Photograph of Southern Cassowary

Southern Cassowary in Australia by Mark Harper.

EASTERN AUSTRALIA

Best Wildlife in Eastern Australia

Mammals
Over 80% of Australia's mammal species are endemic and in Eastern Australia they include Koala, Platypus, wallabies and possums, while more widespread species include Short-beaked Echidna, Sugar Glider, Musky Rat Kangaroo and Black Flying Fox. Also a chance of the endemic Common Wombat, Lumholtz's Tree Kangaroo, Greater and Yellow-bellied Gliders, and Spotted-tailed Quoll, as well as more widespread species such as Humpback (mostly Jul-Sep), Bryde's and Dwarf Minke Whales (both mostly Aug-Dec).

Birds
Five of the seven bird families endemic to Australia occur in Eastern Australia (with a sixth; Emu, also possible) and they are represented by Albert's and Superb Lyrebirds; White-winged Chough and Apostlebird; Rufous Scrub-bird; Eastern Bristlebird; and Red-browed, Spotted and Striated Pardalotes. All eleven families shared only with New Guinea occur in Eastern Australia and they are represented by Southern Cassowary; bowerbirds including Regent and Satin, and Green and Spotted Catbirds; fairywrens such as Superb; Eastern Whipbird; Spotted Quail Thrush; Grey-crowned Babbler; butcherbirds, Pied Currawong and Australian Magpie; Yellow-breasted Boatbill; treecreepers; Varied Sittella; and Australian Logrunner and Chowchilla. Other birds include Wandering (Gibson's), Shy (White-capped), Black-browed, Campbell and (Indian) Yellow-nosed Albatrosses, Lesser and Great Frigatebirds, Red-tailed Tropicbird, Black-necked Stork, Brolga and Sarus Cranes, Wedge-tailed Eagle, White-bellied Sea Eagle, Australian Bustard, Blue-winged Kookaburra, Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher (mostly Nov-Mar), Paradise and Victoria's Birds-of-paradise, Glossy, Red-tailed and Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos, Regent Honeyeater, Noisy Pitta and White-throated Needletail (mostly Nov-Mar), as well as Black Swan, Magpie Goose, ducks including Pink-eared, Australian Brush Turkey, Orange-footed Scrubfowl, Great-winged and Providence Petrels, Flesh-footed, Short-tailed and Wedge-tailed Shearwaters, Fairy Prion (mostly Oct-Mar), Brown Booby, Australian Pelican, Australasian Darter, Black Bittern, Australian and Straw-necked Ibises, Royal and Yellow-billed Spoonbills, Brahminy Kite, Buff-banded Rail, Baillon's and Spotless Crakes, Bush Thick-knee, Masked Lapwing, Red-capped Plover, Black-fronted and Red-kneed Dotterels, Black-winged Stilt, Red-necked Avocet, Comb-crested Jacana, wintering shorebirds (mostly Oct-Mar) including Latham's Snipe, Great Knot, Grey-tailed Tattler, Far Eastern Curlew, Red-necked Stint, and Sharp-tailed and Terek Sandpipers, Black-naped, Bridled and Sooty Terns (all three mostly Oct-May), Black and Brown Noddies, pigeons including Squatter and Wonga, Superb and Wompoo Fruit Doves, Torresian Imperial Pigeon, Galah, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, lories, lorikeets including Rainbow, rosellas including Crimson, parrots including Australian King and Turquoise, Double-eyed Fig Parrot, Channel-billed Cuckoo (mostly Oct-Mar), Lesser Sooty, Greater Sooty, (Australian) Masked and Powerful Owls, Australian Owlet Nightjar, Marbled, Papuan and Tawny Frogmouths, Laughing Kookaburra, Azure and Forest Kingfishers, Rainbow Bee-eater, Dollarbird, many honeyeaters including Eastern Spinebill, woodswallows including White-browed, (Eastern) Crested Shrike Tit, whistlers, Grey Fantail, Willie-Wagtail, monarchs, Magpie-lark, Grey-headed (Ashy) and Rose Robins, and Diamond Firetail. Also a chance of many seabirds including White-faced Storm Petrel, Golden Bowerbird, Great-billed Heron, Gang-gang Cockatoo, Ground Parrot, Southern Emuwren, Plum-headed Finch and Beautiful Firetail.

Reptiles, Amphibians and Fish
Whale Shark, Manta Ray (both mostly Aug-Dec), and Green, Leatherback and Loggerhead Turtles (all three mostly Oct-Nov). Also a chance of Tiger Shark (mostly Aug-Dec).

Invertebrates
The many butterflies and moths include Cape York Birdwing Butterfly, one of the largest butterflies in the world, and Hercules Moth, one of the largest moths in the world.

Other Natural Wonders of Eastern Australia

Great Barrier Reef The largest structure ever built by living things (stony corals) which is over 2000 km (1243 miles) long and covers 207,000 sq km (nearly 80,000 sq miles). It is not actually a single reef, but consists of thousands of smaller reefs, built over the course of about 18 million years.

Best Sites for Wildlife in Eastern Australia

Photograph of Australian Pelican

Australian Pelican by Michael Halliday.

Best Times for Wildlife in Eastern Australia

October-November, the start of the southern spring, is the best time to look for birds and mammals, when many resident birds are breeding and therefore at their most active, although this is not true for the two lyrebirds which are most likely to be heard singing and seen displaying in the southern autumn and winter. Migrant birds from the north, including Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher, also arrive in October-November which falls into the June-October period when the greatest variety of seabirds are present. Spring also overlaps with the August-December period which is the best time for scuba-diving and snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef.

Recommended Books etc. for Eastern Australia

Bradt Wildlife Guide: Australian Wildlife by S Martin. Bradt Travel Guides, 2010.

Traveller's Wildlife Guide: Australia, The East by L Beletsky. Arris Books, 2006.

An Ecotraveller's Guide: Australia by H Robinson. Arris Books, 2003.

A Field Guide to the Mammals of Australia by P Menkhorst and F Knight. OUP, 2010 (Third Edition).

The Mammals of Australia edited by S Van Dyck and R Strahan. New Holland Publishers, 2008 (Third Edition).

Field Guide to Australian Mammals by C Jones and S Parish. Steve Parish Publishing, 2006.

Birds of Australia by K Simpson and N Day. PUP, 2010 (Eighth Edition).

The Slater Field Guide to Australian Birds by P Slater. New Holland Publishers, 2009 (Second Edition).

The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia by G Pizzey et al. Harper Collins, 2008 (Eighth Edition).

The Complete Guide to Finding the Birds of Australia by R Thomas et al. Frogmouth Publications, due 2011 (Second Edition).

World of Water Wildlife Guide: Great Barrier Reef by N Coleman. N Coleman's Underwater Geographic, 2008.

Reef and Shore Fishes of the South Pacific by J E Randall. University of Hawaii Press, 2005.

Reef Fish Identification: Tropical Pacific by G Allen et al. New World Publications, 2003.

A Complete Guide to Reptiles of Australia by S Wilson and G Swan. New Holland Publishers, due 2011 (Third Edition).

The Complete Field Guide to Butterflies of Australia by M Braby. CSIRO, 2004.


Michael Morcombe eGuide to The Birds of Australia.

Trip Reports for Eastern Australia

Many trip reports, some for Eastern Australia, are posted on the websites listed here. On some of these websites some reports are independent and some are posted by tour companies who organize tours to Eastern Australia. These tour companies and others also post their own reports on their websites, which are listed under 'Some Organized Tours to Eastern Australia' below.

Local Guides and Tours in Eastern Australia

The costs of organized tours partly reflect the quality of the tour leaders. Some leaders are certainly better than others and many companies claim their leaders are the best but even the best rely at least to some extent on the exceptional skills of the local guides they employ. If you are travelling independently, employing such local guides will greatly increase your chances of seeing the wildlife you wish to see.

Accommodation in Eastern Australia


Some Organized Tours to Eastern Australia

There are many tour companies who organize tours to see mammals, birds, other wildlife and other natural wonders. The cost of these tours vary considerably according to such variables as the airlines used, the number of days the tours last, the number of sites visited, the number of people in the group (an important consideration if you wish to see such wildlife as rainforest mammals and birds), the number of tour leaders, the standard of accommodation and transport, and the percentage profit the company hopes to make. Generally, where the number of days tours last and the number of sites visited are similar, the cheapest tours are those that use the cheapest airlines, accommodation and local transport, that have the largest groups with the least number of leaders, and that make the least amount of profit. The most expensive tours tend to be those which are exceptionally long, use the most expensive accommodation (ridiculously lavish in some cases, even for single nights) and which make the most profit. Some tour costs partly reflect the quality of the tour leaders. Some leaders are certainly better than others and many companies claim their leaders are the best but even the best rely at least to some extent on the exceptional skills of the local guides they employ.

While tour companies organize tours with set itineraries many also organize custom tours for individuals and private groups who instead of taking a tour with a set itinerary want to follow their own itinerary to suit their own personal tastes, whether it be mammals, birds, other wildlife, other natural wonders or even man-made attractions, or a mixture of them all. Many organized tours with set itineraries are also fast-paced and target as many species as possible, whether they are mammals, birds or other wildlife or everything, which usually leaves little time to enjoy the best sites and individual species, but on a custom tour those taking part can specify the pace and the sites and species they wish to concentrate on. Custom tours also suit people who like to travel with people they already know, rather than with a group of strangers, and people with partners with different interests. Individuals and small groups will almost certainly have to pay more than the price of an organized tour with a set itinerary but a large group of friends may be able to travel for less than the price quoted for a set tour.

Tour companies who run organized tours or can arrange custom tours to Eastern Australia include the following.