Hi all,
We've recently moved into a property on a Terrey Hills Equestrian Centre's grounds and I'm working on identifying all species that visit us. I'm relatively new at formal identification, so if you spot anything strange or think it should be clarified, please let me know! Happy to discuss all sightings :)
I'm also keen to see what else I should be on the lookout for. I'm getting quite good at identifying them by their calls now, so if I hear anything out of the ordinary my ears and eyes immediately prick up!
I've separated them into what I imagine would be common and uncommon species for the average punter to see/identify:
Common
- Magpie
- Masked lapwing
- Willy wagtail
- Sparrow
- Common myna
- Noisy miner
- Welcome swallow
- Piping shrike/mudlark
- Sulphur crested cockatoo
- Galah
- Common starling
- Blackbird
- Laughing kookaburra
- Rainbow lorikeet
- Australian white ibis
- Australian wood duck
- Pacific black duck
- Spotted dove
- Wood swallow
- White faced heron
- Currawong
- Crested pigeon
- Little wattlebird
- Australian Raven
- King parrot
- Cattle egret
- Eastern rosells
Uncommon
- Noisy friarbird (seen once - beak unmistakable. EDIT: Originally posted as Little Friarbird)
- Eastern whipbird (commonly heard but perhaps not as easily recognised)
- Eastern yellow robin
- Red-whiskered bulbul
- Superb fairy wren
- Glossy black cockatoo
- Yellow tailed black cockatoo
- Grey goshawk (one grey and one in all-white phase)
- Black-faced cuckooshrike
- Grey fantail
- Eastern spinebill
- Wedge tailed eagle
- Juvenile swamp harrier/unidentified raptor [?] (unsure)
- Ringneck Parakeet (see post below on ID confirmation)
- Likely spangled drongo
- White-browed scrubwren
- Red browed firetail finch
- Brown cuckoo dove
- Musk Lorikeet
- Pallid cuckoo - neat little story on that here: http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/forum/Proud-moment-had-share
I'll keep updating this list!
Cheers
Luke
Wow, nice list Luke. Is it just for your place, or is it for the wider neighbourhood as well? I'd be extatic to see a Swamp Harrier in my backyard!
I really don't like the description of 'common'. I use it, and I understand why people use it, but it does take away alot of the thrill of seeing things that were previously special. The faint mental patina can be awful.
Wow great list of species, if you wouldn't mind telling do you know what kind of woodswallow it was and was it on your property of in Kuringai NP.
Hey Lachlan,
Yep, list is of birds that have landed in, or flown over/within sight and sound of the property. It's a big equestrian centre with 30 horses, with a great mixture of grass paddocks, flowering bushes, small shrubs and big trees, so it attracts a huge variety!
I'm hopeful that raptor was indeed a swamp harrier - it would be my first if so. I'm trying to formally identify it but haven't been able to get any pics just yet. I figure it's a juvey because of a) its colouring and feet and b) just its general demeanour - it's a bit ungainly when it lands on branches, and it seems quite bothered by willy wagtails and mudlarks that harass it. Not sure, but I think an adult bird would be better able to ignore those. There are a couple of others I'm trying for - here's the link to that post: http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/forum/Help-3-bird-species-Terrey-Hills
EDIT: Just saw your response on that thread so I'll reply there.
And agreed on "common" - doesn't do a lot of birds justice. Maybe "familiar" or something like that.
Cheers
Luke
Hey babybirdwatcher,
There are a couple that fly over from time to time. I'll try to get a closer look to verify which species, but I think they're Masked. I've also seen a big flock of them over a river during a bushwalk somewhere in Ku-Ring-Gai, again I think they were Masked.
I'm mostly going from the description of their call as described in The Slater Field Guide to Australian Birds, as they were too far away to see feathering.
Cheers
Luke
Very impressive list of birds
Nice place you live in. But, here comes the but, 30 horses on 5 acres? That doesn't sound right? You have grass paddocks left? I can hardly believe that. Even if all the horses are hard fed twice a day, and as much hay as they can eat, and no rested paddocks to rotate, there wouldn't be enough grass. I have 5.5 acres, we only got a permit for 3 horses, and one paddock is always rested.
I'm sure you made a mistake telling me it's 5 acres?
M-L
Hey Araminta, it is a very big place, so I'm probably wrong on the 5 acres. There are two full size sand arenas, one medium and one very large stable block, 15-odd paddocks ranging from 10m squared sand yard to much, much larger all grass paddocks, loads of pathways and gardens, a 4 bedroom house and the little demountable where we live. A couple of paddocks are rested at all times and there is plenty of grass.
So yes, I must be wrong! I'll amend the above post.
Luke,
Being from northern NSW I'm not real familiar with what birds are in your area, but assuming your Terrey Hills is in the Sydney area & not some another Terrey Hills that I don't know about, then I would say your black cockatoo with a red tail is almost certainly a Glossy Black-Cockatoo, not a Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo unless it happens to be an aviary escapee.
Hi Luke,
I have to agree with steve that glossy blacks frequent the NP however red tailed black cockatoos are extremely rarely seen almost anywhere in sydney
Good call Steve and BBW - checked the distribution and ID points, and agree it was more than likely a glossy. It flew by quite close overhead and I don't recall any yellow on its head, so I'm thinking male. List updated accordingly, thanks!!
Also happy to report another two new species today as I'm doing maintenance - a male red browed firetail finch (sounded like a few of them around so I'm sure there were females), and a south-eastern form of the white-browed scrubwren. Unmistakable eyebrow and white wing markings. Both flew up into the same shrub as I approached. Lucky spot!
Cheers
Ah but the Red-browed Finch is not sexually dimorphic, luke.
You're right! I misread my guide - it shows two types, but they're juv and adult, not M & F :)
Good to hear from a newcomer :)
So you've only seen the Woodswallows flying? They're not that easy to ID from that alone. The Dusky would be easily the most likely anywhere in greater Sydney, but several other species are also possible.
The parrots, especially if you're in an open rural area, are quite possibly Red-Rumped Parrots (Psephotus haematonotus).
Besides Rainbow Lorikeets, they would probably be among the commonest 'green parrots' in your area. Also look out for Musk Lorikeets, there are thousands of them around Sydney at the moment, even in the inner west which is closer to the coast than they usually go.
Hey RR, thanks for the note. Yep, only seen the wood swallows from a distance. I went Dusky from the description of their call in Slater's Field Guide, but there's no way of knowing until I can get a pic.
I'm determined to find out which parrots they are on a walk tomorrow morning. They stick to the gums and some kind of pine tree on the far side of the oval next to the property, so I haven't been able to get a good look. But I hear them constantly in the mornings and evenings, and see their silhouettes.
I listened to the calls of Muskys and Red-rumps on this site, and it doesn't sound like either of them. Should have an ID by tomorrow evening! Will take the camera.
Cheers
Luke
Hi everyone. I FINALLY got close enough to ID the parrot, and I'm 1000% sure they are Ringneck Parakeets. Obviously not natives, so they must be escapees. There's no doubt in my mind - it was sitting in a tree and I could clearly make out the solid green face and the ring around its neck running from its beak. It was also calling quite raucously, and as well as the repeated cries I've heard previously, it was also muttering away with some different sounds - and all sounded EXACTLY like the parakeet in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z27jgDIOE5w
I was also fortunate enough to spot two more species - what I'm fairly sure is a family of Little or Musk Lorikeets have arrived from somewhere, and I've been seeing quite a few flocks around the Warringah area lately as I've been working. Not possible to get a positive ID from the distance I've been seeing them from though.
And today, I saw three Brown Cuckoo Doves in the scrub at the edges of the property.
Cheers
Luke
Hey Luke... a few things... White-browed Woodswallows should be considered... woodswallows' calls are pretty much the same... Little and Musk Lorikeets have different calls... the former is shorter and higher pitched, almost a voluble thornbill TIZZ and similar to the fig-parrot of North Queensland... Littles are rockets when they fly... Musks have longer tails, more superficially like a Rainbow Lorikeet... Spangled Drongos will only turn up in season... Glossy Blacks are rare in NSW and you should put their appearances on Birdline NSW through Eremaea... I'm pretty sure Red-tailed Black Cockatoos haven't been seen anywhere near Sydney for decades... Lorne
Hi Lorne, thanks for all that info! Very interesting.
Well I would say then that the lori's are definitely Littles then, because they zoom around very quickly and have a call I'd say is as you describe .
The drongos were a couple of months back - would that be in season for them? Other posters have said they've been around Sydney this year.
And thanks for the heads up about the glossys. It was a pair, around Feb.
Cheers
Luke
Hi Luke,
If the lorikeets zoom by and look small then they are definately little lorikeets. Drongos are being seen now but I'm unsure if they would have been here a few months ago. Regarding the Glossy's despite them being rare in NSW there is a well known pair that frequents Ingleside and Terrey Hills but don't let that stop you as people do report them and they are such an amazing bird (as we know
)
Cheers BBW