BIRDING BASICS

Armed with a little extra knowledge, you can optimise your chances of spotting more unusual birds, even close to home.

Birding basics with Peter Rowland

SOME 900 BIRD SPECIES have been recorded in Australia.

About 40 per cent are found nowhere else in the world. Around 30 per cent are considered common here. The rest occur only in specific habitats or geographic ranges, regularly migrate from overseas or simply show up in Australia as unannounced vagrants. Others are simply secretive or rare.

Most people believe the further you are from human settlement the more birds you will see. While this can be true, you could spend more time driving than birding. Urban areas may seem less than ideal birding environments, but there can still be a good number of species found in them. A trip to the local park, botanic gardens or similar greenspace can be very rewarding indeed, and a carefully planned domestic garden, full of flowering and fruiting native trees or shrubs and a bird bath, can attract a surprising variety of birdlife.

Forests and woodlands are great places to see ‘bush’ birds. Many of these areas are protected in reserves and easily accessed, with well-maintained walking tracks and information areas.

Rainforests are especially rich habitats where there is typically a lot of bird activity, although the dense vegetation can make birds hard to spot. Many rainforest birds can be located by their calls, which echo through the rainforest almost constantly. Ground-dwelling birds can be detected as they search through leaf litter for food, and canopy-dwellers such as pigeons are often betrayed by the sound of dislodged fruits falling to the rainforest floor as they feed.

But if you want to see a good variety of different birds, well-watered areas such as wetlands, swamps and even sewage treatment plants are always good spotting grounds, especially if there’s a good walking trail nearby. Websites such as ebird.org/ explore are great for finding hotspots in your area.

Wherever you go, position yourself near a clearing or at the fringes where different habitats meet (ecotones). These areas typically have a richer diversity of birdlife, especially during early mornings and late afternoons, when many species are most active.

If you are heading off to look for a particular species, research its seasonal movements and feeding habits so you go at the best times and to the most likely spots. Some songbirds, for example, follow the flowering patterns of their food plants, while other species move to lower altitudes during colder months. A large number of wader species only occur in Australia during the warmer months, and are most easily viewed when feeding close to the shore on the outgoing high tide.

Learning how to identify bird calls and songs is tricky, but important for identifying some species. There are many good resources to assist you, including CDs, apps and websites, but the best way to learn calls is by getting out and experiencing birds in the wild.

Getting familiar with certain calls, such as the rapid, high-pitched alarm calls given by some honeyeater species, can indicate the presence of a bird of prey and the perfect time for you to look to the skies.