Kookaburra

Scientific name: Dacelo novaeguineae
Family: Halcyonidae
Order: Coraciiformes
What does it look like?
Description

The Laughing Kookaburra is instantly recognisable in both plumage and voice. It is generally off-white below, faintly barred with dark brown, and brown on the back and wings. The tail is more rufous, broadly barred with black. There is a conspicuous dark brown eye-stripe through the face. It is one of the larger members of the kingfisher family.

Red-Collered Lorikeet

Frequently taken for Rainbow Lorikeets, Red-collared Lorikeets are actually a distinct species who are incredibly brightly colored and lovely in their own right.

Black Kite

Scientific name: Milvus migrans
Family: Accipitridae
Order: Falconiformes
What does it look like?
Description

The Black Kite is a medium-sized raptor (bird of prey). From a distance, it appears almost black, with a light brown bar on the shoulder. The plumage is actually dark brown, with scattered light brown and rufous markings, particularly on the head, neck and underparts. The tail is forked and barred with darker brown. This feature gives the bird its alternative name of Fork-tailed Kite. The eye is dark brown and the bill is black with a yellow cere (area of skin around the nostrils). Both sexes are similar. Young Black Kites are generally lighter in colour than the adults, and have a comparatively shallower forked tail.

Mistletoebird

Scientific name: Dicaeum hirundinaceum
Family: Dicaeidae
Order: Passeriformes
What does it look like?
Description

The small Mistletoebird is the only Australian representative of the flowerpecker family, Dicaeidae, and is also known as the Australian Flowerpecker. Males have a glossy blue-black head, wings and upperparts, a bright red throat and chest, a white belly with a central dark streak and a bright red undertail. Females are grey above, white below, with a grey streak on the belly, and a paler red undertail. Young birds resemble females but are paler and have an orange, rather than dark, bill. These birds are swift and erratic fliers, moving singly or in pairs, usually high in or above the canopy.

Grey-crowned Babbler

Scientific name: Pomatostomus temporalis
Family: Pomatostomidae
Order: Passeriformes
Featured Bird Groups
Small insect-eating birds
What does it look like?
Description

The Grey-crowned Babbler is the largest of Australia's four babbler species. It is dark brown-grey above, with a distinctive grey crown stripe and a dark face mask that contrasts with a white eyebrow. The chin and throat are white, running into a pale grey lower breast. It has a long, curved bill, short rounded wings with cinnamon brown wing patches and a long tail tipped white. The eye is pale yellow in adults. There is a darker-coloured subspecies, rubeculus, in north-western Australia (often called the Red-breasted Babbler), that has a rufous lower breast and darker crown stripe. The Grey-crowned Babbler is a noisy and gregarious bird, usually found in small groups of four to twelve, and is often seen on the ground or in low trees. It is sometimes called the Yahoo, after one of its calls.

Little Friarbird

Scientific name: Philemon citreogularis
Family: Meliphagidae
Order: Passeriformes
Featured Bird Groups
Honeyeaters
What does it look like?
Description

The Little Friarbird is the smallest of the friarbirds, with a medium, curved bill with no casque (a bump, characteristic of other friarbirds) and a squared off tail when spread. It is brown-grey above, paler grey on neck and collar, with a distinctive bare blue-grey face patch, and pale greyish white below with fine white streaking on the breast. Females are slightly smaller, but otherwise similar. Young birds are browner above, with more yellowish colourings on chin and throat. It is a conspicuous and noisy bird, often chasing other honeyeaters, and is mostly seen higher up in trees.

Double-barred Finch

Scientific name: Taeniopygia bichenovii
Family: Passeridae
Order: Passeriformes
Featured Bird Groups
Small insect-eating birds
What does it look like?
Description

The Double-barred Finch is one of the long-tailed grass-finches and is notable for its 'owl-faced' features, having a white face bordered black. It is grey-brown, with white underparts banded black above and below the chest, giving the species its name. The wings are black, spotted white, the tail is black and the bill and legs are blueish-grey. Juveniles are dulller, with indistinct chest bars. These grass-finches usually feed in flocks and have a bouncing, undulating flight pattern.

Blue-winged Kookaburra

Scientific name: Dacelo leachii
Family: Halcyonidae
Order: Coraciiformes
What does it look like?
Description

The Blue-winged Kookaburra is a large kingfisher with a big square head and a long bill. It has a distinctive pale eye. The head is off-white with brown streaks, the shoulders are sky blue and it has a uniform blue rump.The throat is plain white and the underparts are white with faint scalloped orange-brown bars.The back is mid brown. Males have a dark blue tail while females' tails are barred red-brown or blackish. Otherwise the sexes are similar. The legs and feet are grey and the bill is dark above and yellowish below. Juveniles have paler streaks on the head with darker mottlings. There is slight geographical variation with plumage more buff in north-western Australia (race clifoni). The Blue-winged Kookaburra is also known as the Barking or Howling Jackass or Leach's Kookaburra. As they are shy and often quiet in the foliage they may be overlooked.

Masked-Lapwing

Scientific name: Vanellus miles
Family: Charadriidae
Order: Charadriiformes
What does it look like?
Description

Masked Lapwings are large, ground-dwelling birds that are closely related to the waders. The Masked Lapwing is mainly white below, with brown wings and back and a black crown. Birds have large yellow wattles covering the face, and are equipped with a thorny spur that projects from the wrist on each wing. The spur is yellow with a black tip. The Masked Lapwing has two subspecies resident in Australia. The southern subspecies has black on the hind neck and sides of breast, and has smaller facial wattles. Northern birds are smaller, without the partial black collar, but have a much larger wattle, which covers most of the side of the face. The sexes are similar in both subspecies, although the male tends to have a larger spur. Young Masked Lapwings are similar to the adult birds, but may have a darker back. The wing spur and facial wattles are either absent or smaller in size. The southern subspecies is also known as the Spur-winged Plover.

White-Throated Honeyeater

The White-throated Honeyeater, Melithreptus albogularis is native to New Guinea, and eastern and northern Australia. It is 11.5 - 14.5cm long, olive green above and white below, with a black head, a white patch over the eye and a white stripe at the back of the neck.

Seagulls

Taken at Rockingham

Scientific name: Larus novaehollandia

Description

The Silver Gull has a white head, tail and underparts, with a light grey back and black-tipped wings. In adult birds the bill, legs and eye-ring are bright orange-red.
Similar species

The Silver Gull's colouration and its relatively small size easily distinguish it from the other two resident gulls in Australia. These are the Pacific Gull, L. pacificus (63 cm), and the Kelp Gull, L. dominicanus (58 cm). Some smaller vagrant species are found in Australia from time to time, but have distinctly different plumages to the Silver Gull.

Rainbow Lorikeet

Taken Swan River

Scientific name: Trichoglossus haematodus

Family: Psittacidae

Description

The Rainbow Lorikeet is unmistakable with its bright red beak and colourful plumage. Both sexes look alike, with a blue (mauve) head and belly, green wings, tail and back, and an orange/yellow breast. They are often seen in loud and fast-moving flocks, or in communal roosts at dusk.
Similar species

Rainbow Lorikeets are such colourful parrots that it is hard to mistake them for other species. The related Scaly-breasted Lorikeet is similar in size and shape, but can be distinguished by its all-green head and

Ibis

Taken Alcoa Lakes.

Scientific name: Threskiornis molucca
Family: Threskiornithidae

Description

The Australian White Ibis is identified by its almost entirely white body plumage and black head and neck. The head is featherless and its black bill is long and down-curved. During the breeding season the small patch of skin on the under-surface of the wing changes from dull pink to dark scarlet. Adult birds have a tuft of cream plumes on the base of the neck. Females differ from males by being slightly smaller, with shorter bills. Young birds are similar to adults, but have the neck covered with black feathers. In flight, flocks of Australian White Ibis form distinctive V-shaped flight patterns. Another common name for this bird is Sacred Ibis, but this more appropriately refers to a closely related African species.

Little Black Cormorant

Scientific name: Phalacrocorax sulcirostris
Family: Phalacrocoracidae

Description

The Little Black Cormorant is a small, slim, totally black cormorant with a greenish sheen to the back and a slender grey hooked bill. In the breeding season, adults have fine white flecks on the head and neck and the green tinge becomes more bronze. This species congregates in larger flocks than other cormorants and flies in V-shaped formations.

Pied Oystercatcher

Scientific name: Haematopus longirostris

Description

The Pied Oystercatcher is black with a white breast and belly. All oystercatchers have a bright orange-red bill, eye-rings and legs and a red eye. Young birds are similar in appearance to the adults, but lack the intense red-orange colours and are brown rather than black. The Pied Oystercatcher is shy of humans and seldom allows close approach.

Galah

Scientific name: Cacatua roseicapilla

Description

The Galah can be easily identified by its rose-pink head, neck and underparts, with paler pink crown, and grey back, wings and undertail. Birds from the west of Australia have comparatively paler plumage. Galahs have a bouncing acrobatic flight, but spend much of the day sheltering from heat in the foliage of trees and shrubs. Huge noisy flocks of birds congregate and roost together at night.

Twenty Eight

Scientific name: Barnardius zonarius
Family: Psittacidae

Description

The Australian Ringneck is a large parrot, differing in size and plumage in different regions. There are four subspecies, in two main groups. All are mostly green, with an obvious yellow band on the hind-neck. Members of the Mallee group have a mainly green head and neck. The Mallee Ringneck, subspecies barnardi, has a more varied green and blue body, with more yellow underneath and a red frontal band. The Cloncurry subspecies macgillivrayi has much more yellow and pale turquoise around the face. The Port Lincoln group all have dark hoods and are mainly green. The Twenty Eight Parrot, subspecies semitorquatus, has a red frontal band and is all green underneath. The Port Lincoln Parrot, subspecies zonarius, is green and yellow underneath. All subspecies hybridise widely. They are quiet when feeding, but when disturbed fly off with loud alarm calls. Their flight is swift and undulating. This species is also known as the Mallee, Port Lincoln, Banded or Cloncurry Ringneck, Twenty Eight Parrot or Buln Buln.

Magpie Lark

Scientific name: Grallina cyanoleuca

Family: Dicruridae

Description

The Magpie-lark is distinctively marked in black and white. The thin whitish bill and pale iris separate it from other similarly coloured species. The adult male Magpie-lark has a white eyebrow and black face, while the female has an all-white face with no white eyebrow. Young birds have a black forehead, a white eyebrow and a white throat. The Magpie-lark is often referred to as a Peewee or Pee Wee, after the sound of its distinctive calls.

Tawny Frogmouth

Scientific name: Podargus strigoides
Family: Podargidas

Description

The general plumage of the Tawny Frogmouth is silver-grey, slightly paler below, streaked and mottled with black and rufous. A second plumage phase also occurs, with birds being russet-red. The eye is yellow in both forms, and the wide, heavy bill is olive-grey to blackish. South-eastern birds are larger than birds from the north. Tawny Frogmouths are nocturnal birds (night birds). During the day, they perch on tree branches, often low down, camouflaged as part of the tree.

Pelicans

Description

There are seven species of pelicans in the world, all of which are similar in shape and, with one exception, are primarily white in colour. Males are larger than females. The most characteristic feature of pelicans is the elongated bill with its massive throat pouch. The Australian Pelican's bill is 40 cm - 50 cm long and is larger in males than females. Pelicans have large wings and a wingspan of 2.3 m - 2.5 m.

Coots/Dusky Moor Hen

Taken at Rockingham  

Description 

Fulica atra, The Eurasian Coot is recognised by its snowy white bill and forehead shield. The remainder of the bird is dark sooty grey, except for its bright red eye. Immature birds are generally paler than adults with a white wash on the throat. Nestlings are downy, black with fine yellow tips. The head is orange-red and the bill is red with a cream-white tip.

Scientific name: Gallinula tenebrosa
Family: Rallidae

Description

The Dusky Moorhen is a medium-sized, dark grey-black water bird with a white undertail. It has a red bill with a yellow tip and a red facial shield. Young birds are much duller and browner than adults, with a greenish bill and face shield.
Similar species

Two other water hen species are similar to the Dusky Moorhen but can be easily distinguished. The similarly-sized Eurasian Coot, Fulica atra, has a white bill and face shield and a red eye. The Purple Swamp Hen, Porphyrio porphyrio, is much larger and has a distinct purple-blue colouring.

Description 

Heron

Taken at Bibra Lake.

Scientific name: Egretta novaehollandiae

Description

The White-faced Heron is mostly light blue-grey in colour, with a characteristic white face. In flight, the dark flight feathers of the wing contrast with the paler grey plumage, making this bird easily identifiable when viewed from below. It has a long, slim neck and a pointed grey-black bill. The legs are long and dull yellow in colour. Sexes are similar. When breeding, the birds have long feathers (nuptial plumes) on the head, neck and back. The White-faced Heron has a slow bouncing flight. Young White-faced Herons are similar in appearance to the non-breeding adults (no nuptial plumes), but are duller, with little or no white on the face. They often have a reddish colour on the unde

Black Shouldererd Kite

Scientific name: Elanus axillaris
Family: Accipitridae
Order: Falconiformes
What does it look like?
Description

Black-shouldered Kites are medium to small raptors (birds of prey), and are mostly pale grey above, with a pure white head, body and tail and black shoulders. The wings are white underneath, with black wing tips and the wing span is 80 cm to 100 cm. Females are larger than males. The red eye is marked by a black comma that extends behind it. The nostrils are yellow and the legs and feet are also yellow. The Black-shouldered Kite has a direct flight with quick shallow wing beats interspersed with glides on upswept wings (like a seagull), and is often seen hovering, with feet dangling.

Butcher Bird

Scientific name: Cracticus torquatus
Family: Artamidae
Order: Passeriformes
Featured Bird Groups
  
Description

The adult Grey Butcherbird has a black crown and face and a grey back, with a thin white collar. The wings are grey, with large areas of white and the underparts are white. The grey and black bill is large, with a small hook at the tip of the upper bill. The eye is dark brown and the legs and feet are dark grey. Both sexes are similar in plumage, but the females are slightly smaller than the males. Young Grey Butcherbirds resemble adults, but have black areas replaced with olive-brown and a buff wash on the white areas. The bill is completely dark grey and often lacks an obvious hook. They are sometimes mistaken for small kingfishers.

Butcher bird Taken Swamp Park Spearwood.

Hawk

Hawk Taken at Alcoa Lakes

Scientific name: Circus approximans
Family: Accipitridae
Order: Falconiformes

Description

The Swamp Harrier is a large slim-bodied raptor (bird of prey), with long slender legs and a long tail, rounded at the tip. It is mainly dark brown above and the white rump is prominent. It has an owl-like face mask. The wings are long and broad, with 5 'fingers' on the wing tips in flight. Females are larger with rufous underparts, while the smaller male is lighter underneath. The legs and eyes are yellow. This species has a slow sailing flight on up-swept wings, flying low over water. It is also known as the Marsh Harrier.

Holland Honeyeaters

Scientific name: Phylidonyris novaehollandiae

Description

The New Holland Honeyeater is mostly black and white, with a large yellow wing patch and yellow sides on the tail. It has a small white ear patch, a thin white whisker at the base of the bill and a white eye. This honeyeater is an active bird, and rarely sits still long enough to give an extended view. Sexes are similar in looks, but females are slightly smaller in size. Young birds are browner and have a grey eye.

Fairy Wrens

Adult male Superb Fairy-wrens are among the most brightly coloured of the species, especially during the breeding season. They have rich blue and black plumage above and on the throat. The belly is grey-white and the bill is black. Females and young birds are mostly brown above with a dull red-orange area around the eye and a brown bill. Females have a pale greenish gloss, absent in young birds, on the otherwise brown tail. The legs are brown in both sexes. Males from further inland and in the south-west of the range have more blue on the back and underparts. The Superb Fairy-wren gives a series of high pitched trills, which are given by both sexes. The male often extends these trills into song.

Darter or snake neck

Scientific name: Anhinga melanogaster
Family: Anhingidae
Order: Pelecaniformes
Featured Bird Groups
Water birds
What does it look like?
Description

The Darter is a large, slim water bird with a long snake-like neck, sharp pointed bill, and long, rounded tail. Male birds are dark brownish black with glossy black upperwings, streaked and spotted white, silver-grey and brown. The strongly kinked neck has a white or pale brown stripe from the bill to where the neck kinks and the breast is chestnut brown. Females and immatures are grey-brown above, pale grey to white below, with a white neck stripe that is less distinct in young birds. The Darter is often seen swimming with only the snake-like neck visible above the water, or drying its wings while perched on a tree or stump over water. While its gait is clumsy on land, it can soar gracefully to great heights on thermals, gliding from updraft to updraft. It has a cross-shaped silhouette when flying. The Australian species should now be known as the Australasian Darter, Anhinga novaehollandiae (see Distri

Osprey Feeding

Scientific name: Pandion haliaetus
Family: Accipitridae
Order: Falconiformes
What does it look like?
Description

The Osprey is a medium-sized fish-eating raptor (bird of prey). It has dark brown upperparts contrasting with pale underparts. There is a black band through the eye, separating the white throat from the pale crown. The Osprey has a rather small head and neck and typically swivels its head around or sways its head from side to side. When it is perched, there is a short bristly crest. The eyes are placed well forward on the head. The fingered wings in flight are narrow and angled distinctively. There are dark carpal patches on the underwing (at the bend in the wing). The beak is strongly hooked and the legs are powerful. The female is similar to the male but is larger and has a fuller, darker breast band. The Osprey is also called the Fish Hawk or White-headed Osprey.

Birds from Mandurah to Perth

All My shots are taken from Mandurah to Perth.

Blackwinged Stilt,

Taken in Mandurah and normally found around lakes and mud flats.