Spring and Summer Bird Visitors

What an exciting time of year this is, with many birds that head north for the winter months returning to the gardens to breed and enjoy this, our green heart in the middle of a city. Here are some of the birds that you might spot when you visit the gardens.

The beautiful Rufous fantail (Rhipidura rufifrons) Found in eastern Australia, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Guam. His preferred habitat is rainforests, dense wet forests and mangroves and he is hard to see as he prefers these darker places, where he flits around quickly, often close to the ground, catching insects.

Most locals will know the call of the Eastern Koel, (Eudynamys orientalis), even if they haven’t actually seen the bird. It’s call, often earlier in the morning than many humans appreciate, sounds very much like its name – ko-el. The male, pictured below is glossy black with a distinctive red eye, and the female, above is brown and buff with a black head. They are fruit eaters.

The Dollarbird (Eurystomus orientalis) Named for the pale bue or white dollar shaped spots on their wings, they are part of the roller family of birds, so named because of their rolling courtship displays in flight. The dollarbird is Australia’s only roller and is found in northern and Eastern Australia from September through the warmer months before it returns to New Guinea for winter. They feed on flying insects which they catch on the wing.

What a delight it is to see a Rainbow bee-eater (merops ornatus). These beautiful birds come south to breed in sandy areas and are often seen in places such as Sandy Beach and Red Rock, north of Coffs Harbour. every so often one or two do visit the garden. They nest in tunnels on the ground, so where you see them please be careful where you walk and keep pets under control. Yes they do catch bees and wasps plus dragonflies, beetles, butterflies and moths.

The Australasian Figbird (Sphecotheres vieilloti) is distributed across northern Australia from the Kimberleys across and down the eastern states to Victoria. They move north in winter and travel south to breed. The male has a distinctive patch of red around his eye, (above), whereas the female (below) is brown above with a whitish underbelly streaked with brown. As their name implies they love soft fruits and berries but will also eat insects.

Sacred kingfisher (Todiramphus sanctus), a common sight around Australia, Indonesia and New Zealand and in the garden in spring and summer. Look along the creek walk in the mangroves, in the paperbark forest and in the bamboo on the Japanese garden island. They are land foragers eating reptiles insects and crustaceans, they only occasionally take small fish. We have been lucky enough to have two breeding pairs in the garden at times. one at the entrance end of the creek walk, and one at the Japanese garden end.

Black-faced monarch (Monarcha melanopsis) found along the eastern coast of Australia, becoming less often seen further south, and up into New Guinea. You might spot one in any of our forest areas. They forage for insects in the leaves and also catch flying insects on the wing. They build deep, cup-shaped nests from several types of materials, the one pictured below is made primarily of mosses, lichens and spider webs. They also use bark and casuarina needles.

Spectacled monarch (Symposiachrus trivirgatus), found in the north east and along the eastern coast of Australia down to about Port Stephens. their range also extends into Papua New Guinea and Timor. Again they can be found in the woodland areas of the garden, emphasising how important these natural forest areas are to our birds and other fauna. They do prefer wetter areas and might also be spotted in the mangroves. Another insect eater, it forages in leaves, along the tree truck and in vines.

Olive-backed oriole (Oriolus sagittatus). From the same family as the figbird, they have very distinctive red beaks and eyes. They are found over a wide area of coastal Australia, from the Kimberley of WA right around to Adelaide. They love fruit and insects so you might find them anywhere in the garden. This photo was taken in the garden in the Himalayan pink cedar (Acrocarpus faxinifolius), which is often full of birds in spring.

Channel-billed cuckoo (Scythrops novaehollandiae). This large cuckoo comes down from New Guinea and Indonesia to breed in North and north -eastern Australia each year. A large bird measuring up to 70cm and with a wingspan of up to a metre, they are still an elusive bird to find and photograph. They prefer tall, open forests where its host birds nest. It particularly favours magpie and pied currawong nests and eats fruits, seeds and insects.

So keep your eyes out for these seasonal visitors and if you manage some good photos and want to share them, please send them into livingCBG@gmail.com, including your name, date taken and where in the gardens. you might just find yourself on our social media pages.

Channel-billed cuckoo thanks to David Tarrant. Other photos Cheryl Cooper.