Australia is home to a spectacular diversity of birdlife, from parrots and penguins to emus and vibrant passerines. Birds of Australia covers all 714 species of resident birds and regularly occurring migrants and features more than 1,100 stunning color photographs, including many photos of subspecies and plumage variations never before seen in a field guide. Detailed facing-page species accounts describe key identification features such as size, plumage, distribution, behavior, and voice. This one-of-a-kind guide also provides extensive habitat descriptions with a large number of accompanying photos. The text relies on the very latest IOC taxonomy and the distribution maps incorporate the most current mapping data, making this the most up-to-date guide to Australian birds.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 7
INTRODUCTION 8
AUSTRALIAN CLIMATE AND RAINFALL 11
HABITATS OF AUSTRALIA 12
Marine and Coastal Habitats 12
Tropical Habitats 17
Temperate Habitats 25
Arid and Semi-arid Habitats 31
Man-made Habitats 36
SPECIES ACCOUNTS 39
Cassowary 40
Emu 40
Megapodes 42
Quail 44
Grebes 46
Ducks, Geese, and Swans 48
Gannet 58
Tropicbirds 58
Pigeons and Doves 60
Frogmouths 70
Owlet-nightjar 72
Nightjars 72
Swifts 74
Storm Petrels 76
Albatrosses 78
Petrels and Shearwaters 84
Penguins 100
Frigatebirds 102
Boobies 104
Darter 106
Cormorants 106
Pelican 108
Stork 108
Cranes 108
Herons and Bitterns 110
Ibises and Spoonbills 116
Osprey 118
Kites, Hawks, and Eagles 118
Falcons 128
Rails, Crakes, and Coots 130
Bustard 136
Stone-curlews 136
Stilts and Avocets 138
Oystercatchers 138
Plovers 140
Jacana 146
Painted-snipe 148
Sandpipers and Snipes 148
Buttonquail 162
Pratincoles 166
Plains-wanderer 166
Skuas 168
Gulls and Terns 170
Cockatoos 180
Parrots 186
Cuckoos 202
Owls 208
Barn Owls 210
Kingfishers 212
Dollarbird 216
Bee-eater 216
Pittas 218
Lyrebirds 220
Australasian Treecreepers 222
Bowerbirds 224
Australasian Wrens 228
Scrubbirds 242
Bristlebirds 242
Australasian Warblers 244
Pardalotes 260
Honeyeaters 262
Australasian Babblers 298
Logrunners 300
Quail-thrushes and Whipbirds 302
Cuckooshrikes 306
Sittella 310
Whistlers and Allies 310
Figbird and Orioles 318
Woodswallows 320
Butcherbirds and Currawongs 324
Fantails 328
Crows 330
Monarchs 332
Australian Mudnesters 338
Birds-of-paradise 340
Drongo 342
Australasian Robins 342
Larks 352
Pipit and Wagtail 352
Grassbirds 352
Cisticolas 354
Reed Warbler 354
White-eyes 356
Mistletoebird 356
Sunbird 356
Swallows and Martins 358
Thrushes 360
Estrildid Finches 362
Old World Sparrows 370
Finches 370
Starlings 372
Bulbul 372
ABBREVIATIONS 374
GLOSSARY 375
PHOTO CREDITS 380
INDEX OF SPECIES 381
Iain Campbell, a native of Australia, is builder of the Tandayapa Bird Lodge in Ecuador and cofounder of Tropical Birding, which leads bird and wildlife tours around the world. Sam Woods and Nick Leseberg are nature guides for Tropical Birding. Campbell and Woods are the authors of Wildlife of Australia.
"Birds of Australia is an excellent book. The text is comprehensive, the content is effectively organized and researched, and the scholarship is sound. The photographic plates are of a very high quality."
– Peter S. Lansley, senior ecologist, Brett Lane & Associates
"If you prefer a photographic format as your field guide over an illustrated one, then this is the book you should choose for Australia, containing superb photographs of all 714 resident and regularly occurring migrant birds. The birds are shown in over 1 100 good colour photographs, typically with 5-6 photos per page.
The one drawback I always find with photographic guides is the range of images and plumages can be restrictive, especially when showing particular features of birds which can help in their identification. The majority of the birds are shown with only one photo, though this book does try to account for this for the species where the plumage varies between genders or regional variation, and a second photo shows the female or immature birds and different subspecies too.
As in a typical illustrated field guide, the text and range maps are across from the respective bird. The text is a standard one-paragraph outline that focuses primarily on identification. Although the descriptions do a good job at describing the bird, they do not compare or mention similar species. For species such as honeyeaters where many species look very similar, these pointers can be very useful. A few lines of the text are also given on voice, habitat, and status.
The range of each bird is shown on the same all-Australia map, which is a bit generic and does not contain the boundaries of the various states, which for the visiting birder can help them work out exactly where the range extends to."
– Neil Calbrade, BTO book reviews