HoneyeaterWhite-faced RobinFrill-necked MonarchBlack-winged MonarchYellow-legged FlycatcherTropical Scrubwren
A venture into Torres Strait islands, which are part of QLD territory, should reward you with some of the many vagrants from Papua New Guinea (PNG), separated from these islands by just a few miles of water.
Since we started to write the Australian Good Birding Guides (the first book was published in 2017) many changes to bird nomenclature have occurred. Some species were split, other were lumped together and some just changed their common of Latin name. All taxonomy changes are recorded in Birdlife’s Working List of Australian Birds. In this book, we followed the latest version of the Working List, v.3, dated August 2019. Otherwise, nomenclature used in this book follows Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds by Les Christidis and Walter E. Boles, CSIRO Publishing.
To help our readers navigate among the current changes, the main changes affecting birds of Northern Queensland have been summarised below (Northern QLD species highlighted in boldface). Only time will tell how long these names will last; a review of the taxonomy system is undertaken every few years.
| Emerald Dove | Name changed to Brown-capped Emerald-Dove |
| Intermediate Egret | Name changed back to Plumed Egret |
| Sooty Owl | Split into Lesser Sooty Owl and Greater Sooty Owl |
| Gull-billed Tern | Spilt into Australian Gull-billed Tern and Common Gull-billed Tern (was: Asiatic ssp. of Gull-billed Tern) |
| Spotted Catbird | Lumped into Black-eared Catbird |
| Black-chinned Honeyeater | Split into Golden-backed Honeyeater and Black-chinned Honeyeater |
| Crested Shrike-tit | Split into three species: Eastern Shrike-tit, Northern Shrike-tit and Western Shrike-tit. |
| Grey Whistler | Split into Grey-headed Whistler and Brown Whistler |
| Crimson Finch | Split into White-bellied Crimson Finch and Black-bellied Crimson Finch |
| Pied Imperial-Pigeon | This species was split into several new species. The species which was known as Pied Imperial-Pigeon in Australia is now called Torresian Imperial-Pigeon |
| Purple-backed Fairy-wren | Lumped back into Variegated Fairy-wren |
| Eastern Osprey | Lumped back into Osprey |
| Eastern Great Egret | Lumped back into Great Egret |
| Eastern Curlew | Name changed to Far Eastern Curlew |
The regions described in this book include Mackay Coast, Bowen-Ayr Coast, Townsville, areas north and west of Townsville, Ingham area, Cassowary Coast, Cairns, Atherton Tablelands, Daintree Coast, Cooktown, Cape York including Torres Strait islands, Central North QLD, Mt Isa region and Gulf of Carpentaria. The birds, like people, largely favour the coastal regions of Queensland, and these are described in the book in detail. However, many sought-after birds can only be found in the arid landscape of the Outback.
The tropical Northern Queensland climate has basically two seasons: the Wet (summer: November-April) and the Dry (winter: May-October). In the coastal regions, it is hot and humid in summer and hot and dry in winter. Arid, harsh climatic conditions prevail in the interior where in summer temperatures soar to 40oC and above during the day, dropping to perhaps 30oC at night, while in winter day temperatures are still high but at night the gauge easily drops to single digits and even frost. It rains in the wet season in the Outback except for the desert areas.
Travel must be planned carefully. Timing is important – you should not venture there in the wet season as widespread flooding occurs every year and roads may be flooded for weeks at a time, leaving you stranded. Even in the highly-populated coastal areas, which generally have high bridges over the rivers, travelling in summer is not that pleasant, as you may get rain nearly every day and gloomy light conditions. In summary, plan to travel between May and October. Another thing, in the Outback, due to vast distances and sparse population, you have to be self-sufficient for food, water and fuel (a long-range fuel tank is well advised).
For the National Park alerts, park and road closures as well as the fire hazards, check the webpage http://www.nprsr.qld.gov.au/park-alerts/index.php and the individual Parks’ websites. If you enter a closed road and consecutively get bogged up and require towing, you’ll pay a hefty fine for that on top of your towing fees. If you lit a fire (even in a portable butane gas stove) when a total fire ban is imposed, you’ll risk causing a bushfire and face significant fines. The fire ban warnings are NOT displayed in the National Parks, you do need to check the Park’s website.
The Northern Queensland guide has been divided in our book into separate chapters. The approximate geographical locations of these areas are indicated on the State map below, with hyperlinks to the detailed birding information available in the ebook edition.
Northern Queensland chapters
5 West of Townsville
6 Ingham and Surrounds
7 Cassowary Coast
8 Cairns and Surrounds
9 Atherton Tablelands
10 Daintree Coast
11 Cooktown and Surrounds
12 Cape York
13 Central North Qld
14 Mount Isa Region
15 Gulf of Carpentaria
Mackay Coast
This chapter cover the sites from Carmila Beach on the south side to Bowen on the north, plus the corresponding hinterland area.
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