PARROTS AND GALAHS BIRDWATCHING IN KINGS PARK AND These birds look for hollows in trees for nesting. They have strong BOTANIC GARDEN bills for cracking seeds and nuts. Australian Ringneck Perth is fortunate enough to have an area of over 400ha of native Barnardius zonarius vegetation, parks and gardens in the middle of the city. This provides BIRDS OF KINGS PARK Ringnecks are often seen feeding a home for over 70 species of birds, many of which live here on the ground. They have a wide permanently and others visit at various times of the year. AND BOTANIC GARDEN variety of calls. Morning is the best time for bird watching. Good places to see birds (B, R, C) are the Botanic Garden, the banksia woodlands in the Spring and the edges of the woodland where the trees meet the grassed area. Prepared by Birds Australia WA Group To see some of the rarer species such as thornbills, you can take a quiet walk along some of the trails throughout the Park. Galah This brochure tells you about 40 of the most common birds of Cacatua roseicapilla Kings Park and Botanic Garden. Galahs have expanded their range south from the Murchison and they now Illustrations by Susan Tingay, Judy Blyth and Pam Free. breed around Perth. Information prepared by (B, R, C) Allan K Jones, John Dell and Jodi Mansell-Fletcher. Short-billed Birds Australia – Western Australian Group Black-Cockatoo 167 Perry Lakes Drive Floreat WA 6014 Tel: (08) 9383 7749 Calyptorhynchus latirostris Call in for more information - new members are welcome. These birds are visitors to the coastal plain in autumn-winter Kings Park and Botanic Garden Information Centre from the wheatbelt. They have 9.30am - 4pm daily Tel: 9480 3634 developed a taste for pine tree seeds. Note their unusual call, ‘wee-yu’, when flying. KEY (M, C) C Common R Resident all year I Irregular visitor U Uncommon B Breeds in Kings Park M Migratory Front cover photo: Red Wattle Bird. L. Rackham Front cover photo: Red Wattle Ra Rare Rainbow Lorikeet Trichoglossus haematodus These lorikeets were introduced from the eastern states in the 1960s and have now spread widely throughout the metropolitan area. Lorikeets Fraser Avenue, West Perth, Western Australia 6005 have a brush-tipped tongue for Tel: (08) 9480 3600 • Fax: (08) 9322 5064 collecting pollen and nectar. Email: [email protected] • Internet: www.bgpa.wa.gov.au RO19471:0313 (B, R, C) HONEYEATERS HONEYEATERS CUCKOOS Honeyeaters are found in every major vegetation zone in Singing Three cuckoos are regular visitors to Kings Park and Botanic Australia. They are important pollinators of Australian plants and Honeyeater Garden. Cuckoos lay their eggs in nests of other birds (hosts). are very active in their search for nectar and insects. Lichenostomus virescens The following honeyeaters can be found in Kings Park The Singing Honeyeater prefers Pallid Cuckoo and Botanic Garden in all seasons. open woodland throughout the Cuculus pallidus park. They are Perth’s second The Pallid Cuckoo visits Kings most common garden bird. Park and Botanic Garden from Red Wattlebird (B, R, C) May to November and relies Anthochaera carunculata on large honeyeaters as a This is the largest of our host for their young. honeyeaters and is very (B, M, U) noisy and aggressive. (B, R, C) Fan-tailed Cuckoo Western Spinebill Cacomantis flabelliformis Acanthorhynchus superciliosus Fan-tailed Cuckoos visit the They are often found feeding in Perth area in winter. plants below 2m. Note their fine They feed on caterpillars. curved beak. (B, M, U) (B, R, C) Shining Western White-cheeked Bronze-Cuckoo Wattlebird Honeyeater Chrysococcyx lucidus Anthochaera chrysoptera Phylidonyris nigra They are usually most common The Western Wattlebird is The White-cheeked Honeyeater from August to December and smaller than the Red can usually be seen in the migrate to Indonesia in winter. Wattlebird and can sometimes Botanic Garden and escarp- They mostly rely on Thornbills be seen in the Botanic ment. A similar species, the as hosts. (B, M, C) Garden perched on top of a New Holland Honeyeater, bush giving its chortling call. may sometimes be seen. (B, R, U) (B, R, C) Crows and Ravens Brown Mistletoebird Australian Honeyeater Dicaeum hirundinaceum Raven Lichmera indisincta The Mistletoebird visits the Corvus coronoides The Brown Honeyeater has park in search of mistletoe Australian Ravens are a brownish plumage. It has a berries or small fruits of omnivorous and are often number of loud, musical calls. introduced plants. seen feeding in the picnic (B, R, C) (I, Ra) areas. (B, R, C) FANTAILS GLEANERS PREDATORS Fantails have a conspicuous fan-like tail. They are restlessly These smaller birds live in the foliage and collect insects from Predators hunt for insects, lizards, small mammals active in their search for insects, grubs and spiders. the leaves. and young birds. Willie Wagtail Rhipidura leucophrys Western Grey Butcherbird Gerygone Cracticus torquatus These lively birds are usually Gerygone fusca found on lawns and in open Grey Butcherbirds live in country. They defend their They are more often heard than permanent territories and prefer territory aggressively when seen, usually singly or in pairs. bushland bordering parks and nesting. They have a distinctively open spaces. They have a number mournful call. of loud melodious calls. (B, R, C) (B, R, C) (B, R, C) Grey Fantail Weebill Smicrornis brevirostris Rhipidura fuliginosa Nankeen Kestrel Grey fantails are more The Weebill is Australia’s smallest Falco cenchroides bird and is often heard before it common from April to They are often seen hovering is seen as it moves through the November. They are very over scarp at Kings Park and canopy of eucalypts. Listen for its inquisitive and will often Botanic Garden in their search call - ‘wee-bit’. come close to intruders. for food. (B, R, C) (B, R, C) (R, U) WATER BIRDS Striated Brown Goshawk Several water birds visit the Pioneer Women’s Memorial Fountain in Pardalote Accipiter fasciatus Pardalotus striatus the Botanic Garden and others are residents including the following. They are usually present during Listen for its loud, distinctive winter and spring when nesting in Pacific Black Duck call ‘chip-chip’. They eat many eucalypt trees in the centre of the foods including insects, cells Anas superciliosa park. They may swoop on you if of leaf bugs and sometimes you approach the nest. They appear on most lakes nectar. and waterways around Perth (B, R, C) (B, R, C) and are often seen loafing about in the daytime. (B, R, C) Laughing Kookaburra Dacelo novaeguineae Australian Silvereye The Kookaburra was Wood Duck Zosterops lateralis introduced to Western Chenonetta jubata Silvereyes move in flocks through Australia from Eastern Australia the bushes with their contact call in 1898. It has now spread They are usually nomadic but throughout the south-west. will remain at a site if food, of ‘psec-psec’. They feed on a especially lawn grass, is wide range of foods including (B, R, C) available. aphids, berries and Marri (B, R, C) nectar. (B, R, C) GROUND FEEDERS GROUND FEEDERS INTERESTING BIRDS Australian Magpie Laughing Sacred Kingfisher Gymnorhina tibicen Turtledove Todiramphus sanctus Magpies live in groups in permanent Streptopelia senegalensis The Sacred Kingfisher is a territories where they feed, roost and These birds were introduced breeding visitor from September breed. They are aggressive in breeding to Perth Zoo from India and to March. It is usually found in season and may swoop on passers-by. continue to increase their range the woodland area. (B, R, C) in the southwest of Western (B, M, U) Australia. (B, R, C) Spotted Turtledove Streptopelia chinensis Rufous Whistler These birds were introduced Pachycephala rufi ventris from Asia in 1898. They are not This bird is usually found in Yellow-rumped as common and are larger than Jarrah woodland either singly or Thornbill the Laughing turtle-dove. in pairs. Its loud, musical call is Acanthiza chrysorrhoa (B, R, C) often heard. They are occasionally seen in (B, R, C) small flocks along tracks and mown lawns. AERIAL FEEDERS (B, R, U) Common Rainbow Bee-eater Bronzewing Merops ornatus Black-faced Phaps chalcoptera Their brilliant plumage is obvious Cuckoo-shrike This is a very shy bird which as they fly about in search of bees, Coracina novaehollandiae likes to feed on wattle seeds. wasps and dragonflies. They visit It comes each day at dusk Perth from the north in spring and When perched, notice how to drink at taps and other summer. (B, M, C) they give a peculiar display watered areas. in which the wings are lifted alternately on the back. (B, R, U) (B, R, C) Tree Martin Hirundo nigricans Feeds high above the treetops. Nests in tree hollows. (B, M, C) Tawny Magpie Lark Frogmouth Grallina cyanoleuca Podargus strigoides Magpie Larks are territorial Welcome Swallow Tawny Frogmouths live in pairs and the young form flocks after Hirundo neoxena in a permanent territory. They breeding. They have a musical feed by night on ground animals call ‘tee-he-pee-o’. Feeds aerially. Often builds small mud nests on built structures. such as mice and centipedes. (B, R, C) (B, R, C) (B, R, U).