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.