Australian Natural Adventures

Birding in Australia

BIRDING TASMANIA & AUSTRALIA'S OUTBACK - the NORTHERN TERRITORY

 

 

 

 

Australia has a higher percentage of unique and endemic birds than any other continent. Most birders have added 10 on more lifers on the transfer from Sydney Airport to their downtown hotel. And that's just the beginning. How does three or four parrot species while taking a leisurely walk to see the Opera House with your family sound? And a couple of new ducks as well? Caught your interest? Well, this is just the city - and Australia's biggest one at that. Wait until you get to the bush - Tasmania and the Northern Territory in Australia's Outback. These two States are about as far apart in Australia as you can get, but have at least one thing in common - some of Australia's best and most desirable birds. From half a million Magpie Geese in tropical Kakadu National Park to Tasmania's exceedingly rare Orange-bellied Parrot, with a population of less than 200 wild birds, these two places provide birding at its best. Variety is catchphrase, as you travel from latitude 43 south on Bruny Island to just 12 degrees south of the Equator at Darwin.

If you like your birds big and bold, then Black-necked Stork, Brolga or Black Swan should capture your attention; if brightly colored is more your style try a Sunbird, Gouldian Finch or Scarlet Robin. Like to work at it? Look-alike tree-toppers such as tiny Tasmanian and Brown Thornbills will have your neck sore in no time. None of the above? Your idea of birding is to relax and enjoy nature? Then just sit on the verandah of your luxury cabin at Inala after your spa bath, sip an award-winning crisp Tasmanian Sauvignon Blanc, dip into the specialty King Island Dairy cheeses and seafood, and wait for an endemic to fly past. Couldn't be easier. Oh, sorry, but even your host Tonia won't be able to quiet the raucous calls of the Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos as they fly overhead - you'll just have to put up with it.

Our birding journeys are not your ordinary bird tours, with a guide calling out names while you struggle to see their finer points - if you see the bird at all. Yes, you'll come home with an impressive list, equal to the best out there. But you'll also come home with a thousand other experiences, from skies darkened by fruit bats taking off from their daytime roost to beautiful sunsets sprinkled with homeward-bound whistling-ducks. There's time to listen to the Kookaburra sounding the morning wake-up call, and stop to photograph kangaroos and even old bridges. These are complete journeys, emphasizing - and delivering - Australia's wonderful birds, but also showing you Australia, the land, the people and the country. These are journeys that you can share with your spouse, companion or family, even if they are not birders - just as long as they appreciate the natural world. Trips to bring you together, not keep you apart.

(Of course, if old bridges, the Opera House, and even koalas don't count, then we can also tailor design a trip that doesn't waste a minute of birding time - sewage farms included)

So why travel with us, instead of a dedicated birding company? First and foremost, you can share your travel with those close to you, without being hurried up by bored spouses, friends or children, or being frowned at by the guide and other participants. Everyone will find something of interest on our trips, while you happily see your lifers, dream birds, and just enjoy birding and the outdoors. No rushing to the next "tick", plenty of time to actually watch the birds, and also to take in the rest of what the region has to offer. After traveling halfway round the world, actually having time to see a kangaroo, koala and the Opera House seems reasonable to us. Second, we can arrange your birding travel at any time of the year, and how you want it. How many times has your husband's vacation been in July, and the tour you want leaves in October? Or you have already been to Queensland, but the other tour spends a week there repeating your last visit? Or perhaps that convention in Sydney is the ideal time to add a week or two of personal travel. What we've done is create smaller modules of 3 to 6 days in different areas, and operate each module numerous times through the year. We then string these together to make longer tours going to different regions. If you can't fit in with our set dates, we'll arrange your birding around your time, your interests, and your wish list. So even if you just have a few days, we can probably do something for you. Naturally, if you can join us on our numerous set departures in each area it's a little cheaper, but even a custom date is still going to be a whole lot cheaper than coming back! We also operate on small minimum numbers for the set tours, usually four, and as there's a only a small charge to operate below the minimum, cancellations are unlikely.

Finally, in addition to being birders (and in past lives wildlife researchers), we're also professional travel arrangers, in the international travel business for over twenty years. So we can arrange all aspects of your journey, from the time you leave home until you return - smoothly, professionally, and with detailed knowledge of Australia that can only come from calling it home. Our US office is open usual business hours, and can be reached by our toll-free number. And when you call, you'll talk to a birder, not just a travel agent. And once you're in Australia our Australian staff are always on call - if they not actually by your side.

 

BIRDING TASMANIA
Find out more about Australia's Island State. As well as twelve bird species endemic to Tasmania, and several additional subspecies, Tasmania's the place to see carnivorous marsupial Quolls, wombats, and of course Tasmanian Devils. Follow our Birding Tasmania link to find out more.

 

BIRDING AUSTRALIA'S OUTBACK - the NORTHERN TERRITORY
The Northern Territory is home to two of Australia's most famous places - Kakadu National Park and Uluru (Ayers Rock). But in addition to these, the Territory, as it's known to locals, has a range of birds that also symbolize Australia. Stately Brolgas and ancient Magpie Geese in the north, more parrots than you can count (OK, if you insist - 18 species), ranging from the majestic Red-tailed Black Cockatoo to those two cage-bird favorites, cockatiels and budgerigahs, and a whole flock of honeyeaters, and the birds you haven't heard of - grasswrens and quail-thrush, among others. Eleven species of finches live here, including the Gouldian, which is about as over-the-top a life bird as you could want. Follow our Northern Territory Birding link for more.

 

BIRDING AUSTRALIA-WIDE
This is our 26 day birding and wildlife tour to five Australian states, to which you can add a Tasmanian extension. About 90% of Australian bird species distribution is covered with this tour. It has most of the Northern Territory tour, plus Royal National Park near Sydney and a pelagic trip, the Victorian desert, Kangaroo Island, and North Queensland. Just click here: Birding Australia Wide