div-ing and catching fisheasier. So it has to hang its wings out
to dry!
Black Swan(120cm)
It’s not all black- when itspreads its
wings you willsee its white
flight feathers.
Great Egret (90cm)Its enormous neck is longerthan its body. Other white
Egrets you might see are theLittle Egret (smaller, hyperac-tive when feeding) and theCattle Egret (follows cows!)
Eastern Yellow Robin(16cm)
Yes we do have robinswith red breasts in Austra-lia, but they are uncom-mon here. This is the
robin you are most likelyto see, often perching onthe side of a tree trunk.
Grey Fantail(16cm)
A lively, inquisi-tive bird that livesup to its name. Itscall is very high-pitched - beyond
the hearing ofsome people.
White-throatedTreecreeper (17cm)Hunts insects by walk-ing up tree trunks frombottom to top; it thenflies down and starts
again on the next tree.It’s call is a piercing,repetitive whistle.
Great Cormorant(82cm)
The largest of ourfour local cormo-
rants - black with ayellow face. (The
Little Black Cormo-rant has an all-black
face.)
Purple Swamphen(46cm)
Bigger and morecolourful than the
Moorhen. Both havea part of the beak
that extends over theforehead – this iscalled its shield.
Green Catbird(40cm)
Named for it’s ex-traordinary call
which sounds likea cat miaowing –or even a baby
crying!
Dusky Moorhen(38cm)
One of our common-est water birds; in the
breeding season itsbeak is red, with a
yellow tip. The similarCoot has a white
beak.
Whipbird(28cm)
Often heard butrarely seen. The‘whipcrack’ is the
male’s call; a ‘cheepcheep’ afterwards isthe reply of an in-terested female.
Wonga Pigeon(38cm)
Most often seen walk-ing along paths in therainforest. Its call is acontinuous ‘whoop-
whoop-whoop’ - a bitlike a reversing truck!
Silver Gull(40cm)
Gull are pirates,often taking
food from otherbirds, so if one
steals your chipsit’s only behav-ing naturally!
Royal Spoonbill(78cm)
The Spoonbill movesits bill from side to
side in shallow waterto catch fish and oth-er prey. Our other,
rarer Spoonbill is theYellow-billed Spoon-
bill.
Black-wingedStilt (35cm)
Stilts live up totheir name by hav-ing the longest legs(relative to body
length) of any bird.Often seen around
Lake Illawarra.
Pacific Black Duck(54cm)
Also known as thePainted Duck
because of its facialmarkings – it
looks as though it’swearing makeup!
Chestnut Teal(43cm)
Only the male ischestnut. And hishead is green. Or
black – the colour isiridescent and de-pends on the light.
Superb Lyrebird(95cm)
A spectacular bird and oneof the world’s best mimics.As well as the calls of many
other birds, it is said tocopy the sounds of cars,phones, even chainsaws!
Wood Duck(46cm)
Just as likely tobe seen on land
as on water,sometimes
even perchingin trees.
Brown Cuckoo-Dove(40cm)
A long-tailed bronze-coloured pigeon often
seen sitting amongst thefoliage. Its loud ‘wh-oo-rk’call is a familiar sound of
the rainforest
Lewin’sHoneyeater (20cm)One of many Austra-
lian honeyeaters(nectar-feeders), thisone has a yellow ear-patch. Its call has beencompared to the sound
of a machine gun.
White-belliedSea Eagle (80cm)
Watch out for it majes-tically patrolling ourcoastline. With luck
you might see it plucka fish out of the ocean,hardly getting its feet
wet.
Crimson Rosella
King Parrot
· Numbers in red = Approx length of bird in cmfrom tip of bill to end of tail.
· To get a close view of the birds (and other wild-life), a good pair of binoculars makes a hugedifference. 8x40 is a popular size.
· For a full description of all Australian birds, seethe books (Field Guides) by Slater, Morcombe,Pizzey & Knight or Simpson & Day.
· For more information on where to see thesebirds, visit www.illawarrabirders.org
Red-browed Finch(12cm)
Also known as theRed-browed Firetail,this is the commonestlocal finch. Firetails
are so-called becauseof their bright red
rumps.
StarlingGoldfinch
Spotted Dove
House Sparrow
Rock Dove (Feral Pigeon)
Common (Indian) Myna
Birds on Front Page (from top): 1. Galah 2. Rainbow Lorikeet 3. Eastern Rosella 4. Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo 5. Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
Magpie Lark (28cm)A.K.A. the Peewee.
One of the few birdsthat sings a duet –
when you hear theirmetallic chiming callsit’s usually both the
male and femalesinging together.
Birds From Overseas
Kestrel (32cm)This falcon is the smallestof our 24 birds of prey.It’s one of the few birdsthat can hover, whilst
looking for prey on theground. (Another is themainly white Black-
shouldered Kite.)
WelcomeSwallow
(15cm)A master of flight,
especially lowlevel, high-speedaerobatics that it
uses to vacuum upflying insects.
Peregrine Falcon(42cm)
OK, this awesome birdisn’t common, but can
be seen in our area.When it swoops on its
prey from a greatheight, it is the fastest
creature on earth.
Laughing Kookaburra
Pied Currawong
Crested Pigeon(42cm)
Not to be confusedwith the Topknot Pi-geon (which appearsto be wearing a wig).Makes a distinctive
whistling sound whenit flies.
Satin Bowerbird(25cm)
The male builds his famousbower solely for the purposeof seduction – it’s not a nest.
He decorates it with trea-sures of blue in the hope ofimpressing the greenish-
brown female
Superb Fairy-wren(14cm)
Our familiar ‘BlueWren’. Females andyoung are brown.Most males losetheir bright blue
colouring in autumnand winter.
Eastern Spinebill(16cm)
A beautiful littlebird with a longbeak specially de-signed for probingdeep inside flowers
to extract theirnectar.
Noisy Miner(26cm)
Has a large reper-toire of different
calls as its name sug-gests. It is aggressivetowards other birds,
but at least it’s anative!
New HollandHoneyeater (18cm)
Not a shy bird, it likesto sit on top of bushesand advertise its pres-ence. Shares the samehabitat as the Little
Wattlebird, and soundslike a squeaky toy.
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike
(33cm)Not a cuckoo or ashrike, an older
(better!) name is theShufflewing – whichis what it does every
time it lands.
Grey Butcherbird(28cm)
So-called as it storesprey in a tree fork,
using its hooked beakto tear it up into bite-sized chunks. But it’sa handsome bird and
sings beautifully!
Willy Wagtail (21cm)A feisty little bird,ready to take on
others many times itssize. As well as its
rattling alarm call ithas one which some
say sounds like ‘sweetpretty creature’.
Australian Raven(50cm)
Often called a crow,the Raven is the
biggest member ofthe crow family inAustralia (and the
only one you’re likelyto find around here).
Little Wattlebird(28cm)
A Wattlebird with nowattles. Smaller andplainer than the Red.Common in gardens
and heathlandaround banksias,
grevilleas etc.
Koel (42cm)A member of thecuckoo family. It’sdistinctive, rising
‘cooo-ee, cooo-ee’call is a well-
known sound inthe area in the
warmer months.
Australian Magpie
Little Corella
Red Wattlebird(35cm)
So named becauseof the red ‘wattles’
or skin-flaps onits neck. Its callsounds like a
barking dog witha bad cough.
Produced by Martin Potter for
Illawarra Birders Inc.Production Assistant Penny Potter.
Whilst all due care has been taken to ensure the contents of this brochure are accurate, no legal responsibility is accepted for any errors or omissions. Copyright material. Photos by Martin Potter.
Crimson Rosella
King Parrot
· Numbers in red = Approx length of bird in cmfrom tip of bill to end of tail.
· To get a close view of the birds (and other wild-life), a good pair of binoculars makes a hugedifference. 8x40 is a popular size.
· For a full description of all Australian birds, seethe books (Field Guides) by Slater, Morcombe,Pizzey & Knight or Simpson & Day.
· For more information on where to see thesebirds, visit www.illawarrabirders.org
Red-browed Finch(12cm)
Also known as theRed-browed Firetail,this is the commonestlocal finch. Firetails
are so-called becauseof their bright red
rumps.
StarlingGoldfinch
Spotted Dove
House Sparrow
Rock Dove (Feral Pigeon)
Common (Indian) Myna
Birds on Front Page (from top):1. Galah2. Rainbow Lorikeet3. Eastern Rosella4. Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo5. Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
Magpie Lark (28cm)A.K.A. the Peewee.
One of the few birdsthat sings a duet –
when you hear theirmetallic chiming callsit’s usually both the
male and femalesinging together.
Birds From Overseas
Kestrel (32cm)This falcon is the smallestof our 24 birds of prey.It’s one of the few birdsthat can hover, whilst
looking for prey on theground. (Another is themainly white Black-
shouldered Kite.)
WelcomeSwallow
(15cm)A master of flight,
especially lowlevel, high-speedaerobatics that it
uses to vacuum upflying insects.
Peregrine Falcon(42cm)
OK, this awesome birdisn’t common, but can
be seen in our area.When it swoops on its
prey from a greatheight, it is the fastest
creature on earth.
Laughing Kookaburra
Pied Currawong
Crested Pigeon(42cm)
Not to be confusedwith the Topknot Pi-geon (which appearsto be wearing a wig).Makes a distinctive
whistling sound whenit flies.
Satin Bowerbird(25cm)
The male builds his famousbower solely for the purposeof seduction – it’s not a nest.
He decorates it with trea-sures of blue in the hope ofimpressing the greenish-
brown female
Superb Fairy-wren(14cm)
Our familiar ‘BlueWren’. Females andyoung are brown.Most males losetheir bright blue
colouring in autumnand winter.
Eastern Spinebill(16cm)
A beautiful littlebird with a longbeak specially de-signed for probingdeep inside flowers
to extract theirnectar.
Noisy Miner(26cm)
Has a large reper-toire of different
calls as its name sug-gests. It is aggressivetowards other birds,
but at least it’s anative!
New HollandHoneyeater (18cm)
Not a shy bird, it likesto sit on top of bushesand advertise its pres-ence. Shares the samehabitat as the Little
Wattlebird, and soundslike a squeaky toy.
Black-facedCuckoo-shrike
(33cm)Not a cuckoo or ashrike, an older
(better!) name is theShufflewing – whichis what it does every
time it lands.
Grey Butcherbird(28cm)
So-called as it storesprey in a tree fork,
using its hooked beakto tear it up into bite-sized chunks. But it’sa handsome bird and
sings beautifully!
Willy Wagtail (21cm)A feisty little bird,ready to take on
others many times itssize. As well as its
rattling alarm call ithas one which some
say sounds like ‘sweetpretty creature’.
Australian Raven(50cm)
Often called a crow,the Raven is the
biggest member ofthe crow family inAustralia (and the
only one you’re likelyto find around here).
Little Wattlebird(28cm)
A Wattlebird with nowattles. Smaller andplainer than the Red.Common in gardens
and heathlandaround banksias,
grevilleas etc.
Koel (42cm)A member of thecuckoo family. It’sdistinctive, rising
‘cooo-ee, cooo-ee’call is a well-
known sound inthe area in the
warmer months.
Australian Magpie
Little Corella
Red Wattlebird(35cm)
So named becauseof the red ‘wattles’
or skin-flaps onits neck. Its callsounds like a
barking dog witha bad cough.
Produced by Martin Potter for
Illawarra Birders Inc.Production Assistant Penny Potter.
Whilst all due care has been taken to ensure the contents of this brochure are accurate, no legal responsibility is accepted for any errors or omissions. Copyright material. Photos by Martin Potter.