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Kimberley Top 20 Birds

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Kimberley Top 20 Birds EL QUESTRO TOP 20 BIRDS BROLGA TORRESIAN CROW Grus rubicundus Corvus orru No bird is more symbolic of Northern Pairs of crows hold permanent territories Australia than the Brolga. Their courtship and focks of about 50 non breeding birds dances are not confned to the breeding are often seen around El Questro. Adults season and pairs seem to dance just for the have white eyes. Their slow but loud call is fun. They reach almost 1.5 metres and their often heard at dawn and makes for an early head is bright red to orange. When not rise when camping. Crows mainly feed on breeding, family groups may converge into large groups in search the ground by walking or hopping, one foot in front of the other and of food. They breed in shallow swamps in the wet season. Brolgas will eat almost anything from anywhere. They breed between usually produce 2 young and both parents care for them for up to August and February. one year. BLACK KITE JABIRU Milvus migrans Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus Black kites are the seagulls of the Kimberley. The black necked stork or jabiru is Australia’s These scavenging birds are often seen only stork. This bird is a little inelegant taking around the Station Township rubbish tip. off but once in the air it fies with consummate They usually forage in focks and often follow ease and soars to several hundred metres. fres, circling and dropping through the Jabirus have oversized black bills for smoke in search of an easy meal. Although scooping their food from the water. The the bulk of their diet is carrion, kites sometimes swoop on live males have dark eyes while those of females are yellow. They live in rodents, which might be swallowed in fight. They build a nest of swamps and freshwater pools. Jabirus breed from February to June. sticks high above the ground. The 2-3 eggs are incubated by the Their nest are a massive structure if sticks and reeds placed in the female. During the nesting the male obtains most of the food but top of a tree. does not directly feed the young. AUSTRALIAN BUSTARD WHITE BILLED SEA EAGLE Ardeotis australis Haliaeetus leucogaster The bustard was a prized meal for early Sea eagles can be seen on high vantage settlers. The Kimberley is one of few areas in points near water or swooping down to fsh. Australia where you can still them. Laborious They land on the ground to tear their prey wing beats give the appearance of great apart with large talons. Waterbirds, turtles, unwillingness to fy. These birds may grow snakes and carrion supplement the diet of up to 1.2 metres. The males try to impress the fsh. Females reach up to 80cm whereas the females during courtship by infating their neck and strutting males are slightly smaller. It favours sea shore and inland waterways about noisily. One or two eggs are laid on bare ground. The female and can sometimes be seen on the Chamberlain Gorge cruise. incubates the eggs and raises the young. They are nomadic and Between May and October two eggs are laid several days apart. move to areas of good rain. The frst born usually monopolised all the food and the younger one dies. Both parents help rearing the brood. DARTER/SNAKEBIRD Anhinga melanogaster RED TAILED BLACK With only its head and neck rising from the COCKATOO water, the darter resembles a snake, hence Calyptorhynchus banksii its other name snakebird. The water bird These spectacular birds were the frst quietly submerges its body then suddenly parrots to be illustrated during Captain strikes with its S-shaped body. Small fsh and Cook’s explorations in 1770. Usually they are aquatic animals are speared with the sharp frst detected by their rasping cries as a bill. They grow up to 90 cm tall. The male is predominantly glossy small fock fies overhead with slow, languid black while the female is greyish brown. Darters are found wing beats. The red on the fanned tail of this cockatoo identifes the throughout most of Australia and live along rivers, lakes and male; the tail of the female is yellow-orange. They nest in tree estuaries. hollows which the parents enter tail frst. It feeds on seeds of eucalyptus and other plants. LITTLE PIED CORMORANT Phalacorcorax melanoleucos LITTLE CORELLA The little pied cormorant is the smallest Cacatua sanguinea Australian cormorant. It is fairly common on These raucous birds form huge focks that El Questro waterways and can be seen roam the countryside in search of food and sitting on exposed rocks along the route of water. Such focks are a common sight on El the Wandjina boat in the Chamberlain Questro Wilderness Park. Little corellas Gorge. This bird roosts and nests mostly in favour trees along watercourses for roosting colonies, but fshes alone. The nest is a small, shallow structure of and nesting and open greasy areas with low sticks. It breeds throughout most of the year and lays 2-5 whitish vegetation for feeding. They can chew wood chips of their nesting blue eggs. Cormorants are closely related to darters. Both species hollows and lay 2 or 3 eggs on the resultant padding. Their favourite lack a protective coating of oil on their feathers, hence the typical food is grass seeds collected from the ground. spreading of wings to dry them out after diving. RAINBOW LORIKEET BARKING OWL Trichoglossus haematodus Ninox connivens Screeching focks of rainbow lorikeets often This owl resembles its cousin, the southern fy overhead in the Kimberley, as they boobook. Barking owls are often seen siting commute between roosting and feeding on unsealed roads in the dark, dazzled by areas. They sometimes travel long distances car headlights. Its unmistakable dog-like in groups of up to 50 looking for blossoms bark can be heard at night. It roosts by day, of grevilleas and paperbarks. Like often in pairs near a watercourse. Nesting honeyeaters, lorikeets have brush tipped tongues to extract nectar takes place between July and November. The female lays 2-3 eggs from fowers. This staple is supplemented by ripe fruit and insects. in a tree hollow or occasionally on the ground. Breeding takes place between August and January, when the female lays two eggs in a tree hollow. PIED BUTCHERBIRD Cracticus nigrogularis ROCK PIGEON The futed, piping calls of the butcherbird Petrophassa albipennis are often heard in the woodlands, especially This pigeon is a typical bird of the Kimberley, during the breeding season when the male being confned to the sandstone hills and and female of a pair will sing in duets, cliffs. When startled, they will often leave alternating with one another. They feed by their perch with a loud clapping of wings. perching in the open and then pouncing on They spend their time on ledges or their prey, which includes other birds, mice, sandstone boulders foraging for all sorts of large insects and reptiles. Butcherbirds often live in groups with the seeds and insects. Rock pigeons nest during the dry season and lay young of previous years helping to feed later broods. They defend 2 eggs in rocky crevices lined with spinifex and grass. Both parents their nests aggressively, chasing other species away. assist in nesting duties. RAINBOW BEE EATER PEACEFUL DOVE Merops ornatus Geopelia placida Seen as brilliant fashes of golden-bronze, The dove is the source of the gentle cooing turquoise and green, rainbow bee eaters you will hear when setting up camp along swoop and glide in elegant manoeuvres. All the Pentecost River. In the afternoon they their food is captured on the wing. With a also frequent tracks around the Station, bee or wasp, bee eaters will perch and looking for seeds in the sand. The courtship batter it against a branch to know out the displays of the males involves bowing, tail sting before swallowing. Some rainbow bee fanning and clapping their wings. These birds favour grassed eaters are present all year round. Others move to Indonesia or New woodlands with nearby water. Peaceful doves breed all year and Guinea to breed during March - April. Bee eaters nest in burrows build their nests with sticks amongst vegetation. along creek banks and in sandy soil. The eggs are incubated for almost a month by all members of the group. GREAT BOWERBIRD Chlamydera nuchalis BROWN HONEYEATER These are the birds that steal your food at Lichmera indistincta Emma Gorge Resort, if not careful. Male These noisy birds are the most common white bowerbirds collect a variety of white honeyeaters on El Questro, ranging from or shiny objects to adorn their bowers. woodlands to gorges and often found along These bowers are avenues of twigs often creeks. Like most honeyeaters they are left open at the top and usually hidden nomadic, following the fowering of their beneath bushes or other low vegetation. Objects are seemingly favourite trees. They feed mostly on nectar placed at random in front of the bower. If switched around, the male and have brush tipped tongues to lick nectar usually puts them back in their original place as soon as the intruder from the fowers. Lerps on eucalyptus leaves are also an important leaves. Males attract females by their collection of objects and by source of food. Brown honeyeaters nest from June to January and spreading the small patch of feathers on the back of their neck, after two weeks, the young hatch. which reveals a lilac spot. Bowerbirds eat mostly fruit and can be seen in trees or near waterholes. They also take insects and are very WILLY WAGTAIL adaptable towards human environments.
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