Birdwatching
Regulars at Green Patch | Sea birds | Heath birds | Forest birds | Night birds | Birds of special significance
Booderee is rich in bird life with over 200 species recorded here. This is due to the vast range of habitats found in the area - coastal cliffs and heaths, sandy beaches and rock platforms, mangroves and ocean, swamps, lakes and forests. Many of the birds are residents, while others are travellers passing through and some are of special significance to the traditional owners of the park.
The best time to see birds is early in the morning. A bird field guide will help you, as will a pair of binoculars. Most importantly, being quiet and patient in the bush brings thrilling rewards. You may well hear a bird before you see it.
Booderee Botanic Gardens are an excellent place to observe birds close at hand. Many species including the Satin Bowerbird and Eastern Whip bird can be seen by the quiet observer. On Lake McKenzie freshwater birds often gather in large numbers. A comprehensive bird list is available at the Visitor Centre.
Please do not feed the birds in Booderee. Wild birds find their own natural foods like insects, plants, small mammals and fish. Eating other things can make them sick and dependent on people for food. During winter, when there are fewer visitors, birds can starve.
Identifying birds
Look for the following features to help you identify the birds:
- size- how does it measure up against a bird you know? (as big as a Pelican or small as a Wren)
- body shape and posture -this is a give-away feature in many species -is it plump, slender, round, upright?
- markings and colour -on head, chest, wing, rump, tail -are they stripes, speckles, or solid colour?
- wings -are they pointed, slender, broad, rounded, notched or short?
- bill- is it dagger-shaped, slender, curved, straight, or small and fine?
- tail -is it wedge-shaped, rounded, square, forked or pointed?
- behaviour- does it wag or fan its tail? Does it climb trees? Does it hop or run on the ground?
- how does it fly -straight and fast or undulating? Does it beat its wings slowly or rapidly?
- habitat -is it found in heath, treetops, tree trunk, ground, leaf litter or tide pools?
- song -is the call musical, raucous, a whistle or chirps?
A bird identification book will further help you in your birdwatching activities. Following is a brief list of some of the birds you can see while visiting the park.
Regulars at Green Patch
Crimson Rosella
The striking red and blue adults often mix with the dull green and red coloured youngsters.
Rainbow Lorikeet
These raucous, multicoloured, small parrots hurtle past like rockets.
Australian King Parrot
A large, majestic parrot, the female is mainly green and the male a brilliant scarlet with a cloak of green.
Australian Raven
Often called a crow, it is large, black and wary with a slow mournful call.
Pied Currawong
Differing from the raven it has white patches on wings and tail and a big yellow eye.
Laughing Kookaburra
Chunky, brown, white and blue birds. they have massive dagger-like bills.
Australian Wood Duck
An elegant, grey duck with brown speckles and a short bill, it feeds on grasses near the water's edge.
Birds of the Sea
Australasian Gannet
Gliding on long, pointed wings, it plummets into the sea to catch fish.
Little Pied Cormorant
Regularly seen fishing. it stands on rocks or branches with wings stretched out to dry.
Short-tailed Shearwater
Many of these large, brown seabirds are wrecked on coasts after storms and wash up on beaches.
Silver Gull
With a white body with silver-grey wings and red legs and beak, it's a common scavenger around human activity.
Black-browed Albatross
White-bodied, black-headed with a two-metre wing span, it can be seen from cliff tops gliding over the ocean in winter.
Crested Tern
Differing from gulls, they have long, pointed, yellow beaks and black or grey caps.
Birds Found in Heath
Eastern Spinebill
Has a long, very finely curved bill, It flies fast and hovers over flowers eating nectar.
New Holland Honeyeater
A small, black and white streaked bird with a yellow wing patch. It is common all year.
Red Wattlebird
The harsh 'yakayak' call helps locate this large bird with fleshy, red neck wattles and a long tail. There is also the Little Wattlebird which lacks the wattles.
Noisy Friarbird
Is bare-headed, knob-billed and noisy and makes many loud and harsh calls which sound like 'four o'clock' and 'p'chok'.
Brown-headed Honeyeater
Flocks of these green-backed and brown-headed birds move like acrobats through the heath, searching for nectar and insects.
Yellow-faced Honeyeater
Is slender, olive-grey with a yellow stripe under the eye. It travels to the coast from the mountains over winter.
Common Bronzewing
A large, plump brown pigeon whose wings have a metallic sheen. Very wary - the clatter of departing wing beats is often all you hear.
Birds Found in Forest
Gang-gang Cockatoo
Listen for their 'rusty hinge', 'creaky door' sounding call. These small, dark, grey parrots are usually seen in pairs - the male has a bright red head.
Satin Bowerbird
The male is shiny blue-black while the female is green and brown. Often seen foraging on the ground and in trees.
White-throated Treecreeper
Look for a small, brown and white bird that spirals up tree trunks snatching insects in the bark.
Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoo
A big black bird with a slow wing beat. Flying overhead note the long tail, blunt head and wailing call.
Eastern Whipbird
Their loud whip crack call helps you locate this secretive bird. It is small, blackish-green with a crest and a long tail.
Night Birds
Tawny Frogmouth
A
large, heavily streaked bird, which sits statue-like in trees resembling a branch.
Powerful Owl
At 600mm tall, this owl is the largest. During the day will perch silently in large trees.
Boobook Owl
More familiar is the night-time sound of 'mo-poke' made by this smaller owl.
Birds of Special Significance
Eastern Bristlebird
An endangered bird found in dense coastal heath. Small, grey-brown and long tailed, this bird is often seen in the Cape St George Lighthouse area and running across roads in the park.
Glossy Black-cockatoo
The clearing of their food trees (casuarinas or she-oaks) in Australia is causing this cockatoo's decline. It has distinctive red panels on the tail.
White-bellied Sea Eagle
A large white and grey eagle commonly seen soaring over the beach and sea. It is the guardian of the Aboriginal people of Wreck Bay.
Little Penguin
A large colony of several thousand breeds on Bowen Island. They burrow in lomandra tussocks and eat surface fish like pilchards.