Endemic Bird Tours Australia

Endemism in Australia

Endemic species in a place equals unique biodiversity - species that occur nowhere else. This is a very good way of determining biodiversity - as much so as the actual number of different species that live in an area. Australia has:

• more endemic plants than 98% of the world's countries
• more endemic non-fish vertebrates than any other country on Earth
• more endemic mammals than any other country
• more endemic birds than 99% of the world's countries (only Indonesia has more)
• more endemic reptiles by far than any other country
• more endemic amphibians than 97% of the world's countries

Australia's Endemic Birds

Australia has somewhere between 330 and 360 species of endemic birds, which represents close to half of our total native bird species. Of course the exact number depends on your strict definition of "endemic", although it cannot be argued that Australia is recognised as being a hotspot for endemic bird species and families. According to Wikipedia, Australia "stakes a strong claim to being the world's greatest hotspot of bird endemism".

We have 5 endemic families, being:

• Casuariidae - the Emu;
• Pedionomidae - the Plains Wanderer;
• Menuridae - the Lyrebirds;
• Atrichornithidae - the Scrub-birds; and
• Dasyornithidae - the Bristlebirds.

Several other families are "Near Endemic", with members represented in Papua New Guinea.

Birds of the Hunter Region

Being in the Hunter, we are based in the heart of the Eastern Australia Endemic Bird Area (EBA 183), a region that is home to 10 species that live nowhere else on Earth. 6 of these species can be reached within a day's drive from Newcastle. A further 5 species are restricted to this EBA (but with larger ranges) and each of these 5 species can also be seen on a single day's birdwatching in the Hunter Region. In all, there have been more than 420 species recorded in the Hunter, which is about half of the Australian list (including the ocean territories).

Some very restricted birds can easily be found in the Hunter, even on a single day tour. Restricted-range birds such as Origma (Rock Warbler), Rufous Scrub-bird, Olive Whistler, Green Catbird, Regent Bowerbird and Paradise Riflebird are all resident in the Hunter. Other declining species such as Black-chinned Honeyeater, Speckled Warbler, Turquoise Parrot and Beach Stone-curlew also occur here. Endangered species such as the Regent Honeyeater and Swift Parrot regularly spend time in the Hunter. The area is also home to many nocturnal birds including the impressive Powerful Owl, Masked Owl, Eastern Grass Owl, White-throated Nightjar, as well as the wonderful Sooty Owl of the tall forests.

The Hunter River estuary is famous in Australia for the number of migratory and resident shorebirds that it attracts. Significant numbers of Red-necked Avocets can be found here, along with good numbers of Pied and Sooty Oystercatchers and hundreds of waterfowl, including visits from rare species such as Blue-billed and Freckled Ducks. Double-banded Plovers are seen in the estuary but are more common in other areas on the Hunter coastline.

The beauty of the Hunter Region is its diversity of habitats, ranging from the coastline and estuary, through the World Heritage rainforests of the Barrington Tops, to the important woodland refuges further inland.

Birds on extended tours

In reality, the sky's the limit on our extended tours.

There are too many possible birds to list, but whether you want to see the birds in 'hotspot' areas for endemic species, such as the Queensland Wet Tropics, South-western Australia, Tasmania, Christmas Island, Kimberley, Top End or elsewhere, we can arrange the tour for you. Grasswrens are an enigmatic group of Australian birds that we would be pleased to take you to see. To see these birds takes a lot of commitment as each species occurs in remote areas (although these areas are also home to many more wonderful Australian birds). Obviously, apart from the endemic species, Australia is home to many species restricted to Australasia, or that are found elsewhere much less commonly. These birds are also target species on our extended tours.