Birding
Spring birding in Australia
A season of increased migration and nesting As weather starts to warm or dry across the country and plants begin to flower, we see enormous amounts of
Emma Hawthorne
September 14, 2026
Latest Stories & Events
Welcome to our Latest Stories page. This a place where you can explore recent interesting sightings, read about fantastic volunteer efforts, hear about Birdata’s latest features, and learn more about birds and bird monitoring for conservation.
Striated Pardalote – Michael Hamel-Green
Whilst winter is often considered the hibernation time of many species, for our Australian birds there was much activity. In Birdata we had over 21,000 bird surveys, 240,010 bird sightings, 627 species and at least 1.3 million individual birds counted. Unfortunately, we have also seen many sick or dead birds entered in Birdata through the Bird Impact Tracker (BIT feature) including many highly susceptible species such as Pacific Gulls and Greater Created Terns.
Whilst we do not require photographs for every bird sighted (as this would be especially difficult under survey conditions), we do get some wonderful photos of birds through Birdata. Check out our very own Sally Sheldon from the Birdata team in the newspaper who was the first to sight a Common Redshank in Cairns on one of her regular surveys for shorebirds: Common redshank a rare sighting for Far North Queensland birdwatchers – ABC News.
Mick Roderick, July 2026.
August, 2026.
Geoff Perman, July, 2026.
Sally Sheldon + Martin Cachard, August 2026.
Julie Mellor, August, 2026.
John Newman, June, 2026.
Christopher Grounds, July 2026.
Mick Roderick, August 2026.
Sarah Butler, July 2026.
Philip Le Masurier, July 2026.
Roger Jaensch, July 2026.
Richard Johnson, June 2026.
Jennifer Nicholls, June 2026.
July 2026.
Grant Griffin, July 2026.
Sebastian Stachurski, July 2026.
In late May this year, the birding world was made poorer by the loss of Alan Keith Morris, husband, father, friend, and bird mentor. Alan was often referred to as “Mr NSW” because of his intricate knowledge of birds in NSW, both past and present. But to many birders, Alan
To understand how birds are faring, long-term monitoring of birds is essential. Setting up standardised surveys at specific locations that are repeated over time is an effective way of detecting changes in bird populations. ‘Wings on King’ is a dedicated long-term monitoring program on King Island that uses Birdata to
Whilst birding is often a beautiful, relaxing activity to engage in, it’s not always a walk in the park. Bird surveying can sometimes mean crawling through muddy mangroves, getting tangled in wait-a-while vine in the rainforest, or even witnessing the impacts of a catastrophic environmental event as the Gulf St
Christine Heiser from Birdwatchers of Hervey Bay recently finished a multi-year project of entering into Birdata the historic bird lists maintained by the late John Knight. This amounts to over 1300 surveys translated into Birdata! What dedication! Since Birdwatchers of Hervey Bay formed in the late 1990s, John Knight had
Without volunteers dedicating their time and expertise, we simply would not have the capacity to influence bird conservation over such a vast and diverse continent.
Volunteers are the backbone of our organisation and we want to acknowledge you for the amazing efforts you make every time you enter a Birdata survey.
Check out some of our most recent Volunteer Spotlights!
🦉 If you have a Birdata story or sighting you would like to share, please reach out to birdata@birdlife.org.au
Meet the Birdata crew! It is a huge responsibility to uphold, maintain and curate BirdLife Australia‘s online national monitoring platform. Birdata might have a small team but they are always developing, improving and adding tools to Birdata to support bird conservation within Australia. Birdata also works collaboratively with many departments across BirdLife Australia.
Check out some of their latest editions and ways you can utilise and engage with Birdata.
H5 bird flu has now been detected on the Australian mainland and at the time of writing this the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) has reported 220 confirmed or presumed positive detections of H5 bird flu in Australia, based on samples tested, with new cases increasing daily. Whilst
For over 60 years, volunteers have tirelessly given their time to count migratory shorebirds on Australia’s coasts and important inland ecosystems. These high quality, repeated surveys have enabled identification of important migratory shorebird habitat across Australia. Birdata is thrilled to introduce The Australian National Directory of Important Migratory Shorebird Habitat,
The Bird Impact Tracker: a way to track the birds you love Have you ever been surveying and come across a sick, injured, or dead bird and wondered what to do with this information? With Birdata’s newest feature, the Bird Impact Tracker (BIT), you can now record these observations and
Want to become a citizen scientist bird surveyor? Sign up for the new eLearning Birdata course! Conducting bird surveys might seem like a daunting task. You might think you need a degree, extensive ecological knowledge, and exceptional identification skills to partake in science, yet Birdata is here to make your
Whilst Australia doesn’t have as distinct seasons as some of its northern hemisphere counterparts, there are many shifts in birds to, from and within Australia throughout the year. Many Australian birds are sedentary and remain in their general regionall year round, yet others may migrate to follow more favourable weather conditions, food sources, or breeding sites.
Indigenous Australians have been tracking natural cycles for over 65,000 years. Indigenous seasonal calendars are therefore distinctive to each region and follow changing environmental cues rather than calendar dates.
Our seasonal birding guides let you know of some of the different species’ movements across Australia. Check them out today to learn about what might be visiting, leaving, or breeding in your area.
Monitoring birds alongside restoration Birds can be great indicators of ecosystem health, and whilst many birds use degraded habitats, monitoring species composition changes and any
Learn about our latest Birdata events and any scheduled upcoming events either online or in-person here.
Have a Birdata story or sighting you would like to share?
If you or a group you are involved in use Birdata for your bird monitoring projects and would like your story or a sighting to be featured, please reach out to the Birdata team at birdata@birdlife.org.au.