Crimson Rosella

King Parrot

· Numbers in red = Approx length of bird in cmfrom tip of bill to end of tail.

· To get a close view of the birds (and other wild-life), a good pair of binoculars makes a hugedifference. 8x40 is a popular size.

· For a full description of all Australian birds, seethe books (Field Guides) by Slater, Morcombe,Pizzey & Knight or Simpson & Day.

· For more information on where to see thesebirds, visit www.illawarrabirders.org

Red-browed Finch(12cm)

Also known as theRed-browed Firetail,this is the commonestlocal finch. Firetails

are so-called becauseof their bright red

rumps.

StarlingGoldfinch

Spotted Dove

House Sparrow

Rock Dove (Feral Pigeon)

Common (Indian) Myna

Birds on Front Page (from top):1. Galah2. Rainbow Lorikeet3. Eastern Rosella4. Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo5. Sulphur-crested Cockatoo

Magpie Lark (28cm)A.K.A. the Peewee.

One of the few birdsthat sings a duet –

when you hear theirmetallic chiming callsit’s usually both the

male and femalesinging together.

Birds From Overseas

Kestrel (32cm)This falcon is the smallestof our 24 birds of prey.It’s one of the few birdsthat can hover, whilst

looking for prey on theground. (Another is themainly white Black-

shouldered Kite.)

WelcomeSwallow

(15cm)A master of flight,

especially lowlevel, high-speedaerobatics that it

uses to vacuum upflying insects.

Peregrine Falcon(42cm)

OK, this awesome birdisn’t common, but can

be seen in our area.When it swoops on its

prey from a greatheight, it is the fastest

creature on earth.

Laughing Kookaburra

Pied Currawong

Crested Pigeon(42cm)

Not to be confusedwith the Topknot Pi-geon (which appearsto be wearing a wig).Makes a distinctive

whistling sound whenit flies.

Satin Bowerbird(25cm)

The male builds his famousbower solely for the purposeof seduction – it’s not a nest.

He decorates it with trea-sures of blue in the hope ofimpressing the greenish-

brown female

Superb Fairy-wren(14cm)

Our familiar ‘BlueWren’. Females andyoung are brown.Most males losetheir bright blue

colouring in autumnand winter.

Eastern Spinebill(16cm)

A beautiful littlebird with a longbeak specially de-signed for probingdeep inside flowers

to extract theirnectar.

Noisy Miner(26cm)

Has a large reper-toire of different

calls as its name sug-gests. It is aggressivetowards other birds,

but at least it’s anative!

New HollandHoneyeater (18cm)

Not a shy bird, it likesto sit on top of bushesand advertise its pres-ence. Shares the samehabitat as the Little

Wattlebird, and soundslike a squeaky toy.

Black-facedCuckoo-shrike

(33cm)Not a cuckoo or ashrike, an older

(better!) name is theShufflewing – whichis what it does every

time it lands.

Grey Butcherbird(28cm)

So-called as it storesprey in a tree fork,

using its hooked beakto tear it up into bite-sized chunks. But it’sa handsome bird and

sings beautifully!

Willy Wagtail (21cm)A feisty little bird,ready to take on

others many times itssize. As well as its

rattling alarm call ithas one which some

say sounds like ‘sweetpretty creature’.

Australian Raven(50cm)

Often called a crow,the Raven is the

biggest member ofthe crow family inAustralia (and the

only one you’re likelyto find around here).

Little Wattlebird(28cm)

A Wattlebird with nowattles. Smaller andplainer than the Red.Common in gardens

and heathlandaround banksias,

grevilleas etc.

Koel (42cm)A member of thecuckoo family. It’sdistinctive, rising

‘cooo-ee, cooo-ee’call is a well-

known sound inthe area in the

warmer months.

Australian Magpie

Little Corella

Red Wattlebird(35cm)

So named becauseof the red ‘wattles’

or skin-flaps onits neck. Its callsounds like a

barking dog witha bad cough.

Produced by Martin Potter for

Illawarra Birders Inc.Production Assistant Penny Potter.

Whilst all due care has been taken to ensure the contents of this brochure are accurate, no legalresponsibility is accepted for any errors or omissions. Copyright material. Photos by Martin Potter.

Pelican(170cm)

It’s bill really canhold more thanit’s belly can.

And the Austra-lian species has

the biggest bill inthe world.

WanderingAlbatross (120cm)This magnificent bird’s3.5m wingspan is thelargest of any bird. A win-ter visitor to our shores, toget a good view you needto be on a boat.

White-facedHeron (68cm)

A common sightnear any body of

water. Like allherons its neck

has a ‘hinge’ - anadaptation for

spearing its prey.

< Sooty / Pied >Oystercatcher

(46cm)Their orange beak

doesn’t quite matchtheir pink legs, but is

perfect for prisingopen shellfish.

Golden Whistler(18cm)

This is a classic ex-ample of how inmany birds the

male is very brightlycoloured, but thefemale is a dull

brown!

Wedge-tailedShearwater (42cm)

Shearwaters arebetter known as

Muttonbirds. Thewaters off the

Illawarra coast are aworld hotspot forseabirds like this.

Ruddy Turnstone(23cm)

Its name tells youhow it finds itsfood. Known to

travel an incredible27,000 km on its

annual migration tothe Arctic and back.

Crested Tern(46cm)

If you see a seagull div-ing into the ocean andcatching fish, then it’s

probably not a seagull!It is most likely to be a Crested Tern, ourcommonest Tern.

Bar-tailed Godwit (40cm)

Breeding in Siberiaand Alaska, it

holds the recordfor the longest

known non-stopmigration flight ofover 11,000 kms.

Masked Lapwing(36cm)

This bird and its‘kek-kek-kek’ alarmcall are well-known.It is a brave defenderof its young, swoop-ing on predators andsometimes humans.

Red-capped Plover(15cm)

A tiny shorebird, commonon our beaches and estuar-ies. When it dashes acrossthe sand it almost appearsto be moving on wheels.

White Ibis(70cm)

Sometimes calledthe Sacred Ibis as itwas worshipped bythe ancient Egyp-

tians. Look out alsofor the Straw-

necked Ibis whichhas a black back.

Little PiedCormorant (60cm)Like all cormorants it’s not very water-proof, to make div-ing and catching fisheasier. So it has to hang its wings out

to dry!

Black Swan(120cm)

It’s not all black- when itspreads its

wings you willsee its white

flight feathers.

Great Egret (90cm)Its enormous neck is longerthan its body. Other white

Egrets you might see are theLittle Egret (smaller, hyperac-tive when feeding) and theCattle Egret (follows cows!)

Eastern Yellow Robin(16cm)

Yes we do have robinswith red breasts in Austra-lia, but they are uncom-mon here. This is the

robin you are most likelyto see, often perching onthe side of a tree trunk.

Grey Fantail(16cm)

A lively, inquisi-tive bird that livesup to its name. Itscall is very high-pitched - beyond

the hearing ofsome people.

White-throatedTreecreeper (17cm)Hunts insects by walk-ing up tree trunks frombottom to top; it thenflies down and starts

again on the next tree.It’s call is a piercing,repetitive whistle.

Great Cormorant(82cm)

The largest of ourfour local cormo-

rants - black with ayellow face. (The

Little Black Cormo-rant has an all-black

face.)

Purple Swamphen(46cm)

Bigger and morecolourful than the

Moorhen. Both havea part of the beak

that extends over theforehead – this iscalled its shield.

Green Catbird(40cm)

Named for it’s ex-traordinary call

which sounds likea cat miaowing –or even a baby

crying!

Dusky Moorhen(38cm)

One of our common-est water birds; in the

breeding season itsbeak is red, with a

yellow tip. The similarCoot has a white

beak.

Whipbird(28cm)

Often heard butrarely seen. The‘whipcrack’ is the

male’s call; a ‘cheepcheep’ afterwards isthe reply of an in-terested female.

Wonga Pigeon(38cm)

Most often seen walk-ing along paths in therainforest. Its call is acontinuous ‘whoop-

whoop-whoop’ - a bitlike a reversing truck!

Silver Gull(40cm)

Gull are pirates,often taking

food from otherbirds, so if one

steals your chipsit’s only behav-ing naturally!

Royal Spoonbill(78cm)

The Spoonbill movesits bill from side to

side in shallow waterto catch fish and oth-er prey. Our other,

rarer Spoonbill is theYellow-billed Spoon-

bill.

Black-wingedStilt (35cm)

Stilts live up totheir name by hav-ing the longest legs(relative to body

length) of any bird.Often seen around

Lake Illawarra.

Pacific Black Duck(54cm)

Also known as thePainted Duck

because of its facialmarkings – it

looks as though it’swearing makeup!

Chestnut Teal(43cm)

Only the male ischestnut. And hishead is green. Or

black – the colour isiridescent and de-pends on the light.

Superb Lyrebird(95cm)

A spectacular bird and oneof the world’s best mimics.As well as the calls of many

other birds, it is said tocopy the sounds of cars,phones, even chainsaws!

Wood Duck(46cm)

Just as likely tobe seen on land

as on water,sometimes

even perchingin trees.

Brown Cuckoo-Dove(40cm)

A long-tailed bronze-coloured pigeon often

seen sitting amongst thefoliage. Its loud ‘wh-oo-rk’call is a familiar sound of

the rainforest

Lewin’sHoneyeater (20cm)One of many Austra-

lian honeyeaters(nectar-feeders), thisone has a yellow ear-patch. Its call has beencompared to the sound

of a machine gun.

White-belliedSea Eagle (80cm)

Watch out for it majes-tically patrolling ourcoastline. With luck

you might see it plucka fish out of the ocean,hardly getting its feet

wet.

Pelican(170cm)

It’s bill really canhold more thanit’s belly can.

And the Austra-lian species has

the biggest bill inthe world.

WanderingAlbatross (120cm)This magnificent bird’s3.5m wingspan is thelargest of any bird. A win-ter visitor to our shores, toget a good view you needto be on a boat.

White-facedHeron (68cm)

A common sightnear any body of

water. Like allherons its neck

has a ‘hinge’ - anadaptation for

spearing its prey.

< Sooty / Pied >Oystercatcher

(46cm)Their orange beak

doesn’t quite matchtheir pink legs, but is

perfect for prisingopen shellfish.

Golden Whistler(18cm)

This is a classic ex-ample of how inmany birds the

male is very brightlycoloured, but thefemale is a dull

brown!

Wedge-tailedShearwater (42cm)

Shearwaters arebetter known as

Muttonbirds. Thewaters off the

Illawarra coast are aworld hotspot forseabirds like this.

Ruddy Turnstone(23cm)

Its name tells youhow it finds itsfood. Known to

travel an incredible27,000 km on its

annual migration tothe Arctic and back.

Crested Tern(46cm)

If you see a seagull div-ing into the ocean andcatching fish, then it’s

probably not a seagull!It is most likely to be a Crested Tern, ourcommonest Tern.

Bar-tailed Godwit (40cm)

Breeding in Siberiaand Alaska, it

holds the recordfor the longest

known non-stopmigration flight ofover 11,000 kms.

Masked Lapwing(36cm)

This bird and its‘kek-kek-kek’ alarmcall are well-known.It is a brave defenderof its young, swoop-ing on predators andsometimes humans.

Red-capped Plover(15cm)

A tiny shorebird, commonon our beaches and estuar-ies. When it dashes acrossthe sand it almost appearsto be moving on wheels.

White Ibis(70cm)

Sometimes calledthe Sacred Ibis as itwas worshipped bythe ancient Egyp-

tians. Look out alsofor the Straw-

necked Ibis whichhas a black back.

Little PiedCormorant (60cm)Like all cormorants it’s not very water-proof, to make div-ing and catching fisheasier. So it has to hang its wings out

to dry!

Black Swan(120cm)

It’s not all black- when itspreads its

wings you willsee its white

flight feathers.

Great Egret (90cm)Its enormous neck is longerthan its body. Other white

Egrets you might see are theLittle Egret (smaller, hyperac-tive when feeding) and theCattle Egret (follows cows!)

Eastern Yellow Robin(16cm)

Yes we do have robinswith red breasts in Austra-lia, but they are uncom-mon here. This is the

robin you are most likelyto see, often perching onthe side of a tree trunk.

Grey Fantail(16cm)

A lively, inquisi-tive bird that livesup to its name. Itscall is very high-pitched - beyond

the hearing ofsome people.

White-throatedTreecreeper (17cm)Hunts insects by walk-ing up tree trunks frombottom to top; it thenflies down and starts

again on the next tree.It’s call is a piercing,repetitive whistle.

Great Cormorant(82cm)

The largest of ourfour local cormo-

rants - black with ayellow face. (The

Little Black Cormo-rant has an all-black

face.)

Purple Swamphen(46cm)

Bigger and morecolourful than the

Moorhen. Both havea part of the beak

that extends over theforehead – this iscalled its shield.

Green Catbird(40cm)

Named for it’s ex-traordinary call

which sounds likea cat miaowing –or even a baby

crying!

Dusky Moorhen(38cm)

One of our common-est water birds; in the

breeding season itsbeak is red, with a

yellow tip. The similarCoot has a white

beak.

Whipbird(28cm)

Often heard butrarely seen. The‘whipcrack’ is the

male’s call; a ‘cheepcheep’ afterwards isthe reply of an in-terested female.

Wonga Pigeon(38cm)

Most often seen walk-ing along paths in therainforest. Its call is acontinuous ‘whoop-

whoop-whoop’ - a bitlike a reversing truck!

Silver Gull(40cm)

Gull are pirates,often taking

food from otherbirds, so if one

steals your chipsit’s only behav-ing naturally!

Royal Spoonbill(78cm)

The Spoonbill movesits bill from side to

side in shallow waterto catch fish and oth-er prey. Our other,

rarer Spoonbill is theYellow-billed Spoon-

bill.

Black-wingedStilt (35cm)

Stilts live up totheir name by hav-ing the longest legs(relative to body

length) of any bird.Often seen around

Lake Illawarra.

Pacific Black Duck(54cm)

Also known as thePainted Duck

because of its facialmarkings – it

looks as though it’swearing makeup!

Chestnut Teal(43cm)

Only the male ischestnut. And hishead is green. Or

black – the colour isiridescent and de-pends on the light.

Superb Lyrebird(95cm)

A spectacular bird and oneof the world’s best mimics.As well as the calls of many

other birds, it is said tocopy the sounds of cars,phones, even chainsaws!

Wood Duck(46cm)

Just as likely tobe seen on land

as on water,sometimes

even perchingin trees.

Brown Cuckoo-Dove(40cm)

A long-tailed bronze-coloured pigeon often

seen sitting amongst thefoliage. Its loud ‘wh-oo-rk’call is a familiar sound of

the rainforest

Lewin’sHoneyeater (20cm)One of many Austra-

lian honeyeaters(nectar-feeders), thisone has a yellow ear-patch. Its call has beencompared to the sound

of a machine gun.

White-belliedSea Eagle (80cm)

Watch out for it majes-tically patrolling ourcoastline. With luck

you might see it plucka fish out of the ocean,hardly getting its feet

wet.

Crimson Rosella

King Parrot

· Numbers in red = Approx length of bird in cmfrom tip of bill to end of tail.

· To get a close view of the birds (and other wild-life), a good pair of binoculars makes a hugedifference. 8x40 is a popular size.

· For a full description of all Australian birds, seethe books (Field Guides) by Slater, Morcombe,Pizzey & Knight or Simpson & Day.

· For more information on where to see thesebirds, visit www.illawarrabirders.org

Red-browed Finch(12cm)

Also known as theRed-browed Firetail,this is the commonestlocal finch. Firetails

are so-called becauseof their bright red

rumps.

StarlingGoldfinch

Spotted Dove

House Sparrow

Rock Dove (Feral Pigeon)

Common (Indian) Myna

Birds on Front Page (from top): 1. Galah 2. Rainbow Lorikeet 3. Eastern Rosella 4. Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo 5. Sulphur-crested Cockatoo

Magpie Lark (28cm)A.K.A. the Peewee.

One of the few birdsthat sings a duet –

when you hear theirmetallic chiming callsit’s usually both the

male and femalesinging together.

Birds From Overseas

Kestrel (32cm)This falcon is the smallestof our 24 birds of prey.It’s one of the few birdsthat can hover, whilst

looking for prey on theground. (Another is themainly white Black-

shouldered Kite.)

WelcomeSwallow

(15cm)A master of flight,

especially lowlevel, high-speedaerobatics that it

uses to vacuum upflying insects.

Peregrine Falcon(42cm)

OK, this awesome birdisn’t common, but can

be seen in our area.When it swoops on its

prey from a greatheight, it is the fastest

creature on earth.

Laughing Kookaburra

Pied Currawong

Crested Pigeon(42cm)

Not to be confusedwith the Topknot Pi-geon (which appearsto be wearing a wig).Makes a distinctive

whistling sound whenit flies.

Satin Bowerbird(25cm)

The male builds his famousbower solely for the purposeof seduction – it’s not a nest.

He decorates it with trea-sures of blue in the hope ofimpressing the greenish-

brown female

Superb Fairy-wren(14cm)

Our familiar ‘BlueWren’. Females andyoung are brown.Most males losetheir bright blue

colouring in autumnand winter.

Eastern Spinebill(16cm)

A beautiful littlebird with a longbeak specially de-signed for probingdeep inside flowers

to extract theirnectar.

Noisy Miner(26cm)

Has a large reper-toire of different

calls as its name sug-gests. It is aggressivetowards other birds,

but at least it’s anative!

New HollandHoneyeater (18cm)

Not a shy bird, it likesto sit on top of bushesand advertise its pres-ence. Shares the samehabitat as the Little

Wattlebird, and soundslike a squeaky toy.

Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike

(33cm)Not a cuckoo or ashrike, an older

(better!) name is theShufflewing – whichis what it does every

time it lands.

Grey Butcherbird(28cm)

So-called as it storesprey in a tree fork,

using its hooked beakto tear it up into bite-sized chunks. But it’sa handsome bird and

sings beautifully!

Willy Wagtail (21cm)A feisty little bird,ready to take on

others many times itssize. As well as its

rattling alarm call ithas one which some

say sounds like ‘sweetpretty creature’.

Australian Raven(50cm)

Often called a crow,the Raven is the

biggest member ofthe crow family inAustralia (and the

only one you’re likelyto find around here).

Little Wattlebird(28cm)

A Wattlebird with nowattles. Smaller andplainer than the Red.Common in gardens

and heathlandaround banksias,

grevilleas etc.

Koel (42cm)A member of thecuckoo family. It’sdistinctive, rising

‘cooo-ee, cooo-ee’call is a well-

known sound inthe area in the

warmer months.

Australian Magpie

Little Corella

Red Wattlebird(35cm)

So named becauseof the red ‘wattles’

or skin-flaps onits neck. Its callsounds like a

barking dog witha bad cough.

Produced by Martin Potter for

Illawarra Birders Inc.Production Assistant Penny Potter.

Whilst all due care has been taken to ensure the contents of this brochure are accurate, no legal responsibility is accepted for any errors or omissions. Copyright material. Photos by Martin Potter.

Crimson Rosella

King Parrot

· Numbers in red = Approx length of bird in cmfrom tip of bill to end of tail.

· To get a close view of the birds (and other wild-life), a good pair of binoculars makes a hugedifference. 8x40 is a popular size.

· For a full description of all Australian birds, seethe books (Field Guides) by Slater, Morcombe,Pizzey & Knight or Simpson & Day.

· For more information on where to see thesebirds, visit www.illawarrabirders.org

Red-browed Finch(12cm)

Also known as theRed-browed Firetail,this is the commonestlocal finch. Firetails

are so-called becauseof their bright red

rumps.

StarlingGoldfinch

Spotted Dove

House Sparrow

Rock Dove (Feral Pigeon)

Common (Indian) Myna

Birds on Front Page (from top):1. Galah2. Rainbow Lorikeet3. Eastern Rosella4. Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo5. Sulphur-crested Cockatoo

Magpie Lark (28cm)A.K.A. the Peewee.

One of the few birdsthat sings a duet –

when you hear theirmetallic chiming callsit’s usually both the

male and femalesinging together.

Birds From Overseas

Kestrel (32cm)This falcon is the smallestof our 24 birds of prey.It’s one of the few birdsthat can hover, whilst

looking for prey on theground. (Another is themainly white Black-

shouldered Kite.)

WelcomeSwallow

(15cm)A master of flight,

especially lowlevel, high-speedaerobatics that it

uses to vacuum upflying insects.

Peregrine Falcon(42cm)

OK, this awesome birdisn’t common, but can

be seen in our area.When it swoops on its

prey from a greatheight, it is the fastest

creature on earth.

Laughing Kookaburra

Pied Currawong

Crested Pigeon(42cm)

Not to be confusedwith the Topknot Pi-geon (which appearsto be wearing a wig).Makes a distinctive

whistling sound whenit flies.

Satin Bowerbird(25cm)

The male builds his famousbower solely for the purposeof seduction – it’s not a nest.

He decorates it with trea-sures of blue in the hope ofimpressing the greenish-

brown female

Superb Fairy-wren(14cm)

Our familiar ‘BlueWren’. Females andyoung are brown.Most males losetheir bright blue

colouring in autumnand winter.

Eastern Spinebill(16cm)

A beautiful littlebird with a longbeak specially de-signed for probingdeep inside flowers

to extract theirnectar.

Noisy Miner(26cm)

Has a large reper-toire of different

calls as its name sug-gests. It is aggressivetowards other birds,

but at least it’s anative!

New HollandHoneyeater (18cm)

Not a shy bird, it likesto sit on top of bushesand advertise its pres-ence. Shares the samehabitat as the Little

Wattlebird, and soundslike a squeaky toy.

Black-facedCuckoo-shrike

(33cm)Not a cuckoo or ashrike, an older

(better!) name is theShufflewing – whichis what it does every

time it lands.

Grey Butcherbird(28cm)

So-called as it storesprey in a tree fork,

using its hooked beakto tear it up into bite-sized chunks. But it’sa handsome bird and

sings beautifully!

Willy Wagtail (21cm)A feisty little bird,ready to take on

others many times itssize. As well as its

rattling alarm call ithas one which some

say sounds like ‘sweetpretty creature’.

Australian Raven(50cm)

Often called a crow,the Raven is the

biggest member ofthe crow family inAustralia (and the

only one you’re likelyto find around here).

Little Wattlebird(28cm)

A Wattlebird with nowattles. Smaller andplainer than the Red.Common in gardens

and heathlandaround banksias,

grevilleas etc.

Koel (42cm)A member of thecuckoo family. It’sdistinctive, rising

‘cooo-ee, cooo-ee’call is a well-

known sound inthe area in the

warmer months.

Australian Magpie

Little Corella

Red Wattlebird(35cm)

So named becauseof the red ‘wattles’

or skin-flaps onits neck. Its callsounds like a

barking dog witha bad cough.

Produced by Martin Potter for

Illawarra Birders Inc.Production Assistant Penny Potter.

Whilst all due care has been taken to ensure the contents of this brochure are accurate, no legal responsibility is accepted for any errors or omissions. Copyright material. Photos by Martin Potter.