White-throated Treecreeper

Scientific Name: Cormobates leucophaea

Population Estimate: Unknown, but Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Endemic to Australia, where found in forested areas in the eastern part of the country.

Field Notes: Medium-sized grey treecreeper with white throat. Dark flanks with white spots. No eye brown stripe.

Personal Notes: Photographed at Honeyeater Park in Chiltern, Australia.

Brown Treecreeper

Scientific Name: Climacteris picumnus

Population Estimate: Unknown, but Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Endemic to Australia where found in forested areas throughout the eastern part of the country.

Field Notes: Medium-sized passerine, typical tree creeping behavior. Overall brown with grey cap and white eye brown. Breast is heavily streaked, under tail coverts with horizontal bars.

Personal Notes: Not a shy bird, photographed at Honeyeater Park in Chiltern, Australia.

Pied Butcherbird

Scientific Name: Cracticus nigrogularis

Population Estimate: Unknown, but Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Endemic to Australia where found in forest, scrubland and savannah throughout most of the country, excluding Tasmania.

Field Notes: Medium-sized black and white passerine with upright posture. White collar extends completely around the back of the neck. Bill blue with black tip. Grey Butcherbird has grey wings, not black and collar does not extend entirely around neck. Australian Magpie much more gregarious and common, with forward posture, and large white patch on back on neck, not collar.

Personal Notes: Richard had a few sightings of this bird, but we found it harder to photograph.

Whistling Kite

Scientific Name: Haliastur sphenurus

Population Estimate: Unknown, but Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Found in open or lightly wooded areas, often near water, throughout most of Australia, Papua New Guinea, and parts of Indonesia.

Field Notes: Medium-sized raptor, generally brown. Light tail prominent. Distinctive underwing pattern with white streaming back from the wrists noted in above bird after alighting.

Personal Notes: Spotted among a group of cormorants in Chiltern, Australia.

Eastern Yellow Robin

Scientific Name: Eopsaltria australis

Population Estimate: Unknown, but Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Endemic to Australia where found in forested areas in the eastern part of the country.

Field Notes: Inquisitive, small passerine with round, grey head, grey body and yellow breast.

Personal Notes: Always a welcome site in the national parks in southeastern Australia.

Southern Emu-wren

Scientific Name: Stipiturus malachurus

Population Estimate: Unknown, but Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Endemic to Australia where found in scrubland in the south of the country, including Tasmania.

Field Notes: Small wren, generally brown with more rufous cap and blue throat. Distinctive, long and fan-like tail, nearly always cocked upright.

Personal Notes: Amazing photograph by Richard as we spent the better part of our hike in Ben Boyd National Park trying to capture these guys.

Grey Shrikethrush

Scientific Name: Colluricincla harmonica

Population Estimate: Unknown, but Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Forest and savannah throughout Australia and Papua New Guinea.

Field Notes: Medium-sized thrush with grey head and tail, brown back, and white underparts. White between eyes and bill. Typical thrush-like behavior. Strikingly melodic voice.

Personal Notes: A surprisingly difficult identification for us, especially given how common this bird easy, but we finally figured it out 10 days into our two week tour of southeastern Australia.

White-bellied Sea Eagle

Scientific Name: Haliaeetus leucogaster

Population Estimate: 670 to 6700 individuals

Range / Habitat: Costal areas from India and Sri Lanka through southeast Asia to Australia

Field Notes: Large bird of prey with white head, breast, and tail. Wings grey. Distinctive profile from underneath with black trailing edge contrasting with the white, as above. Unmistakable in range.

Personal Notes: Seen both perching and soaring during a glorious hike in Ben Boyd National Park, Australia.

Wedge-tailed Eagle

Scientific Name: Aquila audax

Population Estimate: Unknown, but Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Grassland, scrubland, savannah throughout Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea.

Field Notes: Large, dark raptor with characteristic wedge-shaped tail, prominent in flight. Golden mantle on back.

Personal Notes: Seen at Ben Boyd National Park in Australia.

Yellow-tufted Honeyeater

Scientific Name: Lichenostomus melanops

Population Estimate: Unknown, but Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Medium-sized yellow-olive passerine, darker upper parts and lighter underneath, with typical honeyeater bill. Black mask, yellow throat with narrow dusky chin, small yellow ear tuft. Unmistakable in range.

Field Notes: Endemic to Australia where found in sclerophyll forest and woodland in southeastern part of the country.

Personal Notes: A very dramatic bird, which you can partially see here. Photographed at Bartley's paddock in Chiltern, Australia.

Tawny-crowned Honeyeater

Scientific Name: Gliciphila melanops

Population Estimate: Unknown, but Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Endemic to Australia, where founding scrubland in the southern part of the country.

Field Notes: Medium-sized, overall brown passerine with typical honeyeater bill. White breast with rufous flanks. Tawny crown, white eye brow strip, black mask that extends down shoulder.

Personal Notes: Photographed at Ben Boyd National Park, Australia.

White-plumed Honeyeater

Scientific Name: Lichenostomus penicillatus

Population Estimate: Unknown, but Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Endemic to Australia where found in woodland, usually near water, in southeastern central, and midwestern areas of the country.

Field Notes: Medium-sized olive-grey passerine with short but decurved honeyeater bill. Yellow head, wings, and tail. White cheek plume. Yellow-plumed Honeyeater, Grey-frounted Honeyeater, and Fuscous Honeyeater all similar but with yellow plumes, not white.

Personal Notes: Common winter bird in Chiltern, Australia.

Diamond Firetail

Scientific Name: Stagonopleura guttata

Population Estimate: 200K

Range / Habitat: Endemic to Australia where found in open woodland and wooded grassland in southeastern part of the country.

Field Notes: Small grey-brown passerine, usually found on the ground. Red bill, rump, and eye. Black mask and black flanks, spotted white. Unmistakable in range.

Personal Notes: Quite a photo by Richard taken while hanging out of the car window in Chiltern, Australia.

Azure Kingfisher

Scientific Names: Ceyx azureus

Population Estimate: Unknown, but Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Inland wetlands and forested areas near water in eastern and northern Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea.

Field Notes: Small kingfisher with stubby tail and long bill. Bright blue head and back, orange breast. Unmistakable in range.

Personal Notes: Wee kingfisher seen in Chiltern, Australia.

Restless Flycatcher

Scientific Name: Myiagra inquieta

Population Estimate: Unknown, but Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Dry forest and savannah throughout eastern, northern, and southwestern Australia. Also found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

Field Notes: Shiny black flycatcher with white breast extending to neck. Active, often hovering. Willie Wagtail and Satin Flycatcher similar but with black throat.

Personal Notes: A bonus find on a rainy day in Chiltern, Australia. This photo was taken through the front windshield between the wiper blades! This taxon is considered a subspecies by some authors.

Satin Bowerbird

Scientific Name: Ptilonorhynchus violaceus

Population Estimate: Unknown, but Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Endemic to Australia where found in forested areas in the southeastern corner of the country.

Field Notes: Medium-sized to large passerine, stocky with stout bill. Male glossy black with violet-blue eye and greenish-yellow bill. Female overall green with extensively scalloped breast, rufous wings, and violet-blue eye. Juveniles similar to females and take up to seven years to attain adult plumage.

Personal Notes: It took us quite a while, with many sightings, to figure out what this bird was. Though bowerbirds are typically associated with their ground-based bowers, these birds were quite prominent in the canopy. We even were witness to a group of birds mauling a fruit-laden tree on the Drummer Rainforest Walk, with the remnants of the feast falling all around us....

Red-capped Plover

Scientific Name: Charadrius ruficapillus

Population Estimate: Unknown, but Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Marine intertidal areas throughout Australia, including Tasmania, parts of Indonesia, Papua New Guinea.

Field Notes: Small plover with rufous cap, extending down back of neck, and around to an incomplete breast band. White forehead. Juvenile and non-breeding forms with rufous cap grey-brown instead. Kentish Plover similar but non-overlapping.

Personal Notes: A lucky find at Mallacoota Beach, when we were really just looking for the path to the nearby Croajingolong National Park in Victoria, Australia.

Peaceful Dove

Scientific Name: Geopelia placida

Population Estimate: Unknown, but Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Scrubland in eastern and northern Australia, parts of Indonesia, Papua New Guinea.

Field Notes: Small grey-brown dove with barring on wings and neck and blue eye ring. Diamond Dove is similarly sized but with spots, not barring, and red eye ring.

Personal Notes: Part of productive birding morning in Chiltern, Victoria, Australia.

Wonga Pigeon

Scientific Name: Leucosarcia melanoleuca

Population Estimate: Unknown, but Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Endemic to Australia, where found in woodlands and scrubland in the southeastern corner of the country.

Field Notes: Large, ground-dwelling pigeon with slaty-grey upper parts and white under parts. White forehead, white 'V' on breast, and black spots on flank

Personal Notes: One of the birds spotted at the lovely Double Creek Nature Trail in northeastern Victoria, Australia.

Glossy Black Cockatoo

Scientific Name: Calyptorhynchus lathami

Population Estimate: 17K

Range / Habitat: Endemic to Australia, where found in dry forest in the southeastern corner of the country.

Field Notes: Large, black cockatoo with red tail panels. Female with yellow splotches on face. Other black cockatoos in Australia differ in either tail panel or head markings.

Personal Notes: A spectacular sighting by Richard while on the Princes Highway at the border of New South Wales and Victoria.