Survey reveals our top bird

An annual bird survey in the Cairns region has recorded almost 250 different species of birds and found you are most likely to see the striking colours of the Rainbow Lorikeet in our skies.

In a seven-day period last October, 420 observers took part in Birdlife Australia’s Aussie Backyard Bird Count, which counted more than 20,000 birds from 246 different species in the Cairns region.

The count was dominated by the Rainbow Lorikeet with a total of 3491, although this was a significant decrease on last year’s tally of 5488.

Rounding out the top five species counted were Torresian Imperial-Pigeon (2398), Common Myna (1666), Metallic Starling (1231), and the House Sparrow (1170).

Eight endangered species were observed, including the Curlew Starling (135), Bar-tailed Godwit (77) and Red Goshawk (1), as well as 111 sightings of the critically endangered Great Knot.

The bird count is a citizen science project with members of the community invited to participate, identify bird species, count bird numbers and record data over a seven-day period.

Top Ten Species

2019

2018

Rainbow Lorikeet

3491

5488

Torresian Imperial-Pigeon

2398

3256

Common Myna*

1666

912

Metallic Starling

1231

1665

House Sparrow*

1170

717

Rock Dove

1137

682

Magpie-lark

1078

682

Silver Gull

1069

567

Sulphur-crested Cockatoo

1068

1434

Peaceful Dove

1046

794

* denotes introduced species, a total of nine of which were counted in the region.

Endangered

2019

2018

Curlew Starling

135

-

Bar-tailed Godwit

77

67

Crimson Finch

42

17

Eastern Curlew

39

5

Red Knot

32

1

Black-throated Finch

23

38

Lesser Sand Plover

6

2

Red Goshawk

1

-

Critically Endangered

Great Knot

111

78