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This is a list of the wild birds found in Australia including its outlying islands and territories, but excluding the Australian Antarctic Territory. The outlying islands covered include: Christmas, Cocos (Keeling), Ashmore, Torres Strait, Coral Sea, Lord Howe, Norfolk, Macquarie and Heard/McDonald. The list includes introduced species, common vagrants and recently extinct species. It excludes extirpated introductions (e.g. ostrich), some very rare vagrants (seen once) and species only present in captivity. Eight hundred and forty-two extant species are listed.
Contents
- Cassowaries
- Emus
- Mound builders
- Pheasants
- Guineafowl
- Magpie goose
- Ducks geese and swans
- Tropicbirds
- Grebes
- Pigeons and doves
- Frogmouths
- Nightjars
- Owlet nightjars
- Swifts
- Storm petrels
- Albatrosses
- Fulmars petrels and shearwaters
- Penguins
- Frigatebirds
- Boobies and gannets
- Darters
- Cormorants
- Pelicans
- Bitterns herons and egrets
- Ibises and spoonbills
- Storks
- Hawks kites and eagles
- Osprey
- Falcons
- Cranes
- Rails crakes and coots
- Bustards
- Sheathbills
- Stone curlews thick knees
- Oystercatchers
- Avocets and stilts
- Plovers and lapwings
- Plains wanderer
- Jacanas
- Painted snipe
- Waders or shorebirds
- Buttonquail
- Pratincoles
- Skuas
- Gulls and terns
- Parrots and allies
- Cuckoos
- True owls
- Barn owls
- Kingfishers
- Bee eaters
- Rollers
- Pittas
- Lyrebirds
- Scrubbirds
- Australasian treecreepers
- Bowerbirds and catbirds
- Fairywrens emu wrens and grasswrens
- Bristlebirds
- Scrubwrens thornbills and allies
- Pardalotes
- Honeyeaters
- Babblers
- Logrunner and chowchilla
- Quail thrush whipbirds and wedgebills
- Sittella
- Cuckooshrikes and trillers
- Whistlers and allies
- Oreoicids
- Figbird and orioles
- Currawongs woodswallows butcherbirds and allies
- Drongo
- Fantails
- Shrikes
- Magpie crows and ravens
- Monarch flycatchers
- Chough and apostlebird
- Birds of paradise and riflebirds
- Australasian robins
- Larks
- Cisticolas and allies
- Reed warblers
- Grassbirds songlarks and allies
- White eyes
- Old World warblers
- Leaf warblers
- Swallows
- Bulbuls
- Old World flycatchers
- Thrushes and allies
- Starlings
- Flowerpeckers
- Sunbirds and spiderhunters
- Australasian finches firetails and waxbills
- Old World sparrows
- Wagtails and pipits
- Finches crossbills and allies
- Buntings seedeaters and allies
- References
The taxonomy followed is from Christidis and Boles, 2008. Their system has been developed over nearly two decades and has strong local support, but deviates in important ways from more generally accepted schemes.
Cassowaries
Order: Casuariformes Family: Casuariidae
This family of flightless ratite birds is represented by one living species in Australia.
Emus
Order: Casuariformes Family: Dromaiidae
This family of flightless ratite birds is represented by one living species in Australia, another two having perished since human settlement.
Mound-builders
Order: Galliformes Family: Megapodidae
Pheasants
Order: Galliformes Family: Phasianidae
Phasianidae consists of the pheasants and their allies. These are terrestrial species, variable in size but generally plump, with broad, relatively short wings. Many species are gamebirds or have been domesticated as a food source for humans. Three species are native to Australia, and five commonly domesticated species are feral.
Guineafowl
Order: Galliformes Family: Numididae
Magpie goose
Order: Anseriformes Family: Anseranatidae
The family contains a single species, the magpie goose. It was an early and distinctive offshoot of the anseriform family tree, diverging after the screamers and before all other ducks, geese and swans, sometime in the late Cretaceous. The single species is found across Australia.
Ducks, geese and swans
Order: Anseriformes Family: Anatidae
The family Anatidae includes the ducks and most duck-like waterfowl, such as geese and swans. These are adapted for an aquatic existence, with webbed feet, bills that are flattened to a greater or lesser extent, and feathers that are excellent at shedding water due to special oils. In Australia, 26 species have been recorded, of which three have been introduced, and three are vagrants.
Tropicbirds
Order: Phaethontiformes Family: Phaethontidae
Tropicbirds are slender white birds of tropical oceans, with exceptionally long central tail feathers. Their long wings have black markings, as does the head. Two species have been recorded from Australian waters.
Grebes
Order: Podicipediformes Family: Podicipedidae
Grebes are small to medium-large freshwater diving birds. They have lobed toes and are excellent swimmers and divers. However, they have their feet placed far back on the body, making them quite ungainly on land. Three species have been regularly recorded in Australia, and a fourth is a vagrant.
Pigeons and doves
Order: Columbiformes Family: Columbidae
Pigeons and doves are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills with a fleshy cere. In Australian territory 31 species have been recorded, five of which have been introduced, and another three are vagrants. Three have become extinct since European colonisation.
Frogmouths
Order: Podargiformes Family: Podargidae
The frogmouths are a distinctive group of small nocturnal birds related to swifts found from India across southern Asia to Australia. Three species are found in Australia.
Nightjars
Order: Caprimulgiformes Families: Eurostopodidae and Caprimulgidae
Owlet-nightjars
Order: Aegotheliformes Family: Aegothelidae
The owlet-nightjars are a distinctive group of small nocturnal birds related to swifts found from the Maluku Islands and New Guinea to Australia and New Caledonia. There are eleven species, one of which is found in Australia.
Swifts
Order: Apodiformes Family: Apodidae
Swifts are small birds which spend the majority of their lives flying. These birds have very short legs and never settle voluntarily on the ground, perching instead only on vertical surfaces. Many swifts have long swept-back wings which resemble a crescent or boomerang. There are 98 species worldwide, with eight recorded in Australian territory, four of which are vagrants.
Storm petrels
Order: Procellariiformes Family: Hydrobatidae
The storm petrels are the smallest seabirds, relatives of the petrels, feeding on planktonic crustaceans and small fish picked from the surface, typically while hovering. Their flight is fluttering and sometimes bat-like. One species has been regularly recorded in Tasmania's waters, and two more are vagrants.
Albatrosses
Order: Procellariiformes Family: Diomedeidae
The albatrosses are a family of large seabird found across the Southern and North Pacific Oceans. The largest are among the largest flying birds in the world. Fourteen species are seen to varying degrees in Australian waters, with another recorded as a vagrant.
Fulmars, petrels and shearwaters
Order: Procellariiformes Family: Procellariidae
The procellariids are the main group of medium-sized "true petrels", characterised by united nostrils with medium nasal septum, and a long outer functional primary flight feather. In Australian waters, 51 species have been recorded.
Penguins
Order: Sphenisciformes Family: Spheniscidae
Penguins are a group of aquatic, flightless birds living almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere, especially in Antarctica. One species breeds on the Australian coast, while another ten have been recorded as vagrants.
Frigatebirds
Order: Suliformes Family: Fregatidae
Boobies and gannets
Order: Suliformes Family: Sulidae
The sulids comprise the gannets and boobies. Both groups are medium-large coastal seabirds that plunge-dive for fish. Six species have been recorded from Australian territory.
Darters
Order: Suliformes Family: Anhingidae
Darters are cormorant-like water birds with long necks and long, straight bills. They are fish eaters which often swim with only their neck above the water. One species is found in Australia.
Cormorants
Order: Suliformes Family: Phalacrocoracidae
Cormorants are medium-to-large aquatic birds, usually with mainly dark plumage and areas of coloured skin on the face. The bill is long, thin and sharply hooked. Their feet are four-toed and webbed, a distinguishing feature among the Pelecaniformes order. Seven species occur in Australian territory, with a seventh as a vagrant.
Pelicans
Order: Pelecaniformes Family: Pelecanidae
Pelicans are large water birds with distinctive pouches under their bills. Like other birds in the order Pelecaniformes, they have four webbed toes. One species has been recorded in Australia.
Bitterns, herons and egrets
Order: Pelecaniformes Family: Ardeidae
Ibises and spoonbills
Order: Pelecaniformes Family: Threskiornithidae
Storks
Order: Ciconiiformes Family: Ciconiidae
Hawks, kites and eagles
Order: Accipitriformes Family: Accipitridae
Osprey
Order: Accipitriformes Family: Pandionidae
Falcons
Order: Falconiformes Family: Falconidae
Cranes
Order: Gruiformes Family: Gruidae
Rails, crakes and coots
Order: Gruiformes Family: Rallidae
Bustards
Order: Otidiformes Family: Otididae
Sheathbills
Order: Charadriiformes Family: Chionididae
Stone-curlews (thick-knees)
Order: Charadriiformes Family: Burhinidae
Oystercatchers
Order: Charadriiformes Family: Haematopodidae
Avocets and stilts
Order: Charadriiformes Family: Recurvirostridae
Plovers and lapwings
Order: Charadriiformes Family: Charadriidae
Plains wanderer
Order: Charadriiformes Family: Pedionomidae
Jacanas
Order: Charadriiformes Family: Jacanidae
Painted-snipe
Order: Charadriiformes Family: Rostratulidae
Waders or shorebirds
Order: Charadriiformes Family: Scolopacidae
Buttonquail
Order: Charadriiformes Family: Turnicidae
Pratincoles
Order: Charadriiformes Family: Glareolidae
Skuas
Order: Charadriiformes Family: Stercorariidae
Gulls and terns
Order: Charadriiformes Family: Laridae
Parrots and allies
Order: Psittaciformes Families: Strigopidae, Cacatuidae and Psittaculidae
Cuckoos
Order: Cuculiformes Family: Cuculidae
True owls
Order: Strigiformes Family: Strigidae
Barn owls
Order: Strigiformes Family: Tytonidae
Kingfishers
Order: Coraciiformes Family: Alcedinidae
Bee-eaters
Order: Coraciiformes Family: Meropidae
Rollers
Order: Coraciiformes Family: Coraciidae
Pittas
Order: Passeriformes Family: Pittidae
Lyrebirds
Order: Passeriformes Family: Menuridae
Scrubbirds
Order: Passeriformes Family: Atrichornithidae
Australasian treecreepers
Order: Passeriformes Family: Climacteridae
Bowerbirds and catbirds
Order: Passeriformes Family: Ptilonorhynchidae
Fairywrens, emu-wrens and grasswrens
Order: Passeriformes Family: Maluridae
Bristlebirds
Order: Passeriformes Family: Dasyornithidae
Scrubwrens, thornbills and allies
Order: Passeriformes Family: Acanthizidae
Pardalotes
Order: Passeriformes Family: Pardalotidae
Honeyeaters
Order: Passeriformes Family: Meliphagidae
Babblers
Order: Passeriformes Family: Pomatostomidae
Logrunner and chowchilla
Order: Passeriformes Family: Orthonychidae
Quail-thrush, whipbirds and wedgebills
Order: Passeriformes Family: Psophodidae
Sittella
Order: Passeriformes Family: Neosittidae
Cuckooshrikes and trillers
Order: Passeriformes Family: Campephagidae
Whistlers and allies
Order: Passeriformes Family: Pachycephalidae
Oreoicids
Order: Passeriformes Family: Oreoicidae
Figbird and orioles
Order: Passeriformes Family: Oriolidae
Currawongs, woodswallows, butcherbirds and allies
Order: Passeriformes Family: Artamidae
Drongo
Order: Passeriformes Family: Dicruridae
Fantails
Order: Passeriformes Family: Rhipiduridae
Shrikes
Order: Passeriformes Family: Laniidae
Magpie, crows and ravens
Order: Passeriformes Family: Corvidae
Monarch flycatchers
Order: Passeriformes Family: Monarchidae
Chough and apostlebird
Order: Passeriformes Family: Corcoracidae
Birds of paradise and riflebirds
Order: Passeriformes Family: Paradisaeidae
Australasian robins
Order: Passeriformes Family: Petroicidae
Larks
Order: Passeriformes Family: Alaudidae
Cisticolas and allies
Order: Passeriformes Family: Cisticolidae
Reed warblers
Order: Passeriformes Family: Acrocephalidae
Grassbirds, songlarks and allies
Order: Passeriformes Family: Megaluridae
White-eyes
Order: Passeriformes Family: Zosteropidae
Old World warblers
Order: Passeriformes Family: Sylviidae
Leaf-warblers
Order: Passeriformes Family: Phylloscopidae
Swallows
Order: Passeriformes Family: Hirundinidae
Bulbuls
Order: Passeriformes Family: Pycnonotidae
Old World flycatchers
Order: Passeriformes Family: Muscicapidae
Thrushes and allies
Order: Passeriformes Family: Turdidae
Starlings
Order: Passeriformes Family: Sturnidae
Flowerpeckers
Order: Passeriformes Family: Dicaeidae
Sunbirds and spiderhunters
Order: Passeriformes Family: Nectariniidae
Australasian finches, firetails and waxbills
Order: Passeriformes Family: Estrildidae
Old World sparrows
Order: Passeriformes Family: Passeridae
Wagtails and pipits
Order: Passeriformes Family: Motacillidae
Finches, crossbills and allies
Order: Passeriformes Family: Fringillidae
Buntings, seedeaters and allies
Order: Passeriformes Family: Emberizidae