PACIFIC BAZA

Photographed at Glenning Valley, NSW Central coast, August 2014

237                 PACIFIC BAZA             Aviceda subcristata

Australia          (237)

Also known as Crested Hawk. 36-45 cm, wingspan 80 cm. Range across northern Australia in Kimberley and Top End, and down e. coast from Cape York to Sydney. Found in leafy trees on rainforest fringes, open forest and woodlands, timbered watercourses and treed suburbs.

FAIRY MARTIN

Photographed at Cunnamulla, Queensland

236              FAIRY MARTIN              Hirundo ariel

Australia           (236)

Also known as Bottle Swallow. 12-13 cm. Ranges all over Australian mainland except driest areas. Found in open country, rivers, creeks, wetlands, cliffs, bridges and caves. Only Aust. swallow to build a mud-bottle nest with narrow entrance sprout.

AUSTRALASIAN SHOVELER

Photographed at Forbes, August 2014

235                 AUSTRALASIAN SHOVELER             Anas rhynchotis

Australia           (235)

Also known as Australian, Blue-winged or Southern Shoveler. Range Tasmania, Victoria, NSW, se half of Queensland, e. half of SA and sw WA up to Shark Bay. Found in large waters, lakes, wetlands, sewerage ponds and wetlands.

WEEBILL

234              WEEBILL           Smicrornis brevirostris

Australia       (234)

This is Australia's smallest bird. 8-9 cm. Ranges across most of the mainland except the driest parts. Found in drier woodlands, river red gums, mallee, mulga and acacias.

FAN-TAILED CUCKOO

female Fan-tailed Cuckoo, photographed on Townsville Common, August 2014

233           FAN-TAILED CUCKOO                      Cacomantis flabelliformis

Australia         (233)

Range down e. third of Australia and across south and up as far as Shark Bay, and in Tasmania. Found in rainforest, red river gum, mangroves, open woodland, paddocks and roadsides. 25-27 cm.

female Fan-tailed Cuckoo, photographed on Townsville Common, August 2014

Photographed near Cairns, Queensland October 2015

INDIAN YELLOW-NOSED ALBATROSS

232        INDIAN YELLOW-NOSED ALBATROSS           Diomedea chlororhynchos

Australia     (232)

Also known as Mollymawk. 71-82 cm, wingspan 1.8-2 m. Found off the coast around Tasmania and the south of the mainland from NW Cape (WA) to near Tropic in Q. 

AUSTRALASIAN GANNET

231         AUSTRALASIAN GANNET            Morus serrator

Australia           (231)

Also called Australian Gannet and Diver. 91 cm, span 1.7-2 m. Ranges along coastal waters off Tasmania and south of mainland from NW Cape (WA) to Mackay (Q).

Photographed at Point Danger, Portland, Victoria November 2015

Lawrence Rock Nature Reserve, Portland, Victoria, gannet rookery.

TREE MARTIN

230         TREE MARTIN         Hirundo nigricans

Australia         (230)

Also called Tree Swallow. 12.5-14 cm. Range all over Australia except in driest areas. Found in open country with trees.

PALLID CUCKOO

Female Pallid cuckoo

229        PALLID CUCKOO           Caculus pallidus

Australia         (229)

Range all over Australia mainland and Tasmania. Found in woodlands, scrub, mangroves, farms, pastoral country, golf courses and gardens. 28-33 cm.

COTTON PYGMY-GOOSE

Female, photographed at Gympie, August 2014

228         COTTON PYGMY-GOOSE       Nettapus coromandelianus

Australia        (228)

Also known as the White Pygmy-Goose. 34-38 cm, span c. 60 cm. Range on e. coast mainland from Brisbane to Charlotte Bay. Found in deeper freshwater swamps, lagoons and dams.

CHESTNUT-BREASTED MANNIKIN

227              CHESTNUT-BREASTED MANNIKIN             Lonchura castaneothorax

Australia      (227)

11.5-12.5 cm. Range from Kimberley to Sydney, along coast and ranging inland. Found in tall grass in Acacia woodlands, grassy flats, and spinifex crops.

CRIMSON FINCH

Photographed Townsville Common, August 2014. Male above, female with red head and brown body.

226            CRIMSON FINCH           Neochmia phaeton

Australia        (226)

12.5-14 cm. Found near water, cane grass, pandanus, paperbark, crops, roadsides and gardens. Range from Broome across Leichhardt River, a pocket on west coast of Cape York, and down e. coast to Mackay.

Darwin, January 2024