Sooty Oystercatcher
Every now and then, I spot an Oystercatcher on one of the rocky plates on our sea shores. They’re usually hard to photograph, being such a sooty black and usually keeping far away from humans. This weekend, two of them broke the pattern.
I was in Wollongong, on the east coast of Australia just south of Sydney. Two Sooty Oystercatchers were pottering around on the rocky plate right next to the beach, prying food out of the crevices. This video shows only one of the birds:
They have long thin beaks, a striking orange in colour. Their eyes are ringed in a matching orange, and their legs are pinky-orange too, turning to yellow around the toes.
These birds are listed as uncommon, and scarce on disturbed beach areas. It’s good to see them just doing what Oystercatchers do.
Common name: Sooty Oystercatcher
Scientific name: Haematopus fuliginosis
Length: 40-52 cm
Date spotted: 9-10 August 2025 (winter)
Location: Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia: 34°25’04.4″S 150°54’08.8″E
Learning how to be a Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo
Strolling along a path at Manly Dam, I came across a group of Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos. It’s always a treat being with these birds. They’re the quiet giants of the cockatoos in south eastern Australia. They sit on Banksia trees or, in this case, Casuarinas, chewing the seeds and chuntering to each other. Occasionally, one of the birds floats up into the air and glides to another branch.
In the group were two juveniles, making that almost-constant crooning noise that characterises them. I think it’s partially a request for food, and partially a reminder to the adult birds of where the little ones have got too.
This youngster hasn’t quite figured out what to do with a Casuarina seed pod. He finds one on the ground, touches it to his beak, then drops it. Nearby, an adult shows him how it’s done:
A little later, the youngster has climbed into a tree. Instead of tackling those hard seed pods, though, he practices wielding his beak on the bark:
Common name: Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo
Scientific name: Calyptorhynchus funereus or Zanda funereus
Length: 58-65 cm
Date spotted: 24 July 2025 (winter)
Location: Manly Dam Reserve, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’42.5″S 151°14’59.1″E
Did a street sweeper do this beautiful job?
A meticulously-raked verge. The busy sounds of sweeping. Is there an ace street sweeper at work?
Common name: Australian Brush-turkey
Scientific name: Alectura lathami
Approximate length of adult bird: 60-70 cm
Date spotted: 12 July 2025 (winter)
Location: Manly Dam, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’59.5″S 151°15’18.2″E
Bowerbirds, a bower, and dumpster diving
I’ve been spending time in the beautiful Hunter Valley recently, and have seen more Satin Bowerbirds in one spot than in total ever before now. Such a treat!
The first few birds that I saw were all female. They’re slightly smaller than a Magpie, and are gorgeous, with their purple eyes and the brown-green tones of their plumage.
It was surprising to see these birds foraging in a dumpster for scraps to eat. Somehow, I would have thought dumpster diving was beneath such gorgeous creatures!
In the video, you can also hear Australian Magpies carolling. Here’s one that joined the Bowerbirds on the edge of the dumpster:
The male Satin Bowerbird was much more shy than the females. I did manage to get a shot of him, high up in a tree:
Males are entirely blue-black, and also have those unusual purple eyes. When the light catches their feathers in the right way, the black has a distinctive blue sheen.
I examined the ground in the area where the male was hanging out, and managed to find his bower. I was careful not to go to close. He had arranged some dead grass into an architectural gateway, and scatted plenty of blue plastic pieces around. A fitting lure for a female beauty:
This is the first time I’ve seen a Bowerbird’s bower, and the first time I’ve seen a male Satin Bowerbird in the wild. It was a lovely experience.
Common name: Satin Bowerbird
Scientific name: Ptilonorhynchus violaceus
Approximate length: 28-34 cm
Date spotted: 4-5 July 2025 (winter)
Location: Cypress Lakes resort, Pokolbin, NSW, Australia
Pacific Baza chased by cockatoos
I was walking along Forty Baskets Track on Sydney Harbour when the Sulphur-crested Cockatoos started making an enormous ruckus. They took to the sky in a large flock and circled overhead screaming blue murder.
When I managed to find a gap in the tree canopy, I saw that the cockatoos were chasing a large bird of prey:
I followed the pack of birds for about 15 minutes, back and forth along the track. The bird of prey landed in the tree tops a few times, and I was able to identify it as a Pacific Baza. I managed to see the crest on its head, but didn’t get a good enough photo of the crest to post here. This is the best photo I got of the bird at rest:
Pacific Bazas are uncommon, mostly found in north and north-east Australia, and are rare in New South Wales (where I am). They eat small reptiles, and praying mantises and stick insects (both of which can be quite large in Australia).
Common name: Pacific Baza
Scientific name: Aviceda subcristata
Length: 35-45 cm
Wing span: 1 metre
Date spotted: 29 June 2025 (winter)
Location: Forty Baskets Track, Balgowlah, NSW, Australia: 33°48’18.2″S 151°16’18.2″E
White-faced Heron stretching
In the morning sun, a White-faced Heron stretches his wing. The decaying wood of his perch mirrors the pattern of his stretch.
Common name: White-faced Heron
Scientific name: Ardea novaehollandiae
Approximate length: 66-69 cm
Date spotted: 20 June 2025 (winter)
Location: Manly Dam, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’34.0″S 151°14’48.5″E
Neat Spotted Pardalote
Spotted Pardalotes are tiny little birds with neat patterns and colours on their heads and bodies. They flit around high in the trees or deep in the undergrowth, so it’s a treat when one stays still long enough to get a good look at you.
Pardalotes are native to Australia. There are four species in the Pardalote family, of which we have just one in our area near Sydney.
An unusual characteristic is that, although they spend much of their time high in the treetops, they build their nests in tunnels in the ground. Take a look at my other posts to see videos of these birds entering into and emerging from their tunnels.
Common name: Spotted Pardalote or Diamondbird
Scientific name: Pardalotus punctatus
Approximate length: 10 cm
Date spotted: 19 June 2025 (winter)
Location: Manly Dam, NSW, Australia: 33°46’38.6″S 151°14’55.8″E
Pied Butcherbird singing on the beach
As I walked past this tree, on a grassy patch next to the sea at Port Macquarie, I heard a gentle experimental whistling. I thought it might be a person, but then I heard some bird sounds mixed in. It was a Pied Butcherbird, trying out its repertoire while perched in an Old Man Banksia tree. In the background is the sound of the surf, rather noisy alas.
We don’t see these birds around Sydney, so I’m not familiar with their calls. I wonder if this one is different from most, or perhaps they sing a variety of songs?
Common name: Pied Butcherbird
Scientific name: Cracticus nigrogularis
Approximate length: 33-36 cm
Date spotted: 5 June 2025 (winter)
Location: Town Beach, Port Macquarie, NSW, Australia: 31°25’47.6″S 152°55’09.5″E
My first White-headed Pigeons, near Taree NSW
I was in Moto, near Taree, a few days ago, soon after the floods that have devastated much of the area. Driving along a country road next to a creek, I spotted a flock of about 7 large white-bodied, dark-winged pigeons on the side of the road. They flew up into the trees and onto the fences as I passed, but I managed to snap a shot of two of them with my phone:
They’re White-headed Pigeons, my first sighting of these birds. The one on the left is a male. The one on the right is an immature male or female.
They’re larger than most pigeons, and exude an atmosphere of calm — until they fly away! My bird book lists them as scarce, and common in NE NSW. It comments that they’re “one of the shyest and wariest of pigeons”, so I count myself lucky to have seen them. eBird lists them as “Least Concern”.
Common name: White-headed Pigeon
Scientific name: Columba leucomela
Length: 38-40 cm
Date spotted: 4 June 2025 (winter)
Location: Moto, NSW, Australia: 31°51’16.8″S 152°35’00.9″E
Red-whiskered Bulbul at Bombo Headland
A few days ago, I visited Bombo Headland Geological Site on the east coast of Australia, south of Sydney. There were several Red-whiskered Bulbuls flitting around the bushes. This one was perched on a messy clump of Lantana, with the impressive cliffs of the headland in the background.
Red-whiskered Bulbuls are pretty little birds, with striking black, red, and white markings. They’re native to southern Asia (India, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Malaysia), and were introduced into Sydney in the late 1800s.
Common name: Red-whiskered Bulbul
Scientific name: Pycnonotus jocosus
Approximate length: 20 cm
Date spotted: 31 May 2025 (autumn)
Location: Bombo Headland Geological Site, NSW, Australia: 34°39’03.6″S 150°51’42.3″E
Bombo Headland is worth a visit, with its impressive rock formations and churning sea currents:
Would you like to know more about this amazing, slightly eery location? My bookmark, the Travelling Worm, has published a post about our visit to Bombo Headland Geological Site.
Sydney Birder 