- Birds of Australia
Australia has about 800 species ofbird , ranging from the tiny 8 cmWeebill to the huge, flightlessEmu .Many species will immediately seem familiar to visitors from the northern hemisphere - Australian wrens look and act much like
northern hemisphere wren s and Australian robins seem to be close relatives of the northern hemisphere robins, but in fact the majority of Australianpasserine s are descended from the ancestors of thecrow family, and the close resemblance is misleading: the cause is not genetic relatedness butconvergent evolution .For example, almost any land habitat offers a niche for a small bird that specialises in finding small insects: the form best fitted to that task is one with long legs for agility and obstacle clearance, moderately-sized wings optimised for quick, short flight, and a large, upright tail for rapid changes of direction. In consequence, the unrelated birds that fill that niche in the
Americas and in Australia look and act as though they are close relatives.Australian birds which show convergent evolution with Northern hemisphere species:
*honeyeater (resemblesunbird s)
*sittella s (resemblenuthatch es)
*Australasian babbler s (resemblescimitar babbler s)
*Australian robin s (resembleOld World chat s)
*scrub robin s (resemblethrush es)Kinds of Birds
Australian birds can be classified into six broad categories:
* Old endemics: long-established non-passerines of ultimatelyGondwanan origin, notablyemu s, cassowaries and the huge parrot group
* Corvid radiation:Passerine s peculiar toAustralasia , descended from the corvid family, and now occupying a vast range of roles and sizes; examples include wrens, robins, magpies,thornbill s,pardalote s, the hugehoneyeater family, treecreepers,lyrebird s, birds of paradise andbowerbird s
* Eurasian colonists: later colonists fromEurasia , includingplover s, swallows,lark s, thrushes,cisticola s,sunbird s and some raptors
* Recent introductions: birds recently introduced by humans; some, such as the European Goldfinch andGreenfinch , appear to coexist with native fauna; others, such as theCommon Starling ,Blackbird , House andTree Sparrow s, and theCommon Myna , are more destructive
* Migratory shorebirds: a suite ofwader s in theScolopacidae andCharadriidae which breed in northernAsia andAlaska and spend the non-breeding season inAustralasia
*Seabird s: a large and cosmopolitan group ofpetrel s,albatross es, sulids,gull s,tern s andcormorant s, many of which either breed on islands within Australian territory or frequent its coast andterritorial waters Regional Lists
For comprehensive regional lists, see:
* Australian Birds, covering Australia and its territories
* Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds, the HANZAB list forAustralia ,New Zealand ,Antarctica and the surrounding ocean and islands.For Australia's endemic species, see:
*Endemic birds of Australia Other regional, state and island bird lists:
* Queensland
* Western Australia
* Tasmania
* [http://birds.rhyme.com.au/ntlist.html Northern Territory]
* South Australia* Ashmore Reef
* Boigu, Saibai and Dauan Islands
* Christmas Island
* Cocos (Keeling) Islands
* Heard Island
* Kangaroo Island
* Macquarie IslandOrganisations
National organisations
* Birds Australia, also known as the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union, the leading AustralianNGO forbirds ,birding ,ornithology and conservation
*Australian Bird Study Association , for banders and other field ornithologists
* [http://www.shc.melb.catholic.edu.au/home/birding/index.html Birding-Aus] - an Internet mailing list about Australian birds
*Bird Observation & Conservation Australia (BOCA), a major birdwatcher's organisation with 40 branches and affiliate groupsAustralian regional and state organisations
* Australian Capital Territory
** [http://basna.birdsaustralia.com.au/ Birds Australia Southern NSW & ACT]
**Canberra Ornithologists Group
* New South Wales
** Birding NSW
**Birds Australia Northern NSW
** [http://basna.birdsaustralia.com.au/ Birds Australia Southern NSW & ACT]
** [http://www.cboc.org.au Cumberland Bird Observers Club]
* Queensland
**Birds Australia Capricornia
** [http://www.birdsaustralianq.org/ Birds Australia North Queensland]
** [http://www.users.bigpond.com/basqld/ Birds Australia Southern Queensland]
** Birds Queensland
* South Australia
** Birds SA
* Tasmania
**Birds Tasmania
* Victoria
**Birds Australia - Victoria
* Western Australia
**Birds Australia Western Australia Regional References and Guides
Important regional references include:
* "TheHandbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds " (HANZAB ), the pre-eminent scientific reference, a seven-volume encyclopedia.
* "The New Atlas of Australian Birds", an extensive detailed survey of Australian bird distributions.
* "The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2000", Garnett, Stephen T.; & Crowley, Gabriel M., Environment Australia, Canberra, 2000 ISBN 0-642-54683-5, a comprehensive survey of the conservation status of Australian species, with costed conservation and recovery strategies.Full-coverage field guides in print are as follows, (grouped in rough order of authority):
* Pizzey: "Field Guide to the Birds of Australia", Pizzey, G, Knight, F and Menkhorst, P (ed), 7th edition, 2003 ISBN 9780207198212
* Slater: "The Slater Field Guide to Australian Birds", Slater P, Slater P and Slater R, 2003 revised edition
* Simpson and Day: "Field Guide to Australian Birds", Simpson K and Day N, 7th edition, 2004 ISBN 0-670-04180-7
* Morcombe: "Field Guide to Australian Birds", Morcombe, M, 2nd edition 2003, and complete compact edition 2004
* Flegg: "Photographic Field Guide: Birds of Australia", Flegg, J, 2nd edition, 2002
* Trounson: "Australian Birds: A Concise Photographic Field Guide", Trounson D and Trounson M, 2005 reprint
* Caley: "What Bird is That?", Caley, N, 2000 editionExternal links
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* [http://members.iinet.net.au/~whiteowl/ozraptorspecies.html Australian raptors]
* " [http://nla.gov.au/nla.aus-f4773 The Birds of Australia: in seven volumes by John Gould] " - all volumes fully digitised
* " [http://www.deh.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/publications/action/birds2000/index.html Action Plan for Australian Birds 2000] " - PDF download
*
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