cairns birdwatching

• DIRECTORY: cairns birdwatching
• great barrier reef birdwatching
• michaelmas & upolu cays national park
• daintree & cape tribulation birdwatching
• cooktown & cape york birdwatching
• atherton tableland birdwatching

The Cairns region is rapidly becoming a major destination for birdwatching thanks to the pristine environment and its geographic placement on a number of migration paths.

The Cairns Esplanade, Centenary Lakes and Cairns Botanic Gardens are all convenient spots for a bit of birdwatching in the city centre. There is good signage at these destinations highlighting the major species of birds to be found in the area.

great barrier reef birdwatching

Seabirds can be spotted on the Great Barrier Reef’s various islands and coral cays. The islands of Fitzroy and Green are also good spots for birdwatching.

Low Isles, just off Port Douglas, is home to a major bird roosting spot that is currently part of a study by James Cook University.

michaelmas & upolu cays national park

Michaelmas and Upolu Cays National Park is about 40km northeast of Cairns and a great spot for watching seabirds. Michaelmas Cay is the seventh most important seabird nesting site in the Great Barrier Reef.

The location of Michaelmas Cay makes it a significant rookery for sooty terns and common noddies, crested terns and lesser crested turns. This is the only place where the sooty terns and the crested terns breed in the same location. It is also one of the most accessible rookeries for Cairns birdwatching.

Access to Michaelmas Cay is allowed only in a roped-off area between 9.30am and 3pm.

>> For more information check out the Environmental Protection Agency

daintree & cape tribulation birdwatching

The Daintree, Cape Tribulation, Cooktown and Cape York are all excellent spots for camping and trekking activities that can lead to great Cairns birdwatching opportunities.

Several of birdwatching cruises travel the Daintree River where up to 40 or more different birds can be spotted. The route will offer a combination of waterbirds and other species common to the area like herons, sea eagles, cuckoos, black bittern, darters, kingfishers, honeyeaters, osprey and bluewinged kookaburras.

Birdwatching tours should include sightings of the Papuan frogmouth and the bush stone curlew – endangered in Australia but still relatively common in the Cairns region.

Inland from the coast, birdwatchers can spot finches, robins, kingfishers, parrots and riflebirds among other species, alongside cassowaries. The palm cockatoo, a large, black parrot with a splash of red on it, is also at home in the rainforest.

cooktown & cape york birdwatching

Around Cooktown are a number of interesting spots for Cairns birdwatching including Lakefield National Park which has more than 200 species of birds. Rare and threatened birds like the golden-shouldered parrot, the star finch and the red goshawk can be found here. The nearby Red Lilly Lagoon and the White Lilly Lagoon are also home to a variety of waterbirds.

The Mulbabidgee Conservation Park, about 9km from Cooktown, is a wetlands area. Birdwatchers can find examples of magpie geese, jabirus and egrets alongside the Torres Strait pigeon which arrives there during the spring and summer months.

Further north, the coastal area of the Iron Range is home to a number of major seabird species including metallic starlings, egrets, sea eagles and frigate birds.