Birdwatching in Australia
The continent of Australia has more than 800 species of birds and over 300 endemics making it an experience few birdwatchers can resist.
Tropical rainforests and savannahs in the north, dry and hot deserts in the central parts, surrounded by semi-arid scrubland, temperate woodlands along the southern, western and eastern coasts, mixed with mountain ranges, rivers and wetlands makes excellent birding anywhere in this fascinating country. Add to this the island of Tasmania, and numerous other islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans it is no wonder that Australia is on top of any birder's list of places to visit.
With a good infrastructure and transportation system it is easy to travel to most places in this big English speaking country
and many local Birdingpals are willing to help you make your visit a birding experience you will not forget easily.
Check our personalized year round birdwatching tours in Australia for small groups
Local Birdingpal Contacts
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Local Birdwatchers Please note that most Birdingpals are serious birdwatchers. It is a privilege to contact them, and your message should reflect it. A local Pal does not get paid, but should he/she offer to take you out birding, using their own vehicle, it would be courteous to pay for the fuel. A lunch and/or a small gift would also be appropriate, something as simple as a souvenir of your country, or a pin from your local birding club.
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Initial |
Last Name |
Area |
Available |
Language |
A and H
| Wright
| Canberra, ACT
| Anytime
| English
|
|
| We love taking visitors around this area. Although we don't get many birders coming this way, it is always good to meet "kindred spirits" and help them find the birds and show them some of the sights of our national capital.
|
B
| Wheeler
| Barham, NSW
| Anytime
| English
|
|
| Wife & myself both keen birders but not super knowledgable. We live SW NSW/NW Vic, Murray River town with Redgum forest & open farmland.
|
M
| Berry
| Broulee/Batemans Bay, NSW
| Anytime
| English
|
|
| We have 100 acres of bushland adjoining the 150 acre Illawong Nature Reserve [which
was dedicated as a sanctuary for waterfowl in the 1960's] and we operate a small short breaks accommodation business called "The
Bower at Broulee". We offer good opportunities for our visitor's to see a wide range of birdlife, including a Sea Eagles nest within the reserve.
|
J
| Hosking
| Dubbo, NSW
| Anytime
| English
|
|
| I started birdwatching about 20 years ago, mainly because my son, Tim, became interested and because he was only 11, I had to go along. But we both became hooked. Dubbo has a population of about 40,000, in a wheat/sheep area. Dubbo does have a great zoo where threatened species are bred. They have been breeding the Mallee Fowl and releasing them with moderate success. Cats and foxes get them! We have about 250 species in our area. Special ones for me, are the Mallee Fowls. They build mounds and the male does most of the work, and Glossy-black Cockatoos. We have been surveying the glossies since 1994 and counted 404 one night. They are a threatened species too. You cannot help but get a real buzz from seeing about 30-50 glossy-black cockatoos coming into a dam to drink in the evening. We have some very pretty birds, such as the Superb Fairy-wrens, and all our Robins are very pretty.
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M
| Akrill
| Newcastle/Hunter Valley, NSW
| Anytime
| English
|
|
| Hunter Valley takes in an area from the Pacific Coast to the foothills of the Great Divide. Rain Forest, farm land and more open forest further inland give a diverse mix of birds with a hundred species not to difficult for a day.
|
C
| Kinross
| Orange, NSW
| Anytime
| English/French | German
|
| Orange is medium-sized country town, 270 km west of Sydney. It is a mainly agricultural area, but with sufficient bushland, hills, creeks and wetlands in the area to make it interesting. Orange is a good gateway to western and northern New South Wales and to Dubbo, where there is a famous open plan zoo. It is on a good alternative route to Queensland away from main tourist areas. We live on a 57 ha property 12 km from Orange, with about 100 species of birds, plus platypus, water rats and four species of kangaroos and wallabies. We can collect people from the railway station or there is space for camper vans. Whilst I am more than happy to show people around this area, and there are also occasional opportunities to join in research activities such as bird banding (ringing), I cannot advise on general itineraries for people visiting Australia.
|
C
| Richardson
| Griffith, NSW
| Anytime
| English/French
|
|
| I do a lot of travelling in NSW - as work takes me to Broken Hill (some 550km away direct - about 760 by road) several times a year. So I bird and atlas along the way.
|
D
| Stephens
| South Coast, NSW
| Anytime
|
J
| Francis
| Sydney, NSW
| Anytime
|
B
| Lancaster
| Sydney, NSW
| Anytime
| English
|
|
| I am happy to take people birding in the Sydney Area and prefer weekdays. I live close to the City Centre (downtown in American) and can pick people up from their hotels. The areas I can cover include the Royal National Park and the Hawkesbury area National Parks. I have been birding long enough to know the good places.
|
M
| Skellett
| Sydney, NSW
| Anytime
| English/Spanish
|
|
| Keen on birdwatching since I was a kid really- I go on birding tours locally quite frequently now.
|
A
| Lumnitzer
| Sydney, NSW
| Anytime
| Hungarian/English | some German
|
| Captivated by local birdlife, do most of my watching/photography along the Nepean River area, Pitt Town and Richmond lagoons etc. Available mostly weekends Saturday afternoon/evening or Sundays. Keen photographer, would love to meet like-minded birdphotographer(s) to go shooting with.
|
M
| Angus
| Tweed Heads, NSW
| Anytime
|
J
| Szabo
| Wollongong, NSW
| Weekend
| English/Spanish | French/Russian Hungarian
M
| Reed
| Katherine, North Territory
| Anytime
|
D
| Penny
| Beerwah, Queensland
| Anytime
| English
|
|
| Sunshine Coast, its a great place as we get birds from the South and birds from the North. Being a meeting place for birds from both latitudes the bird count is quite high. The only downturn is that the
numbers seem to be decreasing with each year. This could be explained by the number of people settling here. Loss of habitat, feral cats (and a lot of so called house cats), drought etc. However i guess this is happening all around the world. Anyway its still a great place to bird. During the summer months its a great for the migratory waders.
|
D
| Milton
| Brisbane, Queensland
| Weekend
| English/Spanish | Indonesian
|
| Brisbane is in the southern end of the tropical forests and northern end of the temperate forests in eastern Australia and ha about 350 spp that can be seen regularly within 200 km. I am a member of Birds Queensland and a keen birder. I spend most of my free time doing bird-related activities, including shorebird conservation and general birding. My life list is in the mid 4000s and I have birded all the major continents. My Australian list is 662 but I have not pursued many new species in Australia in the last few years. I have a particular interest in pittas and have seen 14
spp so far including all three spp that occur in Australia. I am happy to help people birding around Brisbane and SE Queensland. I have a full-time job and so am often not available during the week, but I know several others who will help by showing
visiting birders around.
|
G
| Goodyear
| Brisbane, Queensland
| Weekend
| English
|
D
| Taylor
| Brisbane, Queensland
| Weekend
|
R
| Bloss
| Brisbane, Queensland
| Anytime
| English
|
M
| Wilson
| Brisbane, Queensland
| Anytime
| English
|
|
| North side of Brisbane.
|
P
| Woodall
| Brisbane, Queensland
| Weekend
| English | some French IsiZulu
D
| Gravatt
| Brisbane, Queensland
| Anytime
| English | French (pas bien!)
|
| Retired biologist and experienced nature guide. Access to rainforest (eg.Lamington National Park), eucalyptus forests, agricultural lands, and coastal areas (heath-lands of the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast).
|
R
| McNeill
| Brisbane, Queensland
| Anytime
| English
|
|
| I have been obsessed with birding since the age of 11 and for the better part of 30 years have been enjoying the pursuit. I am an American who has lived and worked in New Jersey, South & North Carolina, Kansas, Missouri, Honduras, New Zealand and now am ‘settled’ in Australia...living just north of Sydney for over two years. I have been birding in over 40 countries am a co-founder of Ventures, Birding and Natural History tours. Today I have sold out for the corporate life, necessary to fund the my far flung pursuits.. We own a home on 40 acres near some great birding locations and have some meggas both in the yard and within a few months k's from our house. On our property is a small guest cottage that we are in the process of fixing up and one thought would be to make it available to visiting birders, I am also in the process of cutting some trails through the forest. We would charge a small fee, only enough to cover the costs of power, water and laundry and would still offer guiding...or hook them up with a mate who can provide professional services.
|
C
| Barnes
| Bundaberg, Queensland
| Anytime
|
M
| Overend
| Buderim, Queensland
| Anytime
|
T
| Langworthy
| Cairns, Queensland
| Anytime
|
J
| Seale
| Cairns, Queensland
| Anytime
|
K
| Shurcliff
| Cooktown, Queensland
| Anytime
| English | Bahasa Indonesia
|
|
A
| Forsyth
| Daintree, Queensland
| Anytime
|
D
| White
| Gold Coast, Queensland
| Anytime
|
G
| Palmer
| Jinboomba, Queensland
| Anytime
|
C
| Hopkins
| Kenilworth, Queensland
| Anytime
| English
|
|
| My mum and I are wilvos and we would like as many helpful links as we can get to preserve and better our areas bird life. We live in the wounderful Mary Valley on the hinterland of the sunshine coast QLD Australia.
|
J
| Kooistra
| Kureelpa/Sunshine Coast, Queensland
| Weekend
| English/Dutch
|
|
| I am a keen and competent birdwatcher and live about 100km north of Brisbane.
National Parks and plenty of other areas nearby from bush to beach. Have recently moved here and have over 60 species seen from my back verandah.
|
J
| Nott
| Rose Gums Wilderness Retreat, Queensland
| Anytime
| English
|
|
| I only bird Rose Gums Wilderness Retreat.
|
R
| Lamb
| Malleny/Sunshine Coast, Queensland
| Anytime
|
K
| Cross
| Mapleton, Sunshine Coast, Queensland
| Anytime
| English/French | German
|
| Mapleton is 100km north of Brisbane. I'm adjacent to National Parks and Forests. Over 100 spp for the yard plus nice mammals. Hosted many Birdingpals previously and overseas visitors especially welcome. Been birding 20 years - so I know the birds of my state and where to see them very well.
|
N
| Timperley
| Noosa, Queensland
| Anytime
|
G
| Hill
| Noosa, Queensland
| Anytime
|
J
| Hall
| Sunshine Coast, Queensland
| Anytime
| English
|
J
| Dening
| Sunshine Coast, Queensland
| Anytime
| English/French | German
|
| Queensland's Sunshine Coast lies about an hour north of Brisbane in a latitudinal band which experiences the overlap of southern Australian birds and northern Australian birds, with a reported regional species list of more than 300. Habitat varies from coastal estuarine to coastal heathland to rainforest and upland eucalypt forest.
|
J
| England
| Sunshine Coast, Queensland
| Anytime
| English/
|
|
| I live on the Sunshine Coast with access nearby to rainforest and coastal areas. I
have been birdwatching for 18 years and have some of the specialities in my area such as Rose-crowned Fruit Dove, Topknot
Pigeon, etc.
|
D
| Biggs
| Townsville, Queensland
| Anytime
| English/Afrikaans
|
C
| Shaw
| Brighton, South Australia
| Anytime
| English
|
|
| I travel around Australia regularly but when I'm home in Adelaide I'm usually available. There are lots of interesting bird areas close to the city and for visitors with even a few hours to spare there is lots to see. I've been bird watching for more than twenty years all over the country so while I don't claim to be an expert of South Australian birds, together I'm sure we can have a pleasant time and see some of the commoner species that frequent the area. I get my e-mails every day so I might even be able to help you in another part of the country too.
|
D
| Robertson
| Eden Hills/Adelaide, South Australia
| Anytime
| English | American/Kiwi
M
| Morgan
| Coles Bay, Tasmania
| Anytime
| English
|
|
| We are very amateur bird watchers, who run a comfortable waterfront B & B on the Freycinet Peninsula. Happy to suggest birding spots in Tasmania at any time, but can only join birders for walks in the National Park during our low season from May till October.
|
C
| Coleborn
| Launceston, Tasmania
| Anytime
| English
|
|
| I am happy to show people around the north, and advise on the south of Tasmania. Most of the Tasmanian endemics can be seen in the north, with the exception of the Forty-spotted Pardalote.
|
J
| Hunter
| Sheffield, Tasmania
| Anytime
|
M
| Ramsey
| Broadford, Victoria
| Weekend
|
R
| Nowotny
| Melbourne, Victoria
| Anytime
| English/French
|
D
| Torr
| Melbourne, Victoria
| Anytime
| English
|
J
| Broadberry
| Melbourne, Victoria
| Anytime
|
J
| Barkla
| Melbourne, Victoria
| Anytime
| English
|
|
| I am a passionate world birder and photographer. The area I am heavily involved in protecting and know intimately is the RAMSAR site known as the Melbourne Water Western Treatment Plant in Werribee, where one third of Australia's birds have been recorded.
|
A
| Farias
| Melbourne, Werribee, Victoria
| Anytime
| English/Portuguese | Italian/Spanish Bergamasco/Gallego
|
| Very good knowledge of Birds and areas around the country.
Please note that I?m not a professional guide, Therefore I don?t charge any fees, all that I ask in return is that you do the same to me when I visit your country. I do not have a car driver license, I ride a motorcycle, so if you want me to show you around you need to drive. If you give me some notice I can arrange to guide you anywhere in the country.
I prefer if you send me a wish list so we can get as many ticks as it?s possible in one trip... Please Birders and twitchers only, No Dudes!
|
D
| Hadden
| Kimberley, Western Australia
| Anytime
| English
|
|
| With the publication of Christidis and Boles we now have a second endemic for the Kimberley. The White-lined Honeyeater has been split and we now have the Kimberley Honeyeater. It can be seen at the same place as the endemic Black Grasswren which is up at the Mitchell Plateau. Other good Top End birds found in the 900km stretch of the Kimberley from say Broome to Kununurra are White-quilled RockPigeon, Sandstone Shrikethrush, Partridge Pigeon, Yellow-rumped Mannikin, Gouldian Finch, Star Finch, plus of course the amazing waders at Roebuck Bay. Because the distances are so great from my house I usually give people detailed maps of where to find these birds.
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P
| Jacoby
| Perth, Western Australia
| Anytime
| English
|
B
| Jayne
| Perth, Western Australia
| Anytime
|
W
| Maddeford
| Perth, Western Australia
| Anytime
| English
|
R
| Hanley
| Perth, Western Australia
| Anytime
| English/German | Indonesian
|
| Professional biologist with broad interest in natural history and keen bird watcher can provide advice on good places to visit in Western Australia and has links to local birdwatching organisations.
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| Professional Guides
Initial
| Last Name
| Area
| Available
| Language
|
M
| Jerram
| Katherine, Northern Territory
| Anytime
| English
|
P
| Waanders
| Waikerie, South Australia
| Anytime
| English/Dutch | Spanish/German French
|
| We'd been to Gluepot twice before, but despite three days of searching and following tips, we missed a number of crucial birds. Peter did an excellent job of finding all five lifers on our list, and then found us another 4 lifers we hadn't expected to see! Neil Boyle, Canada, November 2005 | Many thanks for a great day birding, 22 trip ticks including 12 lifers, it will take some beating! The most pleasurable thing was being able to get great views of all the birds. Richard Banham, UK/Spain, November 2006 Thanks for doing such a good job of guiding us - yes, I do know who to recommend as a bird guide in South Australia! Stephen F. Bailey, Rockjumper birding tour guide, USA, December 2006 Peter Waanders is a long time Birdingpal guide, well known in his own country and by myself or birders from around the world. Knud Rasmussen, Birdingpal
S
| Ambrose
| Sidney, South Wales
| Anytime
| English
|
A
| McBride
| Sidney, NSW
| Anytime
| English
|
|
| I bird around NSW, Australia, New Caledonia, New Guinea, New Zealand, etc. Will also
go anywhere if briefed and scout out an area to find the 'most wanted'.
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Local Information
| Name | Description
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| Australian Bird Study Association | Club |
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| Bird Observers Club of Australia | Club |
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| Bayside Branch, BOAC | Club |
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| Canberra Ornithologists Group | Club |
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| Cumberland Bird Observers, Sydney | Club |
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| Hunter Bird Observers Club, Newcastle NSW | Club |
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| Murrumbidgee Field Naturalists | Club |
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| Glossy Black Conservancy | Association |
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| BOCA Birding Maps | Sites |
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| Red Mill House | Daintree Birding Bulletin |
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| Tom & Marie Tarrant's | Birding Southern Queensland |
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| Tasmania | Sites |
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| Birding-Aus | Australia's wild birds |
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| Birdwatching Australia | Sites |
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| David Taylor | Photos around Brisbane |
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| David Stewart's | Bird Sounds |
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| Tony Palliser's | Pelagic |
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| Frank O'Connor's | Pelagic |
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| Chris Dahlberg's | Pelagic |
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| Birding Hotspots around the world | Sites |
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| Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia | Australia |
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| Local weather | Yahoo |
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| Electronic maps | MapQuest |
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| Find lowest prices for field guides, books, maps etc. | |
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| Field guides recommended by Birdingpals | |
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| Printable bird check list | |
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| Trip Reports from Australia | |
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| Read a Birdingpal's Trip Report from Australia |
Last update 24/06/2009