Visiting remote Cape York in search of local endemics & New Guinea specials which can’t be found anywhere else in Australia such as Eclectus Parrot, Red-cheeked Parrot, Palm Cockatoo, Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo, Yellow-billed Kingfisher, Fawn-breasted Bowerbird, Magnificent Riflebird, Trumpet Manucode, Tropical Scrubwren, Green-backed Honeyeater, Tawny-breasted Honeyeater, Black-eared Catbird and Frilled Monarch which are there all year round.

The Wet Tropics  including the Atherton Tablelands and Cairns area has 15 endemic birds which are found nowhere else in the world. (see Sidebar) It also has many distinct subspecies including Double-eyed Fig-Parrot, Crimson Rosella, Southern Boobook, Masked Owl, Satin Bowerbird, White-throated Treecreeper, Yellow-throated Scrubwren, Brown Gerygone, Yellow Thornbill, Eastern Spinebill, Yellow-faced Honeyeater, Grey Fantail, Pale Yellow Robin and Bassian Thrush. It addition it has some birds like Southern Cassowary which are found also in New Guinea and Papua but not anywhere else in Australia.

Travelling from Cairns to Iron Range allows a good look at the different habitats that can be seen in this northernmost part of Australia. Mangroves, heathland, rainforest, vine forest, savannah and wetlands offer lots to look at. Iron range has a number of bird species that cannot be seen elsewhere in Australia such as the New Guinea “specials” like Eclectus Parrot, Palm Cockatoo and Yellow-billed kingfisher and the Cape York endemics such as Golden-shouldered Parrot.

With the coming of the rains, birds usually resident in New Guinea  such as Papuan (Red-bellied) Pitta, Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher and Black-winged Monarch migrate south.  They then return north again when the rains stop. While the Kingfisher heads down as far as Cairns the Pitta and the Monarch tend to stay in the Iron Range area. Of course, the other “New Guinea specials” which cannot be seen anywhere else in Australia such as Eclectus Parrot, Red-cheeked Parrot, Palm Cockatoo, Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo, Yellow-billed Kingfisher, Fawn-breasted Bowerbird, Magnificent Riflebird, Trumpet Manucode, Tropical Scrubwren, Green-backed Honeyeater, Tawny-breasted Honeyeater, Black-eared Catbird and Frilled Monarch are there all year round.

Birding Georgetown gives you an introduction to Outback birding. Are you worried about having to travel long distances along dirt roads to get to the Outback? Then try visiting Georgetown. Anywhere over the Dividing Range is classed as the “Outback”. A short 4 hour trip from Cairns over the Divide to Georgetown allows the traveller a taste of the “Outback”.

Wedge-tailed Eagles, Whistling Kites and Brown Goshawks soar over head. Small flocks of Cockatiels, Budgerigars, Galahs and Pale-headed Rosellas zip across the road. Families of Emus and Australian Bustards wander through the grasslands. Small groups of Black-throated Finch, Double-barred Finch, Masked Finch, Zebra Finch and Chestnut-breasted Mannikins can be seen feeding in the grasses and bushes beside the road.

Budgies or Budgerigars to give them their full name, are nomadic. They follow the food and water. For most of the year they split up into small groups. This means that finding them in the vast expanse of Australia’s arid interior can be a bit hit or miss. However, as the standing water available in the bush dries up, these small flocks join together. They head to where there is a permanent source of this very necessary commodity. One of the places they head to is the small, western Queensland country town of Boulia.

Rinyirru is the Aboriginal name for Lakefield National Park. This is located about half way up Cape York. This tour only goes  as far north as  Musgrave & the Lakefield region. It is the best area on the Cape to see the Golden-shouldered Parrots while nesting Red Goshawks and the tiny Star Finches are an added bonus. The avifauna of Lakefield National Park bears more similarity to that of the Northern Territory than to nearby areas of Queensland. The dramatic, knife-like silhouettes of the magnetic termite mounds on the Nifold Plains are also reminiscent of the Northern Territory.  In comparison most Queensland termite mounds are just blobby mud structures.

This 8 day birding tour takes you to the dry interior of western Queensland offers a good range of dry country species including three grasswrens! During the dry season when there is little standing water in the bush, the dry country birds are drawn to any water which is generally limited to the dams put in for cattle. It is possible to see large flocks of parrots including Budgerigars, Little Corellas, Galahs and a variety of finches coming in to drink and also roosting in the nearby trees. Starting in Mt Isa where you will continue the journey by road giving you an excellent chance to view the wide open spaces of the Queensland cattle country.