Birding At Home

When life hands you lemons, it’s time to make lemonade and when life hands you a corona(virus) it’s best to add a pinch of lime and some salt.

We might spend a lot of our free time birding in new places in Sydney and Australia, but our favorite outings are when we know a place well enough to call it a local and know what what to expect during the seasons.

Lockdown is a great chance to get to know the birds in your backyard and neighborhood and even contribute to science while you do it too. Birdwatching is a free activity, COVID-safe and all you need is a bit of patience and some curiosity. As long as you keep looking up, there are birds to see no matter where you live.

 

Our local birds in Sydney’s Inner West include:

Black-faced Cuckooshrikes, Butcherbirds, Crested Pigeons, Figbirds, Galahs, Ibises, Indian Mynas, Intermediate Egrets, Kookaburras, Little Black Cormorant, Little Corellas, Little Pied Cormorant, Magpies, Masked Lapwings, New Holland Honeyeaters, Noisy Miners, Pelicans, Pied Currawongs, Rainbow Lorikeets, Reed Warblers, Red Wattlebirds, Royal Spoonbills, Spotted Doves, Sulphur-crested Cockatoos, Welcome Swallows, White-faced Herons and more!

Welcome Swallow / Sydney Park

Welcome Swallow / Sydney Park

 
 

For a FREE, downloadable birds of Sydney checklist:

 

Tips for Backyard Birding:

  • Sit in your backyard, or on your balcony or front or back steps and observe the area. Listen for bird calls and try to spot the birds making noise. First thing in the morning or late afternoon are the most active times for birds.

  • Keep a journal of what you see and if you don’t know what bird it is, jot down some key information like beak shape, size of the bird and shape, head shape, tail length and colours if the lighting is clear.

  • For a close-up view, grab a pair of binoculars or order one online. We use the Steiner Safari binoculars and Celestron. If you wear glasses like we do, make sure to retract the rubber eyecups on the binoculars. An easy way to view a bird is to look at the bird without your binoculars, then bring them up to your eyes, keeping your gaze on the bird. It can be very difficult to try and find a bird through binoculars, so best to find the bird with your eyes and bring the binoculars up to them.

  • Keep an eye out for hollows in trees or any other areas on the tops of buildings that birds might be nesting in.

 
 

Get Involved with Science:

October is the National Aussie Backyard Bird Count and you can start practicing to report your findings. For more information and to report a bird count, head to the Aussie Bird Count by Birdlife Australia.

Become a Hoot Detective! Help scientists untangle endless hours of sound recordings to parse out the hoots of owls, informing research and helping scientists. A very COVID-safe activity, all you need is an internet connection and phone or laptop. Head to their website Hoot Detective to participate.

The sun is shining and spring brings new life and heightened bird activity. Now’s the time to get local. Sit in your backyard with a pair of binoculars. Or keep one on your desk for any flybys out the window. Stretch your legs and get some exercise, but don’t forget your binoculars. As the lockdowns keep our neighborhoods still, the sounds of birds become louder.

Our Favorite Sydney Birding Spots Are:

Here are a few of our favorite spots with some of our very favorite birds to see at each site.

  • The Royal Botanic Gardens (Powerful Owls, Buff-banded Rails)

  • Sydney Olympic Park (check out the bird hides, Red-necked Avocets)

  • Centennial Park (check out the flying foxes while you’re there, Tawny Frogmouths)

  • Sydney Park (don’t miss the wetlands, Latham’s Snipe, Royal Spoonbills, Pelicans, Galahs).

  • Sydney Harbour National Park (look for little birds like wrens, silvereyes, finches here)

  • Bondi to Manly Walk (shorebirds, little birds, honeyeaters, brush turkeys)

  • Lane Cove National Park (honeyeaters)

  • Royal National Park (Lyrebirds, robins)

  • Australian Botanic Gardens, Mt. Annan (Red-rumped Parrots)

  • North Head, Manly (honeyeaters)

  • Hen and Chicken Bay Walk (Herons, Egrets, Bar-tailed Godwits)

  • Ku-ring-gai National Park (look for Kingfishers at Bobbin Head boardwalk)

We’ve always been inspired by birds and their freedom of flight, but these days watching them soar and swoop takes on a new meaning and new inspiration.

Let us know what you see in your neighborhood!

Happy birding,

Cheers,
Stephanie and Amy

Stephanie Chambers