Blog Archives
Golden Whistler calling – a short video
This morning, a Golden Whistler stayed in one spot for long enough for me to get out my camera and record a few seconds of his song. So, for your enjoyment, here it is!
Golden Whistlers are small birds, about the size of a wren. They have a black head and a white bib, and the golden chest, underbelly, and collar that give them the first part of their name. The second part of the name comes from their lovely whistling calls. I’ve published more videos and pictures of previous sightings.
Common name: Golden Whistler
Scientific name: Pachycephala pectoralis
Approximate length: 16-18 cm
Date spotted: 3 December 2025 (summer)
Location: Manly Dam Reserve, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’45.0″S 151°14’54.2″E
Peaceful Dove calling
In Merriwa, NSW, the call of a Peaceful Dove sounds out above the early morning bird chorus:
Peaceful Doves are small doves, coloured shades of grey with an apricot tinge, and a blue ring of bare skin around the eye.
Common name: Peaceful Dove
Scientific name: Geopelia placida
Approximate length: 20-24 cm
Date spotted: 13 September 2025 (spring)
Location: Merriwa, New South Wales, Australia: 32°23’36.0″S 150°41’07.8″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
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
Two songs of the Fan-tailed Cuckoo
I’ve heard Fan-tailed Cuckoos several times over the years, making their pretty downward trilling call. A few days ago, I heard a different call: a haunting, mournful whistle sighing in the mist.
In this 14-second video, the bird whistles five times:
At first I didn’t know what type of bird was calling. Then I saw a Fan-tailed Cuckoo fly onto a nearby branch:
They’re rather pretty birds, with a russet chest and belly, and a startling orange mouth. On this occasion, I could see only the back of the bird. Here’s a picture of another Fan-tailed Cuckoo, which I saw in June 2020:
Shortly after I heard the whistles, the same bird or another started making the typical trilling call that I’ve heard more often. In this 17-second video, the bird calls four times:
Common name: Fan-tailed Cuckoo
Scientific name: Cacomantis flabelliformis
Approximate length: 26 cm
Date spotted: 11 May 2025 (autumn)
Location: Manly Creek, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’21.3″S 151°14’34.8″E
More Noisy Friarbirds in Sydney’s Northern Beaches
Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve seen and heard several Noisy Friarbirds at Manly Dam in Sydney’s Northern Beaches. The birds seem to have moved in for the long haul. It’s exciting — I’ve only seen these birds further north and west before now.
Today I managed to actually get some images of the birds in a video, as well as their weird calls:
In the video, most of the noise is made by the friarbirds, but there are Rainbow Lorikeets chirping throughout, and the occasional Little Wattlebird too.
You can see more pictures of friarbirds in my other posts, taken in other areas of Australia.
Common name: Noisy Friarbird
Scientific name: Philemon corniculatus
Approximate length: 30-35 cm
Date spotted: 2 April 2025 (autumn)
Location: Manly Dam Reserve, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’43.4″S 151°14’52.8″E
Noisy Friarbirds at Manly Dam!
I was excited to hear Noisy Friarbirds at Manly Dam park in Sydney’s Northern Beaches. I haven’t seen these birds in the area before — they’re more common further north and west.
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve heard the unforgettable sounds that these birds make. Today I managed to take some photos. In the video, you can hear the odd sounds made by the Noisy Friarbirds amongst other bird calls, but you don’t actually see the friarbirds. They’re very hard to spot.
The first bird sound in the video is the chirping of Rainbow Lorikeets. The laugh-like cackle and chatter of the Noisy Friarbirds begins soon after the start, at about 0:02. The lorikeets continue chirping throughout. In the background is the cackle of some Little Wattlebirds, which is similar to the friarbirds’ call but less varied in tone and style.
I did manage to snap a few photos of two friarbirds, though they’re quite blurry. This photo shows one of the friarbirds perched briefly out in the open:
Another friarbird was having an altercation with a Rainbow Lorikeet. The friarbird was the one to cede ground:
You can see some better pictures of friarbirds in my other posts, taken in other areas of Australia.
Common name: Noisy Friarbird
Scientific name: Philemon corniculatus
Approximate length: 30-35 cm
Date spotted: 26 March 2025 (summer)
Location: Manly Dam Reserve, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’42.5″S 151°14’54.3″E
Call of the Whipbird
An Eastern Whipbird does his morning grooming, stopping occasionally to call to his friends. The noise that whipbirds make is strange: “eeeuuw-phwit”. It reminds people of a whip whistling and cracking, and that’s what gives the bird its name.
In the background, you can hear other whipbirds replying. Each time, a bird off-camera echoes the long drawn-out call of the on-camera bird( “eeeuuw-phwit”) then another bird also off-camera replies immediately (“phit-phit-pheeuw”). These two off-camera calls sound like a single call, but they’re actually from two birds.
Common name: Eastern Whipbird
Scientific name: Psophodes olivaceus
Approximate length: 30 cm
Date spotted: 9 March 2025 (summer)
Location: Manly North Head, Sydney Harbour, NSW, Australia: 33°48’55.1″S 151°17’58.9″E
Call of the Superb Fairy-wren
Next to the Big Koala in Gundagai, this feisty little Superb Fairy-wren scampered along the ground then flew up into a tree and sang for a few seconds. At the speed at which these birds live, that’s a lengthy recital!
Tip: For best results, set the video quality to HD in the YouTube settings.
The bird’s song is rusty, squeaky trill. Perhaps if we could slow it down and lower it by several octaves, we might hear a melodic symphony.
The colours of this bird are dramatic, with the various shades of blue from bright turquoise darkening to black, the light brown wings, and the white belly. Here’s a still picture of the little fellow:
And another showing the bird’s back:
Common name: Superb Fairy-wren
Scientific name: Malurus cyaneus
Approximate length: 13-14 cm
Date spotted: 17 February 2025 (summer)
Location: Gundagai, New South Wales, Australia: 35°00’08.1″S 148°06’38.2″E
Termites and kookaburras
Termites are very active in our area of the world at the moment: the east coast of Australia just north of Sydney. When walking along a road that passes through a park area, it’s common to see low mud tunnels crossing the road. Termites build these tunnels to shelter in when they’re on their travels. Recently, I’ve also seen long trains of termites venturing out without any cover at all.
Here’s a stream of termites crossing the road. They’ve even built themselves a junction so that they can head off in different directions:
Termites’ mud tunnels often go up the outside of a tree:
The termites in this part of Australia build their nests as large mud mounds, stuck high up in a tree:
Termite nests make a handy home for monitor lizards, kookaburras, kingfishers, and other creatures. In an earlier post, I showed pictures of a termite nest that had been adopted by kookaburras as a home for their young family: Baby kookaburras out of their nest.
In the next video, two young kookaburras attack the side of a termite nest, slowly digging a hole in the nest. They’re probably thinking ahead to the next breeding season, when such a home will come in useful:
In the video, you can hear the two kookaburras chattering, and other kookaburras giving the full laughing cackle in the background. There are also cicadas singing, and a butcherbird calls at one time too.
Common name: Laughing Kookaburra
Scientific name: Dacelo novaeguineae
Approximate length: 47 cm
Date spotted: 13 January 2025 (summer)
Location: Manly Dam near Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Sydney Birder 