Birding in Daintree
DAINTREE
- JULATTEN - ATHERTON TABLELANDS - MISSION BEACH
Information on birding in the Daintree area
For birdwatchers visiting the Wet Tropics of North Queensland, the region of Daintree is a 'must do'.
The diverse habitats of the lowland area include farmland, rainforest, wetlands, mangroves, open
forest, riverine, estuarine, coastal melaleucas and beaches. This
attracts a large number, and large variety of birds.
Many of the
target birds for North Queensland can be found here including Little
Kingfisher, Azure Kingfisher, Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher,
Great-billed Heron, Black Bittern, Double-eyed Fig-Parrot, Victoria's
Riflebird, Spotted Catbird, Pied Monarch, Macleay's Honeyeater, Beach
Stone-Curlew, Gould's Bronze-Cuckoo and many, many others
.
DAINTREE VILLAGE
Walking around the streets of Daintree Village can be very
productive, with the river (parts with revegetated banks), open
farmland, gardens and some large rainforest trees present. There
is a resident family of Blue-winged Kookaburra at the more open end
of town, a magnificent Metallic Starling nest tree, a family of Osprey
nesting on the Telecom tower, and the daily parade of Straw-necked
Ibis through the schoolyard.
Mannikins, Richard's Pipit and Red-backed
Fairywren enjoy the grassland and Forest and Sacred Kingfishers use
the power lines as vantage points for hunting. The range of
honeyeaters- dusky, macleays, yellow-spotted, brown-backed, yellow,
graceful, plus the frairbirds and other nectar feeders enjoy all the
flowering garden plants. In the evenings it can be quite
comical, watching the White-breasted Woodswallow jockeying for
positions on the power line outside
Red Mill House. At
night, the Blue-winged Kookaburra feed under the street lights and
occasionally Papuan Frogmouth can be seen on the fringes of town.
Most nights the Bush Stone-Curlew and Large-tailed Nightjar can be found around town - certainly heard, if not seen.
It is a valuable exercise to wander around town early in the
morning, or even late afternoon. There are viewing points over the
river and farmland, and depending on the time of year and how much
water is lying around in the paddocks, often water birds such as
Black-necked Stork, Black Bittern (in season), egrets (all sorts),
Darter, cormorants (all sorts), Pacific Black Duck, Dusky Moorhen,
Royal Spoonbill and others can be seen from these spots. Azure
Kingfisher, and sometimes Little Kingfisher plus Shining Flycatcher
can be seen from the banks of the river. No wonder that birding in Daintree is not to be missed.
The pond at Red Mill House (to which people are welcome to visit)
is well known for regular sightings of both Little Kingfisher and
Azure Kingfisher and the garden, with it's varied plantings, is home
to many other species. Well worth a visit.
STEWART CREEK ROAD
Stewart Creek Rd is a favourite walking track for birdwatchers in
Daintree, departing the Village and following the Daintree River for a
while until the road forks and either crosses Stewart Creek or
continues along the side of the creek. To walk to the bridge is
approx 1km from the village. Most of that is through regrowth
forest following the river and because of the slope, there is an
opportunity to look down into the canopy as well as up into the side
of the hill. After passing through a little pastureland (with
some very friendly cows) and being able to view some old Barramundi
ponds in the distance, the one-lane bridge over Stewart Creek usually
finishes the walk. This gives wonderful opportunities for
birdwatching in varied habitats and often 50 species can be seen on
the walk. Species include a variety of raptors patrolling the
fields or river, the full range of honeyeaters and other nectar
feeders, all the fruit-doves, a large range of flycatchers and
monarchs and other insect eaters, often Spotted Catbird and Victoria's
Riflebird, plus kingfishers and in season, the Black Bittern. If
travelling by car, further along Stewart Creek Road gives
opportunities to see Richard's Pipit, Chestnut-breasted Mannikin,
Red-backed Fairywren, Golden-headed Cistocola, Bush Hen, Tawny Grassbird,
buttonquail and others. At night
this stretch of road offers the best birding opportunities in Daintree to spot Papuan
Frogmouth and Lesser Sooty Owl.
UPPER DAINTREE ROAD
Continuing on from Stewart Creek bridge, upper Daintree Rd travels
for 10km or so until it meets the Daintree River at Baird's Crossing.
Following the river for a way and then passing through farmland and
rainforest there are varied habitats for birding. Some of the
lower lying country has waterholes and wetlands in all but the driest
years, with water birds feeding in and around them. Black-necked
Stork and Magpie Goose can often be seen in the paddocks and the open country birds
like some of the kingfishers, Rainbow Bee-eater, cuckoo-shrikes and
Dollarbird are easiest to see in this sort of country. Lovely
Fairy-wren, flycatchers and monarchs, Grey Whistler, honeyeaters etc
feed along the edge of the road in the forested areas. At night
the Bush Stone-Curlew, Southern Boobook Owl, Papuan Frogmouth can often
be seen. Sightings of Lesser Sooty Owl and Southern Cassowary
have been made up here at the end of the Daintree Valley.
DAINTREE RIVER
The Daintree River has been well-known as a birdwatching locale for
many years, and deservedly so. Combining this with the other local
walks and drives, it makes for 2-3 good days of Daintree Birdwatching.
There are many options of birding cruises on the Daintree River and we
are fortunate enough to have three specialist early morning river
operators, each visiting different areas of the river system, from the
Village to the mouth of the river. Target species include
Great-billed Heron, Little Kingfisher and Black Bittern. Often
five different kingfishers can be seen in a morning, Papuan Frogmouth
on nests can be found, White-bellied Sea-Eagle, Brahminy Kite
and other raptors are common, Striated and Nankeen Night Heron are
regulars, a range of cuckoos including Gould's Bronze and
Channel-Billed Cuckoo can be seen and so it goes on. 40-50
species in a morning trip is not uncommon. Toward the mouth of
the river in the summer months is excellent for the migratory waders.
NORTH OF THE DAINTREE RIVER
The area north of the Daintree River towards Cape Tribulation, with
it's pristine, World Heritage listed rainforest and beautiful beaches
is well worth visiting for birding. Rainforest birding can often be
difficult, but the possibilities of seeing Southern Cassowary,
Victoria's Riflebird, Spotted Catbird, Beach Stone-Curlew,
Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher and many others, make the trip
worthwhile. The National Park has three exceptional boardwalks.
The first, Jindalba, has regular Sothern Cassowary sightings, Noisy Pitta,
Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfishers nesting (in season), Wompoo
Fruit-Dove, Spotted Catbird, Pied Monarch and a good range of
flycatchers, monarchs and honeyeaters. The second, Marrdja, is
in rainforest and goes through a mangrove creek system so can give
good views of Little Kingfisher, Azure Kingfisher, Yellow-breasted
Boatbill, Victoria's Riflebird, Double-eyed Fig Parrot and many
others. At Dubuji, the third boardwalk, Sothern Cassowary have also
been seen and a good range of rainforest birds. Rufous Owl has
also been sighted. The beaches each have their own pair of Beach
Stone-Curlew, it seems, with the mouth of Coopers Creek being a
reliable place at low tides
Red Mill House Daintree
Kingfisher Park Julatten
Summit Retreat Cairns Highlands
Licuala Lodge Mission Beach
Atherton Blue Gum
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