PURPLE HERON

Photographed on Cocos Island, January 2023

(261)               PURPLE HERON            Ardea purpurea

AUSTRALIA                801

Found in trees, bushes and emergent vegetation fringing wetlands. Widespread throughout Europe, Africa, Asia to Indonesia; vagrant to Australia. 

 

SEMI-PALMATED PLOVER

Photographed at Wellington Point, Queensland, December 2021

1315                SEMI-PALMATED PLOVER                 Charadrius semipalmatus      

AUSTRALIAN                       800

Vagrant to coastal Australia from the Americas. First recorded in 2010; one has been sighted annually in Broome for a number of years.

HUDSONIAN WHIMBREL

Photographed at Toora, Victoria, November 2012

1314                  HUDSONIAN WHIMBREL                    Numenius hudsonicus       

AUSTRALIAN BIRDS                    799

Also known as the American Whimbrel. Migratory bird, wintering on the coasts in southern North America and South America. Roosts in mangroves. Feeds on small invertebrates and crabs in the soft tidal mud; feeds on berries before migration.

NOTE:   This would be a first record for Australia.

 

BLACK-EARED CATBIRD

Photographed in Iron Range, Queensland, January 2021

1313                     BLACK-EARED CATBIRD                     Ailuroedus melanotis 

AUSTRALIAN BIRDS                       798

Species of bowerbird found in New Guinea and North Queensland. Was considered a subspecies of Spotted Catbird but now elevated to full species. 

 

RED-BELLIED PITTA

Photographed in Iron Range National Park, January 2021

1312                     RED-BELLIED PITTA                 Pitta erythrogaster

AUSTRALIA                797

Wet season visitor to rainforests of Cape York peninsula. Breeds in the closed forests during wet season. Migrates to New Guinea in non-breeding season.

 

GRACEFUL HONEYEATER

Photographed in Iron Range, Queensland, January 2021

1311                 GRACEFUL HONEYEATER               Microptilis gracilis

AUSTRALIAN BIRDS                   796

The Graceful Honeyeater was split from the Cryptic Honeyeater in 2019. It ranges from Cape York, north of Cooktown up into southern New Guinea.

NORDMANN’S GREENSHANK

Photographed in Cairns, Queensland, January 2021

1310               NORDMANN'S GREENSHANK                    Tringa guttifer

AUSTRALIA                    795

Also known as Spotted Greenshank. Breeds in eastern Russia along south-west and northern coast of Sea of Okhotsk and on Sakhalin Island. Non-breeding range not fully understood but recorded in South Korea, mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Malaysia, as well as Japan, North Korea, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Singapore, Philippines and Indonesia. Endangered species with population estimated at between 500-1000 birds. 

 

HIMALAYAN BUZZARD

 

1310                 HIMALAYAN BUZZARD                    Buteo burmanicus

NEPAL.             150

Fairly common winter visitor or passage migrant; some may over-winter. Mountain or open country. Rather sluggish, pounces on prey by dropping from vantage point or soaring over open country.

LESSER YELLOWLEGS

Photographed at Ash Island, NSW, September 2020

1309                            LESSER YELLOWLEGS                      Tringa flavipes

AUSTRALIA                        794 

Shorebird, breeds in clearings near ponds in the boreal forest region from Alaska to Quebec. Usually migrate from North America to South America; regular vagrant to UK; Rare vagrant to Australia with records in NSW, and unconfirmed from other states. Forages in shallow water; eats mainly insects, small fish and crustaceans.

ARAFURA SHRIKE-THRUSH

Photographed at Kakadu, North Territory, May 2016.

1308                  ARAFURA SHRIKE-THRUSH                Colluricincla megarhyncha

AUSTRALIAN                    793          

Formerly considered a conspecific member of Little Shrike-thrush complex but genetic investigations found it a separate species, and with three subspecies: megarhyncha (found on Salawati, Misool and Are Islands and New Guinea; parvula (found in nw WA and NT); and aruensis (Trans-Fly region of New Guinea). Natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.

Darwin, 2024

LITTLE-RINGED PLOVER

Photographed at Wunjunga Wetlands, Queensland, March 2020

(*900)                  LITTLE-RINGED PLOVER                 Charadrius dubius

AUSTRALIA                  792

Breeding habitat is open gravel areas near. freshwater across the Paleartic, including northwestern Africa. Migratoryand winter inn Africa. Forage for food on muddy areas; eat insects and worms. Three subspecies: C. d. curonicus from Eurasia, Russian Fareast, Japan, Korea, China to North Africa. Winter spends in Sahara, Sri Lanka, to Indonesia and China; C. d. jerdoni from India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan to South East Asia; C. d. dubius  from the Philippines, New Guinea to Bismarck Archipelago.

GURNEY'S EAGLE

Photographed above Saibai Island, Torres Straits, March 2020.

1307                      GURNEY’S EAGLE                     Aquila gurneyi

AUSTRALIAN BIRDS                 791

Uncommon to rare resident in NG but widely distributed, forrest eagle. Endemic to NG and Moluccas, vagrant to Torres Straits. Reputedly preys on arboreal mammals such as possums. Not well know information on this birds, seems prevalent near coast.

LONG-TAILED BUZZARD

Photographed above Saibai Island, Torres Straits, March 2020.

1306                  LONG-TAILED BUZZARD                  Henicopernis longicauda

AUSTRALIAN BIRDS                790

Also known as Long-tailed Honey-buzzard. Singly or in pairs soars over Forrests, circling and patrolling open corridors beneath canopy; feeds mainly on insects, lizards, and bird’s eggs. Endemic to NG, uncommon resident.