RED-CHEEKED PARROT

Photographed in Iron Ranges, Queensland October 2015

688         RED-CHEEKED PARROT          Geoffroyus geoffroyi

Australia      (530)

20-25 cm. Found in rainforests, scrubs; nearby eucalypt woodlands. Range: e. Cape York Pen (Q), from Pascoe R s. to Rocky R. Locally common; sedentary.

LITTLE BRONZE-CUCKOO

Photographed at Coen, Queensland October 2015

687     LITTLE BRONZE CUCKOO         Chrysococcyx minutillus

Australia    (529)

Found in drier, open forests and woodlands; monsoon forest, paperbarks, gardens. 14-15 cm. Range: nominate race: Kimberley (WA)-Top End (NT). Race: bernardi: from c. Byfield (Q) to c. Kempsey (NSW), inland to Tenterfield. Some migrate in autumn to Cape York Pen.

YELLOW-BILLED KINGFISHER

Photographed at Iron Range, Queensland October 2015

686      YELLOW-BILLED KINGFISHER            Syma torotoro

Australia       (528)

Found in lower levels, margins of tropical forests; scrubs on watercourses; adjacent eucalypt woodlands. Range: in Aust confined to n. Cape York Pen. (Q), s to Aurukun on w. coast, Princess Charlotte Bay on e. coast. Common, Sedentary. 18-21 cm.

FRILLED MONARCH

Photographed at Iron Range, Queensland October 2015

685          FRILlED MONARCH            Arses telescophthalmus

Australia          (527)

Found in rainforest, chiefly in middle spaces/lower canopy. Range: confined to n. Cape York Pen.(Q): s. to McIwraith Ra. on e. coast and to Archer R. on w. coast. Fairly common, sedentary. 

GREATER SAND PLOVER

Photographed on Chilli Beach, Queensland October 2015

684          GREATER SAND PLOVER          aradrius leschenaultii 

Australia          (526)

Also known as Large Sand Dotterell or Large Sand Plover. 20-25 cm, wingspan 53-60 cm. Found on wide, sandy or shelly beaches; sandpits, tidal mudflats, reefs, sand-cays, mangroves, salt marsh, dune wilderness, bare paddocks, seldom far inland. Range: breeds (in three races) from Turkey to s. Siberia; regular summer migrant to Aust., Tas., commonest in nw WA, where fpcks of thousands.

BLACK-THROATED FINCH

Photographed at Saltwater Creek October 2015

683         BLACK-THROATED FINCH          Poephila cincta

Australia       (525)

Also known as Black-rumped, Black-tailed or Parson Finch. 10 cm. Found in grassy scrubland/woodland/dune woodlands/pandanus near water. Range: ne Aust race: nigrotecta: n C York Pen. Nominate race: w. to Doomadgee, s to c Cloncurry-Winton-Clermont, e. to c. Townsville-upper Burdekin R. Sparse population in New England region (NSW). Sedentary; locally nomadic. Vulnerable

BLACK-BACKED BUTCHERBIRD

Photographed at Mushgrove Roadhouse, Queensland October 2015

682        BLACK-BACKED BUTCHERBIRD            Cracticus mentalis

Australia      (524)

Found in open forest/woodlands; watercourses, agricultural areas, settlements. 26-28 cm. Range: n. C York Pen. (Q), s. to Mitchell R. on w coast and to near Cooktown on the e. Common. Sedentary. 

GOLDEN-SHOULDERED PARROT

Photographed on Artemis Station, with the help of Sue Sheppard, October 2015

681       GOLDEN SHOULDERED PARROT         Psephotus chrysopterygius

Australia         (523) 

Also known as Ant-bed and Ant-hill Parrot. 25-27 cm. Found in open eucalypt, paperbark woodlands; grasslands with termite-mounds. Range: endemic to C. York Pen. (Q), where formerly widespread. Now mostly in aeea of c. Pen.; total population reduced to c. 150 pairs or c. 1000 birds of all ages after breeding. Decline due to increased burning which allowed encroachment of paperbark and other scrub on habitat, resulting in increased predation by birds such as pied butcherbird. Sedentary.

FAIRY GERYGONE

Photographed at Cooktown Botanic Gardens, Queensland October 2015

680      FAIRY GERYGONE           Gerygone palpebrosa

Australia            (522)

Race: personata, also known as Black-throated warbler. Found on the edges of lowland rainforest, vine forest, leafy trees on watercourses; eucalypt woodlands; scrubland; mangroves. Range: n and e Q and islands. Race: personata: Cape York Pen., s. to Atherton Tableland-Innesfail on e coast and Staten R on w coast. Race: flavida; coastal s. from c. Innesfail to Fraser Is., Tin Can Bay, Kin Kin, and Widgee in se Q. Fairly common,Sedentary. The distinctive races do overlap and interbreed.

Female

Nest, the bottom has caught on a branch as it swayed in the wind.

BLUE-FACED PARROT-FINCH

Juvenile, photographed near Kingfisher Lodge, Jullaten, Queensland October 2015

679            BLUE-FACED PARROT-FINCH             Erythrura trichroa 

Australia           (521)

Found in coastal mangrove fringiest margins of and grassy clearings in, mountain rainforests over 1000 m. 12-13 cm. Range: imperfectly known. Usually stated as from near Cooktown (Q), to Mt Lewis, near Jullaten, and Atherton Tableland, but breeding reported from Iron Range, e. Cape York Pen, and near Ingham. Seasonal nomad or migrant, to highlands in summer, coastal lowlands. Rare.

Comment: difficult to find even when an area is located. Took many days of searching for.

RED-NECKED CRAKE

Photographed at Kingfisher Lodge, Jullaten, Queensland October 2015

678        RED-NECKED CRAKE           Rallina tricolor

Australia            (520)

Found in rainforests, especially with dense understory of ferns, vines etc; mostly near watercourses; also vine-thickets, drier monsoon forests, lantana, dense gardens. 23-29 cm. Range: ne Q from Cape York s. to about Paluma; inland to Atherton Tableland. Casual s. to Eungella NP, sedentary in south of range; some migrate through Torres Strait to PNG in winter.

Comment: Extremely elusive and skittish. Took several nights staking out his route to get these photos.

WHITE-BROWED CRAKE

Photographed near Kingfisher Lodge, Queensland October 2015

677        WHITE-BROWED CRAKE          Porzana cinerea

Australia          (519)

Found in reeds, rank grass, water lilies, floating vegetation in swamps; mangroves, woodland edges near or over water; sewerage ponds. 17-18 cm. Range: coastal n Aust. and islands from e. Kimberley (WA) to Townsville (Q). Probable winter migrant to PNG.