How To See 25 Australian Parrot Species In Whirlwind 8 Days From Brisbane

Posted on December 18, 2015 by Tara

If you have been following this blog for the last couple months you’ve seen how I saw all kinds of parrot species in South-East Queensland. So now let’s string it together and tally up the possible parrots. Remember, this itinerary only gets you into the habitat where the birds are commonly seen. There is never a guarantee with wild birds but if you plan well and do your homework on eBird’s Species Maps, you have a very good chance to get them all!

This is sort of the Amazing Race of Birding and designed for people with limited time. If you can, add one day to each location and a final day in Brisbane before your flight out. It’s easy to get to Australia with airline miles, then just rent a car and take off! This trip must be done while Bowra Station is open between the months of March to September.

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SEQ Birding

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LAKE COOLMUNDA/DURIKAI – 2 DAYS

Start in Brisbane. Pick up your rental car at the airport and drive to Lake Coolmunda. Stop at the Durikai Watering Hole on the way. Possible Parrots:

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BOWRA STATION – 3 DAYS

This will be about 7 hours drive so start as early as possible. Here you can find Sulphur Crested Cockatoos, Red-winged Parrots, Blue Bonnet Parrots, Red-rumps, Cockatiels & Little Corellas (already mentioned). Then add new species:

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STANTHORPE/GIRRAWEEN – 2 DAYS

Make an early start for about 7 hours drive to Stanthorpe. Here you have a 2nd chance at Turquoise Parrots, Eastern Rosellas, Galahs, Sulphur-crested Cockatoos, Rainbow Lorikeets, Scaly-breasted Lorikeets. There are several good reserves in this area so I would check eBird first to see where the birds have been seen most recently.

Crimson Rosellas
King Parrots
Musk Lorikeets
Red-tail Black Cockatoos (profile coming)
Glossy Black Cockatoos
Yellow-tail Black Cockatoos

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BRISBANE & RAINBOW BEACH – 1 DAY

If you haven’t seen King Parrots yet, have lunch at the small cafe near Jolly’s Lookout as King Parrots, Rainbow Lorkeets & Sulphur-crested Cockatoos hang out there. Then make the 3 hour drive north to Rainbow Beach or Tin Can Bay. Up here you have another chance at Yellow-tail Black Cockatoos, Rainbow Lorikeets, Galahs & Sulphur-crested Cockatooos. But the main reason to come here is:

Eastern Ground Parrots

So there you have it – 25 parrot species all in South-east Queensland. We do occasionally get Swift Parrots up this far as well but that’s a longshot. They made it to Brisbane in 2014 but not this year. I do recommend doing 3 days in Coolmunda, 4 in Bowra, 3 in Girraween, 1 or 2 in Tin Can Bay/Rainbow Beach and one final day in Brisbane so try to allow 2 weeks if you can for a more leisurely birding experience!

Little Lorikeet (Glossopsitta pusilla)

Posted on October 9, 2015 by Tara

The Little Lorikeet (Glossopsitta pusilla) is a species of parrot in the Psittaculidae family. It is endemic to Australia. It is a small parrot, predominantly green in plumage with a red face. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.

They can be very hard to photograph as they tend to stay high up in trees and blend in well with the foliage but I finally got a decent shot in Durikai National Forest, near Karara.

They have a large range on the eastern side of Australia. I have seen them at Woodlands near MEL, several reserves in the Brisbane area and at Durikai National Forest.

LEARN MORE ABOUT LITTLE LORIKEETS

VIDEOS

You can see how well they blend in.

Nesting pair

Birding Durikai State Forest – Near Karara

Posted on October 8, 2015 by Tara

Durikai State Forest is better known for fossicking but those who look deeper can find some wonderful birds here. Last year, someone even spotted a rare Regent Honey-eater although I was not so lucky this year! It is located about 3 hours drive from Brisbane, 7 km from Karara and around 40 km from Warwick and you can access it from the Cunningham Highway. On the right side of this map, the red line is a gravel road leading into the forest. We were there around 2pm so there weren’t many birds around but the highlight was a lovely Mistletoe Bird. The yellow splotch is across the road and a bit hard to find.

To find the Durikai Watering Hole, you look on the left if coming from Warwick (around 44 km) for this sign. The turn-off to the watering hole is pretty well concealed but you can see a white Jeep coming out from it.

If you are coming from Coolmunda or Karara, look on the right for these signs about 7 km past Karara.

This watering hole is a magical spot where you can set up a camp chair, chill out and watch beautiful little Yellow-tufted Honey-eaters, White-naped Honey-eaters, Noisy Friarbirds and Little Lorikeets frolic through the trees and come down to drink water. I also got a glimpse of Turquoise Parrots shooting through but unfortunately they didn’t stop to pose for photos. I was really lucky to get decent shots of the Little Lorikeets which had been eluding me in tree branches for ages!