WHISKERED TERN

409       WHISKERED TERN           Chlidonias hybrida

Australia          (283)

Largest marsh tern, 25-27 cm, wingspan 70 cm. Found in vegetated and open wetland; brackish, saline lakes; saltfields, irrigated land, sewerage ponds. Range most of mainland Australia except driest areas of WA/SA/NT.

FRECKLED DUCK

Photographed at Forbes, NSW, October 2014

408          FRECKLED DUCK          Stictonetta naevosa

Australia          (282)

Also known as Monkey Duck. 48-59 cm. Found in large well-vegetated swamps, in dry periods moves to open lakes. Ranges across sw WA and se quarter of mainland Australia. Rare, irruptive, nomadic.

Female, photographed near Werribee, Victoria February 2015

WHISTLING KITE

407             WHISTLING KITE                 Haliastur sphenurus

Australia              (281)

Also incorrectly called the Whistling Eagle. Ranges over most of Australia, except the driest inland of WA and SA. Found in open forests, foothills, usually near water, timbered watercourses, lakes, tidal inlets, swamps and mudflats. 50-60 cm, wingspan 1.2 m.

BANDED STILT

406           BANDED STILT              Cladorhynchus leucocephalus

Australia          (280)

Nomadic but endemic to Australia. 36-45 cm. Found in shallow salt lakes, salt marshes, claypans, tidal mudflats, commercial salt fields, occasionally flooded claypans, shallow freshwater lakes. Usually in a flock, may be thousands. Range se WA up to Shoal Bay, bottom se of NT, e 2/3 of SA, w of NSW and w 3/4 of Vic.

COMMON KOEL

Photographed in Bendigo,  November 2014

405         PACIFIC KOEL           Eudynamys orientalis

Australia          (279)

Also known as Eastern Koel, and colloquially as railbird or stormbird. A large cuckoo, well-known for its distinctive mournful call. Found in leafy, fruiting trees on fringes of rainforests, woodlands, streams; farmlands, parks, streets. Range: winters in PNG-Indonesia, breeds in n. and e. Aust. from Kimberley to s. coast NSW, occasionally e. Vict and s. WA; ranges to India and China. The one pictured is on edge of its range at Bendigo, one of two or three males in the town.

HALL'S BABBLER

404          HALL'S BABBLER                Pomatostomus superciliosos

Australia          (278)

23-25 cm. Found in tall mulga and other acacia scrubs, cypress pine, open eucalypt woodlands, spinifex areas. Range western Queensland and north-western NSW. Not identified until 1960s.

RED-BACKED KINGFISHER

Photographed north of Cooktown, Queensland

403        RED-BACKED KINGFISHER               Todiramphus pyrrhopygia

Australia          (277)

20-24 cm. Found in sparse inland, woodlands, scrubland, often far from water, gibber, spinifex, tree lined dry-watercourses and grassy tropical woodlands. Range most of Australian mainland excepts WA, southern half Victoria, and around ne NSW.

LATHAM'S SNIPE

Photographed near Geelong, Victoria, November 2014.

402        LATHAM'S SNIPE           Gallinago hardwickii

Australia              (276)

Also known as Australian or Japanese Snipe. 28-31 cm, bill 7.5 cm. Breeds in Japan and migrates to Australia for the summer, range in Australia from Perth up w coast and across the n. to the Gulf, from Cape York down e coast and across to Eyre Peninsular and some distance inland, all of Tasmania. Found on soft wet ground or shallow water with tussocks, wet parts of paddocks, seepage below dams, irrigated areas, sultans, bogs and mangrove fringes.

MAGPIE MANNIKIN

401         MAGPIE MANNIKIN                Spermestes fringilloides

South Africa           (94)

Also called Magpie Munia. Range across southern and central Africa. Found in subtropical/tropical (lowland) moist shrubland, forest and dry grassland habitat. 13 cm.

MARICO SUNBIRD

400         MARICO SUNBIRD             Cinnyris mariquensis

South Africa            (93)

Also known as Mariqua Sunbird. Found in woodland, savanna, often in very dry areas. Range across northern half of southern Africa, except west coastal strip. 12 cm.

COLLARED SUNBIRD

399          COLLARED SUNBIRD           Hedydipna collaris

South Africa          (92)

9-10 cm. Range across most of sub-Saharan Africa. Found in forests near water.

WIRE-TAILED SWALLOW

398           WIRE-TAILED SWALLOW            Hirundo smithii

South Africa          (91)

18 cm. Found in open country near water and human habitation. Range across ne Southern Africa.

SOUTHERN BOUBOU

397          SOUTHERN BOUBOU                 Laniarius ferrugineus

South Africa                (90)

22 cm. Endemic to Southern Africa, along the east and south coast. Found in forest edges, thickets and dense coastal scrub.

GREY TIT-FLYCATCHER

396             GREY TIT-FLYCATCHER              Myioparus plumbeus

South Africa         (89)

Found in subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, dense woodlands, savanna thickets and forest edges. Range ne corner of southern Africa. 14 cm.396

SPECTACLED WEAVER

395            SPECTACULED WEAVER             Ploceus ocularis

South Africa           (88)

Range across east, middle and southern Africa. Found widely in woodlands, forest edges and gardens, not in arid regions or dense rainforest. 15 cm.

BRIMSTONE CANARY

394          BRIMSTONE CANARY             Serinus sulphuratus

South Africa             (87)

Also known as Bully Canary. Range across central and southern Africa. Found in open, lightly wooded habitats, such as hillsides with trees or scrub and forest edges, in South Africa mainly on coastal strip, coastal bush, shrubs, gardens and areas with rank vegetation. 15-16 cm.