Daintree birdwatching.
A guide to birdwatching in the different habitats of the Daintree Valley by Chris Dahlberg.

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Logo banner for Birds of the Daintree DVD.           Two Laughing Kookaburras sitting on a street sign. Daintree Village map.

Daintree birdwatching is in the northern portion of Queensland's Wet Tropics at South latitude 16 degrees 30' and East longitude 145 degrees 20'. Access to it is by the Captain Cook Highway from the south. The most sensible place to go birdwatching in Daintree is the valley floor as all the habitats are accessible by boat, foot or car except for the highland rainforest. There is no direct access to the tablelands from the valley and Daintree birdwatching is essentially done at sea-level. The Daintree River is a considerable focus in terms of birdwatching allowing good close views of several kingfisher species, herons and in particular Papuan Frogmouth. The most difficult habitat is rainforest and this too can be done by boat.

See our Daintree birdwatching tours site.


Seasonal variations Link.

Prime Daintree birdwatching time here is October and the beginning of November which coincides with the arrival of the last regular migrant species and before the real hot weather takes hold. At some point after this will be the onset of the wet. Birdwatching in Daintree is fruitful year round and it is up to the visitor to decide when they can come. There is little to recommend the traditionally wet weather months of February and March when up to two metres of rain can fall. In early March 1996 a metre an a half of rain fell in five days. The link above deals with seasonal variations in greater depth.

I have been taking birdwatchers out at dawn on the Daintree River since 1992. The late Graham Pizzey, an Australian birdwatching legend, is quoted as saying; "Chris Dahlberg's Daintree River Tours has to be a highlight in any set of birding experiences in Australia."  After the tour I post to the web what we saw and heard.
The sightings are kept forever at :
www.daintreerivertours.com.au/checklist.html

 A wildlife bulletin is also posted at: www.daintreerivertours.com.au/daintree-wildlife-bulletin.html which is archived with a search engine.

Long term Daintree birdwatcher Chris Dahlberg

Other places to go Daintree birdwatching:
Don't under estimate the village itself. Most  mornings before our boat trip I simply drive around the village and look at what is on the powerlines. It sometimes yields four kingfisher species including Blue-winged Kookaburra near the corner of Dagmar and Douglas Streets. In late April a Dollarbird stayed for a week and I was able to send people off to see it before the trip.
Stewart Creek Road starts at Pioneers Park and follows the river upstream. It winds through rainforest and emerges into grassland and then gallery forest fringing Stewart Creek. It is very productive and the traffic is light. See rare bird sighting>>>

Beach Stone-curlew photo by Jim Snedden.
Daintree birdwatching at Wonga Beach. See this link.
Beach Stone-curlew is reliably seen at the end of Janbal Street. Wonga Beach Map >>

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The Daintree River ferry road is between the Captain Cook Highway and the ferry. On the northern side of the road is a large billabong (ox-bow lake) that offers many Magpie Geese and other species. At present it has water in it is choked with grass. It can offer good birdwatching by telescope. It is private land.

Upper Daintree Roads. Beyond the first part of Stewart's Creek Road that leads north from the village the roads are formed, largely unfenced, gravel. There are grasslands that yield Richard's Pipit, Golden-headed Cisticola, Chestnut-breasted Mannikin, Tawny Grassbird and Singing Bushlark. If the Blue-winged Kookaburra was not seen in the village it can often be seen near the junction of Douglas Creek Road and Upper Daintree Road.

North of the river. It is interesting that the two local ornithologists who have produced field guides of this area have left this section out or in one case, have not been complementary of the area north of the river for birdwatching.
Cassowary sightings on the Jindalba Walk, Tulip Oak Road, Cow Bay have been good throughout 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007.

Daintree Birdwatching.
Birdwatching in Daintree is restricted to sea-level or not that much above it and not all the local birds are found at sea-level. The climate of Daintree is in stark contrast to that of the drier country to the west of our Great Dividing Range. That drier country is not far away but it has different birds. It makes sense to base centrally, in the tablelands, and make day visits or have a short stay at Daintree.

Cairns Birdwatching itineraries.
Have a look at this link to see where the birds are in the Cairns region: Cairns Birdwatching itineraries>>

Jo Wieneke's regional field guide to birds of NE Queensland. Jo keeps this up to date because it is not hard bound and she can make up to date changes easily. $22. Some information gained from Chris Dahlberg's boat Lloyd Nielsen's regional field guide to Birds of Queensland's Wet Tropics and Barrier Reef Islands. $38.Some information gained from Chris Dahlberg's boat
CD by David Stewart for NE Queensland. This overlaps, to the north, with his Wet Tropics Cassettes $25. Many done from Chris Dahlberg's boat
Sound Cassette by Harold & Audrey Crouch. It has the first sound recording ever made of a Great-billed Heron. Front cover photo and most audio done with Chris Dahlberg's help by boat. $11. Two sound cassettes by David Stewart, passerines and non-passerines of Queensland's Wet Tropics for $14 each. Many done from Chris Dahlbergs boat.
John Young's video done from Chris Dahlbergs boat. $31.

Daintree Birdwatching Merchandise
Regional field guides by Jo Wieneke and Lloyd Nielsen. DVD by Real Deal Multimedia. Video by John Young. CD by David Stewart.  Sound cassettes by Harold & Audrey Crouch and David Stewart.
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Recent DVD with all the Daintree specials, Great-billed Heron, Black Bittern, Little Kingfisher and Papuan Frogmouth. Done from Chris Dahlberg's boat. $29.95.

e-mail Chris

Important sighting for Jean-Florent Mandelbaum details>>>
Jean-Florent Mandelbaum.
Jean-Florent reported a sighting of a Glossy Swiftlet to me 0n 18 August 2006. He went on to report it to BARC where it was accepted as only the fifth Australian sighting. Jean-Florent also contributed photos he had taken of Daintree wildlife during our dawn wildlife tour.

 

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