Blog Archives
Channel-billed Cuckoo’s gift for his mate
A Channel-billed Cuckoo has found a substantial tasty treat (a large stick insect) for his lady love. He purrs and growls, looking for her in the tree where they were last together. Ah, there she is. She’s flown off to another tree, being pestered non-stop by Noisy Miners and Currawongs.
The male cuckoo flies over to her and shows her the treat. She’s keen, but he doesn’t give it to her until she consents to mate with him. As the deed is done, she grabs the proffered treat and then eats it with evident enjoyment.
Channel-billed Cuckoos are large, odd looking birds, with red eyes, huge curved bills, and snake-like necks. They’re migratory, arriving on Australia’s south eastern coast in spring and leaving for more northern climes in autumn.
Like most cuckoos, they lay their eggs in the nests of other birds and relay on those birds to feed and care for their young. They eat mostly fruit, but are also partial to insects, like this stick insect, and to small animals and reptiles. They’ll occasionally prey on the chicks of other birds. It’s not surprising that the Noisy Miners and Currawongs chase them away!
If you like, you can see some good photos and read more about these birds in my posts about Channel-billed Cuckoos.
Common name: Channel-billed Cuckoo
Scientific name: Scythrops novaehollandiae
Approximate length: 58-65 cm
Date spotted: 27 October 2026 (spring)
Location: Allambie Heights, New South Wales, Australia
Call and wing-shuffle of the Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrikes are often called Shufflewings, because of their odd habit of flipping their wings up and down each time they land. When I was out walking the other day, I followed their call to see three of these birds in a tree, shuffling their wings energetically as they hopped from branch to branch. This video focuses on one of the birds:
Common name: Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike, also called a Shufflewing
Scientific name: Coracina novaehollandiae
Approximate length: 35 cm
Date spotted: 30 September 2026 (spring)
Location: Manly Dam Park, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’54.8″S 151°15’04.2″E
Here’s a still photo of a Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike, from an earlier post in December 2023:
Call of the Singing Honeyeater
I spotted this Singing Honeyeater at Bendleby Ranges in the Flinders Ranges area of South Australia. It’s only my second sighting of a Singing Honeyeater, and the first time I managed to record its call. I believe that these birds make a variety of sounds, of which I’ve captured only one.
Singing Honeyeaters are found across most of Australia, except the eastern and northern coastal regions. This means that I don’t see them very often, as I live on the east coast.
Here’s a photo of the bird:
Apologies for the poor quality of the photo. If you’d like to see a better one, check out my first sighting of a Singing Honeyeater.
Common name: Singing Honeyeater
Scientific name: Lichenostomus virescens
Approximate length: 18-22 cm
Date spotted: 10 September 2026 (spring)
Location: Bendleby Ranges in the Flinders Ranges, South Australia: 32°21’13.7″S 138°47’34.8″E
Local group of Glossy Black-Cockatoos now six strong!
Every now and then over the last few years, I’ve seen a group of Glossy Black-Cockatoos on the banks of Manly Dam. They have a few favourite spots, always where the Casuarina trees are in seed.
For the first couple of years, there were always three birds in the group. I don’t know if they were the same birds each time. Then suddenly there were five. And yesterday, for the first time, there were six. Glossies are rare compared to the other types of cockatoos in our area (Sulphur-crested, Yellow-tailed Black, and Corellas), so it’s wonderful to see this group growing in size.
Yesterday was a muggy, grey day. My camera kept misting up due to the high humidity. Every now and then the mist turned to light, drifting rain that settled into blotches on the lens. Still, the video gives you and idea of the gentle, calm presence of these large birds.
Glossies are a type of parrot. In Australia we have 56 species of parrots, including cockatoos, lorikeets, rosellas, ringnecks and budgerigars. Check out my previous sightings of Glossy Black-Cockatoos.
Common name: Glossy Black-Cockatoo
Scientific name: Calyptorhynchus lathami
Approximate length: 50cm
Date spotted: 19 March 2026 (autumn)
Location: Manly Dam Park, near Sydney: 33°46’23.8″S 151°14’39.5″E
Olive-backed Oriole calling and mimicking other birds
I listened to this Olive-backed Oriole for a while, trilling its characteristic call interspersed with imitations of other birds. I managed to get part of its performance on video. As well as being pretty and having a lovely song, this Oriole is an excellent mimic.
At the start of the video, the Oriole reacts to the shriek of Masked Lapwings (also known as Spur-winged Plovers). After a couple of seconds, the Oriole starts its own performance again.
Common name: Olive-backed Oriole
Scientific name: Oriolus sagittatus
Approximate length: 25-28 cm
Date spotted: 17 March 2026 (autumn)
Location: Manly Dam Park, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’31.7″S 151°14’47.8″E
Tongue of the White-cheeked Honeyeater
A White-cheeked Honeyeater feeds off the flower of a Banksia bush. At 19 to 24 seconds into the video, you can see the bird’s long, thin, white tongue flicking quickly in and out of its beak. The bird chirps every now and then, no doubt commenting about me to the other birds in the area.
Like most honeyeaters, these birds feed on nectar from flowers and also will snap up a handy insect every now and then. Their tongues are long enough to stick out beyond the end of their beaks, making it easier to lap up nectar from a flower.
Common name: White-cheeked Honeyeater
Scientific name: Phylidonyris nigra
Approximate length: 16-19 cm
Date spotted: 25 February 2025 (summer)
Location: Manly Dam Reserve, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’28.7″S 151°14’46.3″E
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
