Birds on North Head
Above: A masked lapwing (old-timers call it a plover) and chick, and an Australian Black Duck, seen on the
Hanging swamp. Masked lapwings always nest in open spaces, and lawns are among their most
favourite. If you see two lapwings just walking around, there may be a nest nearby. We usually mark the nests with
sticks or "witches' hats". If you see markers like this on a lawn, please stay away. As this was written in late
July, two adults have been scoping sites over the road from the southwest corner of the parade ground.
Above: A brush turkey or scrub turkey and a Black Cockatoo. The brush turkeys have only moved in during
the last decade, and they build mounds, in which their eggs are incubated. As you enter North Fort from the Scenic
Drive, there is a short steel track on your left. If you follow that and go over a small stile, you will see a mound
on your left at the top of the rise. This black cockatoo was taken just where that steel track joins the fire trail,
but the best place to see them is on the old oval, 70 metres east of the parade ground.
Above: A sulphur-crested cockatoo and an Australian White Ibis (a.k.a. 'bin chicken'). These two birds are
completely urbanised, and you can expect to see them anywhere. The most likely place tov see an ibis on North Head
is on the foreshore near the Q Station.
Above: A Tawny Frogmouth and an Australian Raven, commonly called a crow, even though it's a raven. You will
be very lucky to see a Tawny Frogmouth (which birders say is not an owl, even if it looks like one), but Australian
Ravens are dead common. They make a noise like a man falling out of a tree.
Above: A butcher bird and a currawong. Currawongs are bigger than magpies and have black beaks. The butcher
birds have a much nicer song. The cry of a currawong sounds to me scarily close to coq au vin.
Above: A magpie, and a magpie contending with a Noisy Miner about dinner. The noisy miners are large
honeyeaters, and they have a piercing cry of (usually) three piping notes, to warn of predators nearby. You
may see them chasing away currawongs, Australian ravens, the rare hawk, or brush turkeys. If you see magpies
with grey plumage on their breast, they are juveniles.
Above: Kookaburras and a Rainbow Lorikeet. You are more likely to hear the kookaburras than see
them.
Above: New Holland Honeyeater and a Wagtail (not common). In late winter, the New Holland Honeyeaters
hurtle around in large twittering gangs. They will be laying eggs before long, so this may be a mating display.
Above: A Wattlebird, mainly heard as a harsh cry. They aren't found in wattle trees: some of them
have dangly bits called wattles.
There will be more birds...
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The page was first created on 26 July 2020, last amended 2 August 2020.