Based on sightings supplied by Canberra Ornithologists Group and sightings made by FoAB members in the Aranda bushland and snow gums area bordered by the suburb of Aranda, Caswell Drive, Bindubi Street, and William Hovell Drive including the pastoral lease and roadside verges. Updated May 2009
English Name | Scientific Name | Status |
---|---|---|
Australasian Grebe | Tachybaptus novaehollandiae | Common on large dam. |
Australian Hobby | Falco longipennis | Uncommon. |
Australian King-Parrot | Alisterus scapularis | Common resident. |
Australian Magpie | Gymnorhina tibicen | Common over most of the reserve, especially in the paddocks. |
Australian Pelican | Pelecanus conspicillatus | Usually in flight to or from Lake Burley Griffin. |
Australian Raven | Corvus coronoides | Common crow like bird. |
Australian Wood Duck | Chenonetta jubata | Common around the large dam. Roosts in trees. |
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike | Coracina novaehollandiae | Common. A large proportion of the population is migratory. |
Brown-headed Honeyeater | Melithreptus brevirostris | Uncommon. |
Brown Falcon | Falco berigora | Sometimes seen on light poles near Glenloch Interchange. |
Brown Goshawk | Accipter fasciatus | Common. May have bred in the lower woodland. |
Brown Thornbill | Acanthiza pusilla | Common. |
Buff-rumped Thornbill | Acanthiza reguloides | Common. |
Collared Sparrowhawk | Accipter cirrhocephalus | Uncommon, with most individuals leaving in winter. Breeding has occurred in the pine grove. |
Common Blackbird | Turdus merula | Common introduced bird along the urban fringe. |
Common Bronzewing | Phaps chalcoptera | Uncommon. |
Common Starling | Sturnus vulgaris | Common introduced species especially in the horse paddocks. |
Crimson Rosella | Platycercus elegans | Common resident. |
Dollarbird | Eurystomus orientalis | Uncommon summer migrant, arrives in October/November and departs for Indonesia and PNG in February. Often breeds in the Aranda Bushland. |
Double-barred Finch | Taeniopygia bichenovii | Uncommon though quite large flocks have been seen on the margins of the horse paddocks. |
Dusky Moorhen | Gallinula tenebrosa | Visits the large dam. |
Dusky Woodswallow | Artamus cyanopterus | Common migrant. Usually seen hawking over or perched on trees in the horse paddocks. |
Eastern Rosella | Platycercus eximius | Common resident. |
Eastern Spinebill | Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris | Common. |
Eastern Yellow Robin | Eopsaltria australis | Common in woodland. |
European Goldfinch | Carduelis carduelis | Common introduced species favouring thistles and briars. |
Fan-tailed Cuckoo | Cacomantis flabelliformis | Common summer migrant. |
Flame Robin | Petroica phoenicea | Common cooler month visitor. |
Galah | Cacatua roseicapilla | Common. Breeds in large dead trees in the rural lease. |
Gang-gang Cockatoo | Callocephalon fimbriatum | Common breeding resident. Has distinctive creaking door call. |
Golden Whistler | Pachycephala pectoralis | Common. |
Great Cormorant | Phalocrocorax carbo | Large dam. |
Grey Butcherbird | Cracticus torquatus | Uncommon. |
Grey Currawong | Strepera versicolor | Common though less obvious than its pied cousin. |
Grey Fantail | Rhipidura fuliginosa | Common in woodland. |
Grey Goshawk * | Accipter novaehollandiae | Rare visitor. |
Grey Shrike-thrush | Colluricincla harmonica | Common. |
Horsfield's Bronze-Cuckoo | Chrysococcyx basalis | Common summer migrant. |
Indian Myna | Acridotheres tristis | Common introduced species along the urban fringe. |
Laughing Kookaburra | Dacelo novaeguineae | Common and familiar. |
Leaden Flycatcher | Myiagra rubecula | Common summer migrant in the dry forest. |
Little Black Cormorant | Phalocrocorax sulcirostris | Large dam. |
Little Corella | Cacatua sanguinea | Recent arrival in Canberra area. Can be confused with the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo with which it flocks. |
Little Eagle | Hieraaetus morphnoides | Local population is declining. |
Little Pied Cormorant | Phalocrocorax melanoleucos | Large dam |
Magpie-lark | Grallina cyanoleuca | Common in the paddocks. |
Masked Lapwing | Vanellus miles | Common breeding resident in grasslands. |
Mistletoebird | Dicaeum hirundinaceum | Uncommon. |
Noisy Friarbird | Philemon corniculatus | Common and noisy summer migrant. |
Noisy Miner | Manorina melanocephala | Common near horse paddocks. Aggressive to other birds. |
Olive-backed Oriole | Oriolus sagittatus | Uncommon summer migrant with a conspicuous call. |
Pacific Black Duck | Anas superciliosa | Common and has attempted breeding near the large dam |
Pallid Cuckoo | Cuculus pallidus | Common summer breeding migrant with distinctive call. |
Peregrine Falcon | Falco peregrinus | Seen recently at a large stick nest near the big dam? |
Pied Currawong | Strepera graculina | Common throughout the reserve. |
Rainbow Bee-eater | Merops ornatus | Summer migrant. |
Rainbow Lorikeet | Trichoglossus haematodus | Small flocks and single birds have been seen in the bushland. Normally a coastal bird. |
Red-browed Finch | Neochmia temporalis | Common particularly on the eastern more wooded side of the leasehold. |
Red-capped Robin | Petroica goodenovii | Rare. |
Red-rumped Parrot | Psephotus haematonotus | Common grass parrot which is often seen along the Bindubi St fringes. |
Red Wattlebird | Anthochaera carunculata | Our largest honeyeater. Common and conspicuous. |
Rock Dove | Columba livia | Common feral pigeon. Can be seen along William Hovell Drive. |
Rose Robin | Petroica rosea | One sighting reported March 2009 on COG hotline near junction of Smiths Rd and the walking track. |
Rufous Fantail | Rhipidura rufifrons | Uncommon. May be sighted during spring and autumn migration. |
Rufous Whistler | Pachycephala rufiventris | Common in woodland during summer. |
Sacred Kingfisher | Todiramphus sancta | Summer migrant. |
Scarlet Robin | Petroica multicolor | Common. In the cooler months it can be seen along the leasehold boundary fence. |
Shining Bronze-Cuckoo | Chrysococcyx lucidus | Common summer migrant |
Silvereye | Zosterops lateralis | Common small bird. |
Silver Gull | Larus novaehollandiae | Occasional visitor to the large dam. |
Southern Boobook | Ninox novaeseelandiae | Commonest owl in the region. Makes familiar Mopoke call. Local distribution has been disrupted by the Gungahlin Drive Extension. |
Speckled Warbler | Chthonicola sagittata | Uncommon ground nesting bird. Has been seen near the junction of the two main roads at the foot of the hill. |
Spotted Pardalote | Pardalotus punctatus | Common small bird that feeds in the canopy |
Straw-necked Ibis | Threskiornis spinicollis | Fairly common overflying or feeding in paddocks. |
Striated Pardalote | Pardalotus striatus | Common. |
Striated Thornbill | Acanthiza lineata | Common. |
Stubble Quail | Coturnix pectoralis | Uncommon ground bird which has been seen in the grassland and on the road bordering the leasehold. |
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo | Cacatua galerita | Common white cockatoo. |
Superb Fairy-wren | Malurus cyaneus | Common species. Can often be seen along the road bordering the leasehold. |
Tawny Frogmouth | Podargus strigoides | Uncommon resident which can be overlooked with its dead branch camouflage. |
Varied Sittella | Daphoenositta chrysoptera | Uncommon. Similar habits to the treecreeper except that it forages down the trees rather than up them. |
Wedge-tailed Eagle | Aquila audax | Australias largest eagle. |
Weebill | Smicronis brevirostris | Common. Smallest Australian bird. |
Welcome Swallow | Hirundo neoxena | Common aerial feeding bird. |
Western Gerygone | Gerygone fusca | Uncommon. |
White-bellied Sea-Eagle | Haliaeetus leucogaster | Occasional visitor; one sight record of a bird over Glenloch Interchange. |
White-browed Babbler * | Pomatostomus superciliosus | Vagrant? Presumed to be extinct in the ACT until a single bird was recorded near the leasehold boundary along the bottom road between February and May 2006 |
White-browed Scrubwren | Sericornis frontalis | Common along bottom road. |
White-eared Honeyeater | Lichenostomus leucotis | Uncommon. Autumn migrant from the high country. |
White-faced Heron | Egretta novaehollandiae | Common near dams and swampy areas. |
White-naped Honeyeater | Melithreptus lunatus | Passage migrant to and from the high country. |
White-necked Heron | Ardea pacifica | Uncommon visitor to the area of the large dam |
White-plumed Honeyeater | Lichenostomus penicillatus | Common. |
White-throated Gerygone | Gerygone olivacea | Common. |
White-throated Needletail | Hirundapus caudacutus | Common aerial summer migrant which precedes storm fronts. |
White-throated Treecreeper | Cormobates leucophaea | Common breeding resident which forages up trees feeding of insects in the bark |
White-winged Chough | Corcorax melanorhamphos | Common in foraging groups. At least two nesting groups occupy the reserve. |
White-winged Triller | Lalage sueurii | Uncommon migrant. |
Willie Wagtail | Rhipidura leucophrys | Common and familiar. |
Yellow-faced Honeyeater | Lichenostomus chrysops | Conspicuous autumn migrant. |
Yellow-rumped Thornbill | Acanthiza chrysorrhoa | Common and conspicuous small bird of grass and understorey that shows its yellow rump when flying. |
Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo | Calyptorhynchus funereus | Common black cockatoo with wailing call. |
Yellow Thornbill | Acanthiza nana | Uncommon. |
For a more comprehensive list, with photos, go to Canberra Nature Map
You can also see photos and listen to the birdsong of some birds from the Aranda Bushland.
The Canberra Ornithologists Group
Visit their website to learn about the group and to see pictures taken by members of the group.