Australia’s nature is in crisis – these five birds are just some of the 163 species listed as threatened and at risk of extinction – and they need us to act now.
Read it here:
A Pied Butcherbird choir to sing in the weekend!
Found across most of mainland Australia, Pied Butcherbirds are best known for their beautiful flute-like song – among the most musical of the songbirds.
🎥 Sari Beasley
Dusky Woodswallows – our pic of the week!
On a cold morning in QLD's Jimna Ranges, Ken Cross of
#AustralianBirdSafaris
came across a flurry of feathers. On closer inspection, Ken realised it was a cluster of roosting Dusky Woodswallows. What a shot!
Photo by Ken Cross
Eastern Spinebill – our pic of the week!
Photographer Deepak Karra was out birding with a friend when they noticed an Eastern Spinebill hovering around hakea flowers. What a capture!
📷 Deepak Karra
And the winner is....
The Superb Fairy-wren takes the crown for the 2021
@GuardianAus
/
@birdlifeoz
#BirdoftheYear
poll, with a staggering 13,998 votes!
The Tawny Frogmouth came a close second with 13,332 votes. This year saw a record number of over 450,000 votes!
📷 Geoff White
And we have lift off!
This morning, all three Collins St Falcon chicks took the plunge, leaping from the ledge of a window high above Melbourne – much to the delight of their many fans across the world. Thanks for tuning in to the most successful year of the live stream yet!
The 367 Collins St Falcon chicks are due to fledge any day now!
Soon, these fluffy falcons will launch themselves over the edge and into Melbourne’s skies. You won't want to miss it!
And we have lift off!
Today, three out of four of the Collins St Peregrine Falcon chicks have taken the plunge – leaping from the ledge of a window high above Melbourne, much to the delight of their many fans. The fourth chick should be fledging soon, so don’t look away!
Here’s the moment when the first of the Collins St Falcon chicks hatched earlier today. Now, all three chicks have hatched, much to delight of their many fans!
We wish the next generation of Melbourne Peregrines all the best! Visit the livestream at
This Red-tailed Black-cockatoo is our pic of the week!
16-year-old Byron Hakanson was over the moon when he snapped this gorgeous shot while out birding.
Download our handy guide to identifying South-Eastern Black-Cockatoos at:
📷 Byron Hakanson
The Budgies are in bloom again!
Thanks to a bumper wet season supercharged by La Niña, huge flocks of budgies – known as murmurations – have been turning parts of Australia green and gold.
📷 Bob Walpole, Adam Blyth and John Harrison
Exciting news!
Hindmarsh Island recorded the first sighting of Critically Endangered Orange-bellied Parrots in 8 years.
At Western Port Bay, a wild parrot joined the flock of recently released captive-bred OBPs – the first spotted in the area in over a decade!
📷 Matt Wright
Happy Wrensday!
Oops! This slightly clumsy male Superb Fairy-wren didn’t quite nail his landing.
What would you caption this?
📸Superb Fairy-wrens by Peter Cornell
The WINNER of The Guardian Australia/BirdLife Australia's 2023 Bird of the Year poll is... The Swift Parrot!
Step aside Taylor – there's a new Swift taking Australia by storm. With 11,171 votes, the Swift Parrot has been crowned as your
#BirdoftheYear
for 2023.
It's a robin rainbow!
Our much-loved robins are found everywhere from the mountains to the mangroves, from tropical rainforest to desert scrub.
If you’ve seen robin around, why not do a Birds in Backyards winter survey? Visit:
📷 Deepak Karra
Breaking news from your favourite reality TV show!
Here’s the magical moment when the first Collins St Falcon chick hatched earlier today. Now, 3/4 chicks have hatched, much to the delight of their thousands of fans! We wish this next generation of Peregrines all the best.
They’re back!
Peregrine Falcons have returned to Melbourne’s 367 Collins St and laid their first eggs of the season. This means that the live stream is back on – much to the delight of their many adoring fans!
You can tune into the 24-hour livestream at:
A Crested Pigeon putting on a show – our pic of the week!
During breeding season, male Crested Pigeons approach females and begin an elaborate mating dance – bobbing up and down while opening and closing their wings.
📷 Naidu Kumpatla
Look closely – those aren't leaves! 😮
Charles Davis' incredible capture of a Budgerigar tree is this week's pic of the week!
After recent rains, Budgerigars are flocking in huge murmurations of tens of thousands of birds and turning the red centre green and gold.
Everyone’s favourite high-rise falcon pair are back!
Melbourne’s Collins Street Peregrine Falcons have laid their first egg for the 2023 season and the live stream is now up and running.
Watch the Collins St Falcons 24-hour live stream here:
1/6 Breaking news!
58 zoo-bred Critically Endangered Regent Honeyeaters have been released into the Hunter Valley – the LARGEST EVER NSW release! Check out this very special footage of this release below.
📷 Alex Pike/DPIE
The gentle beauty of a pair of Major Mitchell's Cockatoos to welcome in 2021💗
Also known as Pink Cockatoos, these cockatoos are found in the semi-arid and arid regions of Australia.
📷 by
@wilson_lennnard
Wyperfeld National Park, Mallee, Victoria.
These birds were pretty in pink long before Barbie!
The male Pink Robin is pink due to pigments absorbed in its diet. The Galah-and all other parrots, design their pink in-house through a pigment found nowhere else in nature!
📸 Galah by Deepak Kumar, Pink Robin by David Adam
Vale Peter Slater 1932 - 2020. One of Australia’s most renowned wildlife artists — Peter once said that he “lived for birds” and Australia’s birdwatching community can be grateful that he did. His books revolutionised birdwatching in this country ➡️
Earlier this month, a large flock of Swift Parrots turned up in Port Macquarie. The sighting of 60 or so birds represents just under 10% of their entire estimated population size gathering in the one location!
Read more at:
📷 Victor Braguine
After months of drought and bushfire, heavy rainfall has brought a remarkable boom in birdlife to parts of Australia – with huge murmurations of Budgerigars recorded across NSW.
Read more about the wet weather bird boom:
📷 Paul Williams
Great news out of Melaleuca!
Biologists from the Orange-bellied Parrot Tasmanian Program and ANU Difficult Birds Research Group have recorded 88 live nestlings in 27 nests this season. That’s 3x as many nestlings that hatched last year! Congrats team!
📷
@teamswiftparrot
In East Gippsland, we’re working with landholders to protect and create new homes for bushfire-affected Gang-gangs, as part of our new Gang-gang Cockatoo Recovery Project.
📷Geoff Russell
Threatened Powerful Owls have been breeding at a Sydney high school for years. But when their nesting tree was about to be chopped down, our own Dr Beth Mott intervened. Thankfully, the Department of Education has agreed to take steps to protect the tree.
📷 Andrew Silcocks
A subspecies of Whipbird has been rediscovered in Victoria – for the first time in 40 years!
Known as the Mallee or White-bellied Whipbird, this subspecies of Western Whipbird hadn’t been detected in Victoria since 1974. Read more at:
📷 David Stowe
A bit of good news before Christmas!
Last Thursday was the final Parliamentary sitting day for 2020 – and it came and went without any laws being passed to weaken our federal nature laws. Thanks to all the nature lovers who helped make this reprieve possible!
📷 Raeline Smith
A black Laughing Kookaburra!
Dimity Castillo Rhodes captured this image in Milton NSW, on Christmas Eve. Dimity explains "Black or dark brown feather colour in birds is due to melanin, and excess production of dark pigmentation is called melanism." Thanks Dimity! Stunning 🖤
This very soggy Barking Owl is our pic of the week!
Photographer Samantha Kent took this great shot of a Barking Owl enjoying a spring downpour. These birds are named after their remarkably dog-like call, and are found across much of mainland Australia.
📷 Samantha Kent
The Gang-gang Cockatoo is our
#birdoftheweek
!
Once a common sight across south-eastern Australia, these small, charismatic cockatoos are known for their distinctive creaky call.
But last week, Gang-gangs were officially uplisted to nationally Endangered.
📹 Alex Pike
Welcome to the world, SE27!
Yesterday, this tiny White-bellied Sea-Eagle chick finally hatched.
Since 2009,
@SeaEagleCAM
has provided 24-hour access to their lives lives through a live, remote camera feed. There's no better reality TV!
Tune in at
Grave news for Gang-gang Cockatoos 😔
Experts estimate they've lost up to 36% of their habitat and 21% of their population since Black Summer.
Now, the Threatened Species Scientific Committee is recommending they be listed as nationally Endangered.
📷 Mark Sanders
Paradise returns to Lord Howe Island!
15 months after a rodent eradication project like no other, there hasn't been a single rodent sighted on the World Heritage-listed island.
Read the full, unbelievable story at:
📷 Lord Howe Woodhens by David Stowe
Last year, 7 Critically Endangered Western Ground Parrots were released into protected habitat near Albany, WA, as part of a world-first translocation of the species.
Ongoing monitoring continues to detect their song near the release site – so they've settled in!
📷 Alan Danks
The Red-browed Finch is our bird of the week!
You’ll usually find these sociable birds in small flocks on the ground, foraging for grass seeds and calling to eachother with their short, piping chatter.
📷 Andrew Silcocks, Jeff Groves and John Barkla
We condemn the decision of 3 state government to allow the 2021 duck shooting season go ahead. The VIC, TAS and SA governments are allowing the killing of our native ducks – meanwhile, duck populations continue to decline across eastern Australia.
📷 Grey Teal by Ian Wilson
The Western Rosella is our bird of the week!
Found only in south-west WA, the Western Rosella is our smallest rosella – usually found foraging in pairs or small flocks on the ground or among foliage.
Find out more at:
📷 Vik Deshpande
A family of Frogmouths for your Friday – our pic of the week! Don't you just love this cosy capture?
Tawny Frogmouths are often confused with owls, but they are actually more closely related to another group of nocturnal birds – the nightjars!
📷 Rebecca Harrison
Happy
#wrensday
!
Did you know that we have nine species of fairy-wren? You’ll find them all across the country. The plumage between both sexes differs greatly – breeding males have brilliantly coloured plumage, like this very aptly named Splendid Fairy-wren!
📷Vik D
Caption this photobomb! This hilarious capture of a Southern Boobook and a very nosy Little Raven is our pic of the week. What do you think it's thinking?
Melbourne-based birder Ken Tay photographed the pair at a nearby park during Melbourne’s lockdown.
📷 Ken Tay
Good news for Critically Endangered Orange-bellied Parrots!
This breeding season, we’ve already seen 52 birds return from the mainland (where they spend the winter) to their only known breeding site in Melaleuca, Tasmania. Last year, 51 birds made the journey.
📷 John Barkla
Exciting news from BirdLife South East SA where a local reported a group of 5 Apostlebirds near Naracoorte, the first record in the region for almost 90 years! Nearest resident population over 200km away. Hear Bob Green talk about it tomorrow morning on ABC South East SA.
One big happy family! The Apostlebird is this week’s
#birdoftheweek
!
Did you know? Apostlebirds are often seen in groups of 12, earning them their name – after the Twelve Apostles of Jesus!
📷 Timothy Paasila, Ryan Colley, John Barkla and melbournebirds
You've heard of the Met Gala, but have you heard of the Met Galah? Sporting gorgeous pink and grey feathered attire, check out the link to find out five facts about the Galah!
📷 Galah photos by Olivia Congdon, Dean Rule, Shelley Pearson and Kate Newman
Happy
#Wrensday
! 💙
There’s no false modesty here – the Splendid Fairy-wren lives up to its name! The males will often pluck colourful petals and present them to females in courtship.
📷 Male Splendid Fairy-wren by Georgina Steytler
Meet the Australian Owlet-nightjar, this week’s
#birdoftheweek
!
Neither an owl nor a nightjar, they're one of our most widespread nocturnal birds. They’re also the smallest!
📸JJ Harrison, Laurie Ross, Greg Wyncoll & rawshorty
Today we celebrate the very first
#WorldAlbatrossDay
! A pair of Wandering Albatross - these long-lived birds mate for life. The theme for
#WAD2020
is 'Eradicating Island Pests' ➡️
@BirdLife_News
Happy World Migratory Bird Day!
The Critically Endangered Swift Parrot is one of only a few migratory parrots in Australia. Already, 500 birds have been recorded on the mainland this year!
Join our campaign to protect them:
📷Tony Clark
From all of us
@BirdlifeOz
🎄 Whether you have planted or protected bird habitat, counted the birds around you, made a submission, added a bird bath to your garden, made sure your dog is on a lead at the beach, donated money or sat on a committee - we THANK YOU!
📷 J Wegener
New banner photo for our profile: A Family Affair by Gary Meredith.
#BirdLifePhotoAward
Portrait winner 2019 - and November feature in the Australian Birdlife Calendar
Is this the brightest blue you’ve ever seen?
Happy
#Wrensday
!
With his electric blue plumage, the male White-winged Fairy-wren might be the brightest of Australia’s nine fairy-wren species.
📷 Steve Mantle
Charley Geddes photographed this very unusual looking bird in his neighbour’s yard in Nebo, Queensland.
This kookaburra has melanism – the result of a rare genetic mutation that causes an excess of black or brown pigmentation, called melanin, in its plumage. How cool is that!
In September Australian Birdlife magazine we meet some of the bird lovers working hard to uncover the Gang-gang's secrets.
@carolprobets
and Canberra Ornithologists Group
For a short time , access the whole issue of our stunning mag!
📷 Patrick Tomkins
Love this! By Jess Harwood.
Jess describes herself as a Powerful Owl, bowerbird and fairy-wren combo.
"Birds have a lot to teach us about ourselves if only we take the time to observe, appreciate and protect them, " Jess says.
Thanks for letting us share
@Jarraharwood
❤️
This just in from everyone’s favourite reality TV show!
Much to the delight of their many thousands of online fans, two of the Collins St Falcon chicks hatched earlier today.
Now we wait for the other two chicks!
Tune into the livestream at:
The NSW Gov has secured 5,000 litres of bromadiolone – a powerful second generation rodenticide that can poison predators like owls and raptors.
We’re urging the APVMA to stop the NSW Gov rolling out this chemical.
Sign our petition:
📷Heather Thorning
Rudolph the Red….capped Parrot?? Our pic of the week!
We just love
@georgina_steytler
's gorgeous shot of a Red-capped Parrot munching on Kangaroo Paw, and we hope you do too! Happy Saturday!
📷Red-capped Parrot by Georgina Steytler
The Bush Stone-curlew, with its long legs and large yellow eyes, is one of Australia’s most fascinating and peculiar birds. That’s why they are our
#BirdOfTheWeek
!
📸 Howard Loosemore & Ambika Angela Bone
The Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo is our
#BirdOfTheWeek
. Their haunting call is a much-loved sound amongst the forests and woodlands in parts of Eastern Australia.
📸 Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos by Lachlan Cooper, Cat Sparks, Thomas Hunt and Hamish Burrell
Christmas has come early in the Blue Mountains!
Landscape photographer Gary P Hayes took this dreamy shot following recent snowfall at Mount Victoria in the Blue Mountains, just west of Sydney.
📷 Australian King Parrots and Crimson Rosellas by Gary P Hayes
On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me – a trio of Black Grasswrens in the Kimberley!
Get your year off to a flying start with the 2021 BirdLife Australia calendar. Order yours today at
📷 Black Grasswrens by Laurie Ross
New hope for the survival of the Critically Endangered Western Ground Parrot!
7 birds were captured and released into a location on WA's south coast – the first step of a project aiming to establish a new population of one of WA’s rarest birds.
📷
@WAParksWildlife
It's
#summerbirding
time – we want to know who's been visiting your backyard!
If you loved the
#aussiebirdcount
– get involved in
@UrbanBirdsOz
Summer Surveys
📷 Laughing Kookaburra fledgling by Saskia Granger Photography
Like many of us, the nesting Collins St Falcons got quite the shock this morning when an earthquake shook south-east Australia!
Peregrine Falcons incubate their eggs for around 33 days, so we should see the four eggs start to hatch by the end of the month!
Finally, some good news! Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley has rejected a proposal to build a retirement village next to one of our most important sites for Critically Endangered Eastern Curlew & other migratory shorebirds in QLD’s Hervey Bay region.
📷 Duade Paton
Rainbow Bee-eaters are this week’s
#birdoftheweek
!
Rainbow Bee-eaters are a familiar sight in open forests, woodlands and shrublands across mainland Australia. Listen for their melodic trill as they drift high overhead.
📷 Amy Rakkusol, Gary Meredith, Jan Vanmaele & Erika Smart
The Federal Government is considering lifting a ban on importing exotic parrots into Australia, but exposing our birds to the risk of foreign diseases is not the answer. Our politicians must deliver stronger nature laws to protect what is left.
📷 OBP by Andrew Silcocks
Last night, the Senate voted AGAINST draining 70 billion litres more water from the Darling River. The Darling feeds the Macquarie Marshes, a critical refuge for thousands of waterbirds. It’s a huge relief for the birds of the Basin. Thank you to all involved.
Image: Peter Gower
Australia’s existing nature laws are failing, with thousands of species now threatened with extinction. Our report, Restoring the Balance, describes how we can fix Australia's ineffective nature laws & protect our endangered birds.
#actforbirds
#naturelaws
Rainbow bee-eater - our Pic of the Week!
"I snapped this rainbow bee-eater as it was swooping down to catch a bee 🐝" Suffolk Park NSW
Rainbow Bee-eaters are always a favourite - but we haven't seen a shot quite like this! #📷 Leigh Rolfe
@accidental
.photography
A milestone for nature protection in Victoria!
The Andrews Government has just announced that 3 new national parks will be created in central west Victoria – spanning over 65,000 hectares across state forests, parks and bushland reserves.
📷 Square-tailed Kites by Ambika Bone
Breaking news! The
@APVMA
is intending to refuse the NSW Government’s emergency permit to use bromadiolone to end the mouse plague, due to environmental concerns.
This is a huge win in the fight to stop this highly toxic poison from entering bird food chains.
📷Ian Wilson
Double-eyed Fig-Parrot - our Pic of the Week!
Photographer Patrick Tomkins writes "They're so tiny, not much bigger a sparrow, and as you can see, they love figs. This is the female fig parrot; they lack the red cheek of the male. Still just as lovely 😍"
📷
@pattomkinswildlife
After the fires, Glossy Black-Cockatoos were among the worst hit species. Recently, small numbers have been spotted on the move, feeding on sheoaks in Melbourne’s outer suburbs. If you've seen one of these beauties lately, pls let us know at
📷D Lucas
How’s this for a family photo?
SE28 is the latest addition to
@BirdLifeOz
Discovery Centre’s White-bellied Sea-Eagle family.
There’s no better reality TV than
@SeaEagleCAM
to keep you busy and
#BirdingAtHome
over lockdown! Tune in at
It had long been suspected that Carnaby’s Black-Cockatoos were breeding in the Kalbarri region, but no solid evidence had ever been found – until our researchers found a single occupied nest with an egg!
Read more at:
📷 Footage credit Rachel Walmsley
Great Crested Grebe: our Pic of the Week!
"Baby Boat" is Shelley Pearson's favourite grebe and chicks photo - and we can see why!
Shelley, we can't wait to see your entries to the 2020
BirdLife Australia Photography Awards! ➡️
#📷
@shelley_pearson_
Thousands of hectares of bush may have been burnt in the Perth Hills fires, and it’s likely that important Carnaby’s habitat has been lost.
Join us in calling on the WA government to stop logging remaining feeding habitat north of Perth. Email your MP today!
📷 Raeline Smith
Meet the Great Bowerbird – this week’s
#birdoftheweek
!
To impress a potential mate, the male builds his own theatre to perform in – an intricate bower made of twigs and a surrounding ‘courtyard’, which he decorates with bones, rocks and shells.
📸 Michael Schmid & Peter Murphy
Everyone knows the Laughing Kookaburra, but have you ever heard of their quieter cousin, the Blue-winged Kookaburra?
"When I found this guy I was delighted," photographer Amanda Andrews writes. "But I’m not sure he felt the same way!”
📷 Amanda Andrews
Happy Penguin Appreciation Day!
🐧 The Little Penguin is the smallest of the world’s 18 penguin species, and the only penguin that breeds here in Australia. They’re found along Australia’s southern coastline and in New Zealand.
📹
@PhillipIslandNP
Having taken the top spot as the most counted bird for the
#AussieBirdCount
for the past 9 years, it’s about time we spotlight them as our
#BirdOfTheWeek
!
Find out more here:
📸 Brian Callaghan, Stephen Garth, Stuart Cox & Di Lymbury
An excellent thread by
@ParrotOfTheDay
outlining why Major Mitchell's Cockatoo is not an appropriate name for Pink Cockatoos. We believe there are moves afoot via the English or Australian Bird Names Committee to make it official - Pink Cockatoo in 2021.
ParrotOfTheDay (eXiting). Find us on Insta/Threads
It would be wonderful if 2021 is the year
@BirdlifeOz
takes a stand and starts using only the name Pink Cockatoo for this beautiful bird... as we do. Removing Major Thomas Mitchell's name and its dark colonial associations from this iconic species is long overdue (Thread)
Drumroll please… this punk-rocker Palm Cockatoo is our pic of the week!
The only birds that play a musical instrument, the males trim branches into drumsticks which they grip with their feet and hit against a hollow trunk as a territorial/ courtship display.
📷 Sandy Castle
The Australian birding community is in mourning and still coming to terms with the tragic loss of Clive Minton who inspired generations with his boundless enthusiasm for migratory shorebirds. Our hearts go out to his family and his shorebird research family in the VWSG and AWSG.
Success!! A release of 20 captive bred
#RegentHoneyeaters
in the Hunter Valley has
@BirdLifeOz
staff like Dean Ingwersen grinning ear to ear - pic here after fitting a radio transmitter. Many partners involved in this yr's release 🙌 Thank you! For more:
Today is World Albatross Day – celebrating these magnificent birds and highlighting the conservation crisis they face.
This year's theme is ‘Ensuring Albatross-Friendly Fisheries’. Find out more at:
📷 Shy and Black-browed Albatrosses by Danny Lee
Congratulations
@GeorginaSteytl1
! This iconic photo was an instant crowd-pleaser, especially with our judges - and it won the
@BirdlifeOz
Photography Awards Bird Behaviour category!
View the winning entries at:
📷Berry Happy Emu, Georgina Steytler
Easily our strangest duck, Musk Ducks are named after the musky odour they produce during the breeding season.
@rspca_vic
and
@BirdlifeOz
have joined together to encourage Victorians to
#DiscoverDucks
👉
📷 Georgina Steytler, Adam Blyth and Robert McLean
After months of preparation,
@BirdlifeOz
and partners have successfully installed 35 replacement nest hollows (known as Cockatubes) for Glossy Black-Cockatoos where they are needed the most - fire affected East Gippsland
@eastgippscma
📷 C Tzaros and D Sullivan
Some wonderful news out of Western Australia! WA is the first Australian state to commit to end logging of native forests by January 2024.
A huge congrats to
@ConservationWA
,
@waforests
,
@wilderness_aus
and everyone who has fought for this outcome for years.
📷
@cn_greenwell