The Tasmanian nativehen (Tribonyx mortierii) is a flightless rail and one of twelve species of birds endemic to the Australian island of Tasmania. Other common names include narkie, native-hen, waterhen and turbo chook.
The Tasmanian Native-hen is entirely confined to Tasmania. They are easily seen wandering around the stream behind the Captain Cook Caravan Park on Bruny Island.
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This spectacular series was the sensation of the bird lovers community on Facebook for weeks! You just can’t beat the way they filmed it so you felt like you were flying alongside the birds! Each DVD features a different geographic region, the only complaint I had was that I think it should have been split up further with more footage!
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Don’t call them vain, they didn’t ask to be called Beautiful Firetails……………..even though they are!
The beautiful firetail (Stagonopleura bella) is a common species of estrildid finch found in Australia. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 1,000,000 km2. The species inhabits temperate shrubland habitats in Australia. The ones in the photos were seen in Melaleuca sharing the Orange-bellied Parrots’ food. 
The beautiful firetail is endemic in Southeastern Australia. Its distribution range extends from Newcastle to Kangaroo Island, however, the bird is most prolific in Tasmania and off-shore islands. It lives in coastal heathland, forests and shrubbery, never far from water. Its preference for near water habitats was shown in a study of its occurrence in intact forest areas of the Victorian Central Highlands, where it was almost exclusively found in riparian habitat. Doing the Melaleuca trip with Par Avion is a great way to see them.
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Mike Grant has some stunning up close footage of Beautiful Firetails on YouTube.
I wish I had known about this live action reality show sooner! It was on Norwegian TV from March to June and featured feathered housemates in all their glory!
There are a few clips from the show on their website, click on the image to see them. They aren’t in a format I can embed here. I hope this comes back next year!
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The Rimatara reed warbler (Acrocephalus rimitarae ) is a species of Old World warbler in the Acrocephalidae family. It is found only on the island of Rimatara in French Polynesia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and swamps.
The are endemic to the island of Rimatara but have been overshadowed by the other endemic bird, the spectacular Rimatara Lorikeet. They are a bit harder to spot but if you walk slowly along the main road, you will probably see them if you are watching carefully.
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This species is listed as Vulnerable because it is confined to one very small island where although it is currently not uncommon, it would have to be uplisted were a decline detected.
Unfortunately, I can’t find a video online. If I do, I will update this post.
The Iphis monarch (Pomarea iphis) is a species of bird in the Monarchidae family. It is endemic to French Polynesia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, and plantations.
Iphis Monarchs are endemic to Ua Huka and not easy to spot. This one in the Arboretum was playing hard-to-get! Guesthouse owner, Maurice found him by his call. The next day, we saw a couple at a distance at Geoffray’s place.
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Sorry nothing on Youtube that I can embed here. I did find one short clip on IBC, looks like a female or juvenile.
Here, the authors of new book Finding Australian Birds, Tim Dolby and Rohan Clarke, list their 10 bucket list highlights for the most amazing birds to see in Australia – and where to find them. Full article here.
Surprisingly I can only claim four out of the ten!
1. Little Penguins – seen in both Philip Island and Bruny Island, Tasmania.
2. Regent Bowerbird – seen at O’Reilly’s, Lamington, Queensland.
3. Major Mitchell Cockatoo – seen at Bowra Station, Queensland.
4. Superb Fairy-wren – seen at several places in Tasmania and Queensland.
I’ve been blogging about Western Australia so I have not yet gotten to my most recent sightings of these birds which was in March 2014, be patient!
How many have YOU seen in the wild?
The purple swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio) is a “swamp hen” in the rail family Rallidae. Also known locally as the pūkeko, African purple swamphen, purple moorhen, purple gallinule or purple coot. From its French name talève sultane, it is also known as the sultana bird.
This chicken-sized bird, with its large feet, bright plumage and red bill and frontal shield is easily-recognisable in its native range. Quite a large range too! I’ve seen them in India as well as the ones above in Yanchep, Western Australia. I’ve also seen them “Takehe” in New Zealand. You don’t need to plan a birding trip around them, you are pretty much bound to see them anywhere in their range.
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Wikipedia – (List of Subspecies)
Here’s one from Australia.
And another one from India.
In my last post, I talked about Yanchep as a destination. The nice thing about Yanchep is you can be as active or as lazy as you want and you will STILL see lots of birds! I’m in the lazy camp. I did do one hike around the small lake opposite Yanchep Inn but mostly I just kicked back at a picnic table or my room’s porch. Eremaea has a good bird list to give you an idea what to expect. Here’s some of the birds I saw.
Lots of Waterbirds
Cheeky Galahs
Carnaby’s Cockatoos
Black Swans
Australian Ringnecks
Laughing Kookaburras (they will try to steal your food!)
Purple Swamphens
Scarlet Robins
Brown Honeyeater
Splendid Fairy-wrens (vivid males and duller females)
Australian Wood Ducks (I think)
Australian Magpie
Red Wattlebird 
Australian Wood Ducks (I think)
Red Wattlebird 
Australian Wood Duck
Red Wattlebird
Welcome Swallows
The Mistletoebird (Dicaeum hirundinaceum) is a species of flowerpecker native to most of Australia (though absent from Tasmania and the driest desert areas), and also to the eastern Maluku Islands of Indonesia in the Arafura Sea between Australia and New Guinea. They also must live where there are trees and shrubs, so that they can build their nests. The bird eats a variety of different foods such as berries and assorted types of insects.
They are widespread throughout Australia so odds are you will happen upon one sooner or later. I first saw this one in the Murchison River Reserve near Kalbarri, Western Australia. Later, I saw one at Oxley Creek Common in Brisbane.
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Good mini-doco showing the relationship between Mistletoebirds and the Mistletoe plant.