Birdwatching in Daintree is by boat at dawn. Everyone on our boat can see the birds in seated comfort as we effortlessly glide up to kingfishers, herons, frogmouths and flycatchers......more >
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Bird calls of the Daintree was done from Chris Dahlberg's river boat and features the very first sound recording of the Great-billed Heron's main call.

Links:
We go out on the boat most days.
What bird's did we see today?

Lots of places to stay in Daintree.
Accommodation options?

Diary for Daintree wildlife.
Daintree wildlife bulletin.

Daintree is now part of Cairns.
Cairns birdwatching itineraries.

Since 1992, birdwatching by boat.
Chris Dahlberg's birdwatching tours.

Comprehensive tourist information.
www.daintree.info

It makes a difference what part of the year you come.
Seasonal variations.

Most popular species:
Great-billed Heron
Black Bittern (summer)
Little Kingfisher
Papuan Frogmouth
Wompoo Fruit-Dove
Double-eyed Fig Parrot
Little (Gould's) Bronze-Cuckoo
Large-billed Gerygone
Pacific Baza
Yellow Oriole
Azure Kingfisher
Shining Flycatcher

Birds of the Daintree DVD was filmed from Chris Dahlberg's river boat. Honourable mention for bird diversity at International Wildlfe Film festival.

Other places to go birdwatching in Daintree:
Stewart's Creek Road from Pioneers Park to the bridge over Stewart's Creek. The road follows the river upstream. It winds through some secondary growth on the high side and a wet forest on the low side and emerges into grassland and then gallery forest fringing Stewart Creek. Reliable for Fairy Gerygone and other passerines.
The picnic area next to the jetty at dawn and dusk. Don't bother in the middle of the day.
Wonga Beach is good for Beach Stone-curlew, Double-eyed Fig-Parrots and Little Bronze-Cuckoo.

Apart from some file footage, John Young's "The Lure of the Daintree" was filmed from Chris Dahlberg's river boat.

BEST TIME TO COME?
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.

North of the river. The two local ornithologists who have produced guide books 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, Cow Bay have been good in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Barratt Creek bridge. We take our boat under this bridge most days into the prettiest waterway of the Daintree River. It is here that most of  the sound recordings and filming of  secretive species has been done. All our rarest bird species can be found on the other side of this bridge.
The big tourist boats cannot go there.

BEST TIME NOT TO COME?
See that bridge to the left? That is the only way into the Daintree Village. With an average annual rainfall approaching 4 metres half of it will fall in February and March. It is not unusual for the bridge to go under at that time. See panel at right ->

After the 2009 wet season has started I would like to re-enforce my sentiments from the left box. Last week MacDonalds in Cairns couldn't even get lettuce or tomatoes for their hamburgers due to road closures caused by the "wet".