BIRDS OF THE DAINTREE
BIRDWATCHING PARADISE
The Daintree Rainforest is recognised globally as one of the top bird watching destinations in the world. Birders come from across the globe to view these lowland species up close. In the Wet Tropics region there are 430 species of bird, with 13 of these endemic bird to the Wet Tropics region of Australia. These include Macleay’s Honeyeater, Pied Monarch, Lesser Sooty Owl, and Victoria’s Riflebird. You can find all of them in the beautiful Daintree, however the favourite that most people wish to see is the Southern Cassowary. Interestingly, the Daintree is home to more than half of Australia’s bird species. So, what can you see and where can you find them?
There are literally hundreds of bird species to keep an eye out for in the Daintree Rainforest, so it is difficult to know where to even look. Most people assume you have to crane your neck and glance over the treetops, but there are numerous species that live on the ground. Some of the more common ones you will see include the Australia Brush Turkey, Orange Footed Scrub Fowl, Red Necked Crake, Bush Hen, Noisy Pitta and the Emerald Ground Dove.
The best birding is often between dawn and 11am, when birds are most active. This is particularly the case in the spring and early summer, when birds sing in the early morning.
MID-CANOPY BIRDS
- Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher – Tanysiptera sylvia Uncommon – Summer migrant from PNG
- Little Shrike Thrush – Colluricincla megarhyncha Common
- Barred Cuckoo-shrike – Coracina lineata Uncommon
- Varied Triller – Lalage leucomela Common
- Pale-yellow Robin – Tregallasia capito Uncommon
- Grey Whistler – Pacchycephala simplex Uncommon
- Spectacled Monarch – Monarcha trivirgatus Common
- Black-faced Monarch – Monarcha melanopsis Common
- Pied Monarch – Arses kaupi Uncommon
- Yellow-breasted Boatbill – Machaerirhynchus flaviventer Uncommon
- Leaden flycatcher – Myiagra rubecula Uncommon – More abundant in winter
- Grey Fantail – Rhipidura fuliginosa Common – Winter migrant
- Rufous Fantail – Rhipidura rufifrons Common – Winter migrant
- Northern Fantail – Rhipidura rufiventris Uncommon
- Large-billed Scrubwren – Sericornis magnirostris Common
- Large-billed Gerygone – Gerygone magnirostris Common
- Black Butcherbird – Cracticus quoyi Common
- Spotted Catbird – Ailuroedus melanotis Common
- Fairy Gerygone – Gerygone palpebrosa Common*
- Silvereye – Zosterops lateralis Common – Australia wide
- Little Bronze Cuckoo – Chrysococcyx minutillis Uncommon
- Gould’s Bronze Cuckoo – Chrysococcyx russatus Uncommon
* Endemic to North East Queensland
CANOPY TOWER
View the Daintree Rainforest Canopy
AERIAL WALKWAY
Access to mid level Daintree Rainforest
INTERPRETIVE CENTRE
Discover the Interpretive Display Centre
AUDIO TOURS
Daintree Rainforest self-guided tours
Leave your pets at home; take any rubbish out with you; don't feed the wildlife and don't pollute the water.
Enjoy yourself and leave nothing but footsteps and take nothing but photographs!
Wet Tropics Management Authority