Common Australian Birds

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[FayetheADHDsquirrel]

There are certainly some beautiful birds there as well as some unusual ones. Have you seen all of these yourself?

 

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Have you seen all of these yourself?

All except for the King Parrot which only lives on the east coast, I never spent much time on the east coast, too built up and suburban. And of course I've seen many different species that don't feature in these videos.

One day I watched a flock of Sulphur Crested Cockatoos sitting on a power line on a country dirt road, just a single line between the poles. One bird did a summersalt on the line and his neighbour got angry and told him off for it. There was a little bit of an argument then all of them started doing it in perfect synchrony, that powerline started whipping around and around like a child's skipping rope. I was amazed that it didn't come down.

Sulphur Cresteds are the clowns of the bird world.

 

[Judge]

Reminds me of native Aussie actor Errol Flynn trying hard not to break out laughing over scenes of him with calls of the Kookaburra bird in filming locations well beyond their native habitat.

 

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Reminds me of native Aussie actor Errol Flynn trying hard not to break out laughing over scenes of him with calls of the Kookaburra bird in filming locations well beyond their native habitat.

Remember the old TV series Flipper?

Dolphins don't make noises like that, they only make clicking sounds. The sound used for Flipper is a recording of a kookaburra run at double speed.

 

[Judge]

Remember the old TV series Flipper?

Dolphins don't make noises like that, they only make clicking sounds. The sound used for Flipper is a recording of a kookaburra run at double speed.

Sure. Flipper, faster than lightning...lol Flipper a kookaburra. I like it. Makes sense as well....now that I think of it.

 

[AuAL]

I haven’t had time to cross-check with @Outdated’s list, but I’ve seen 26 of these: 30 COMMON Birds Found in Australia! (2026)
King parrots are prolific in the ranges just south of here, but I cannot clearly recall ever having seen a white-bellied sea eagle, masked lapwing, red wattlebird or grey fantail. Brush turkeys have made nests in our yard (a real nuisance, as they can be 2 metres across and over half a metre high.) Friendlier are the tawny frogmouths that sit on top of our open kitchen window (and leave evidence all down the window.)

 

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white-bellied sea eagle,

Common across the top end. Not as big as a wedge tail but much more aggressive, a sea eagle will easily kick a pair of wedge tails out of their territory if he decides it's now his.

masked lapwing,

The common name for these is Plover, and I'm honestly surprised you haven't seen any, they're very common across much of the country. They love flat grasslands and prefer areas with little human traffic so they're prolific at airports and large industrial plants. They are 10 times nastier than any magpie.

red wattlebird or grey fantail.

Both of these I've only seen in Melbourne but apparently we get them here too. From just south of Darwin I took this picture of a Northern Fantail. They're supposedly a different species but I'll be buggered if I can tell the difference.

 

[WhitewaterWoman]

I enjoyed both videos and as you know I don’t much like videos.

I love the blue fairy, and the brightly colored birds.

I am wondering about songbirds. While interesting, none of the songs would be described as musical.

Is Australia lacking in musical, mellifluous songbirds?

 

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Is Australia lacking in musical, mellifluous songbirds?

We think our magpies are the most musical bird on the planet. Other than that it really only sounds musical when you can hear many species at the same time. Most of our birds are very loud but don't really sing very much.

Parrots are especially noisy and can damage eardrums if there's enough of them.

 

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Another interesting tidbit about parrots - they don't sweat. Instead of producing sweat their skin produces a dry powder that they fluff through their feathers to keep mites and other parasites out. That's why they all smell funny.

 

[Shamar]

I remember Australian birds. Whenever we had an equipment failure or unexpected problem, we could almost always count on a kookaburra to start laughing at us.

 

[AuAL]

Is Australia lacking in musical, mellifluous songbirds?

Genetic analyses have determined that all songbirds globally originated in what became Australasia.

 

[Cyber]

Actually for many of us Aussies we tend to see/hear introduced non-native bird species which unfortunately dominate our gardens and scare native birds away - listed from most common
Indian Mynahs - pest, scare off small native birds and impossible to get rid off
Black birds - introduced by the first settlers
Pigeons - came with ships also escapees
Starlings - introduced by the first settlers
Cockatoos - introduced from northern Australia
Rainbow lorikeets - introduced from northern Australia
Ibis - called bin-chickens, scavengers

Common conspicuous (and nuisance) natives
Magpies - Swoop cyclists and walkers but actually I have a soft spot for maggies
Crows/Ravens - scavengers
Seagulls - scavengers
Noisy mynahs - Swoop cyclists and walkers

 

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Cockatoos - introduced from northern Australia

South Australia always had Galahs, Sulphur Cresteds and Corellas. Being seed eaters they prefer open woodlands with large grassy areas as opposed to dense forest.

Several species of Lorikeets and Rosellas including the Rainbow Lorrikeet are also original natives here as well as Budgerigars and Cockatiels.

10 parrots you can see in South Australia

Rainbow lorikeets - introduced from northern Australia

The ones up north look very similar but are a different species called the Red Collared Lorikeet.

 

[Cyber]

South Australia always had Galahs, Sulphur Cresteds and Corellas. Being seed eaters they prefer open woodlands with large grassy areas as opposed to dense forest.

Several species of Lorikeets and Rosellas including the Rainbow Lorrikeet

Specifically Sulphur crested, rainbow lorikeets and corellas travel in huge massive flocks over suburbs of Melbourne. they cause huge damage to rooves and cars as they congregate. Particularly rainbows, it would be great if their numbers were controlled. I have to wash my car and driveway every morning for bird droppings.