The Australian Hobby (35 cm) is a small falcon seen across most of Australia in lightly timbered or open country. This Australian Hobby has retreated to a high perch to consume the small bird it caught on the wing. Sometimes Hobbys eat in the air.
The Peregrine Falcon is found across Australia, but is not common anywhere. It is also found in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas.
The nankeen kestrel (Falco cenchroides), also known as the Australian kestrel, is a raptor native to Australia and New Guinea. It is one of the smallest falcons, and unlike many, does not rely on speed to catch its prey.
The Nankeen Kestrel's diet is varied. It mainly feeds on small mammals, reptiles, small birds and a variety of insects. Prey is located from a perch or by hovering a short distance above the ground on rapid wing-beats, using its fan-shaped tail as a rudder and keeping the head and body kept still.
Australia has eighteen species of eagle and hawk and six species of falcon, ranging from the slender Collared Sparrowhawk through to the Wedge-tailed Eagle, renowned for possessing the longest wingspan of any eagle.
With a wingspan reaching more than two metres, the Wedge-tailed Eagle is Australia's largest bird of prey and one of the biggest eagles in the world. The Wedge-tailed Eagle is one of 24 diurnal (day-active) raptor species in Australia. Like other birds of prey, it has a hooked bill and large talons.
Wedge-tailed eagles are found all over mainland Australia and into Tasmania. They are the largest flying raptor in Australia and the fourth largest in the world. These birds of prey are powerful, carnivorous hunters! Their keen eyes are capable of spotting their next meal from up to 2 kilometres (1.2 miles) away.
A migratory bird, the koel usually arrives in Australia from Papua New Guinea and Indonesia to breed from late September to early October each year, when the male will sing his advertising call day and night to attract a female.
The oozlum bird, also spelled ouzelum, is a legendary creature found in Australian and British folk tales and legends.
The pied butcherbird (Cracticus nigrogularis) is a songbird native to Australia. Described by John Gould in 1837, it is a black and white bird 28 to 32 cm (11 to 12.5 in) long with a long hooked bill. Its head and throat are black, making a distinctive hood; the mantle and much of the tail and wings are also black.
Brown Goshawks are medium-sized raptors (birds of prey). They have a brown head, slate-grey to brown upperparts with a red-brown collar across the upper nape of the neck, and finely barred underparts of red-brown with white.
The White-bellied Sea-Eagle is the second largest raptor (bird of prey) found in Australia. The Wedge-tailed Eagle is mostly brown, with a wedge-shaped tail. The White-bellied Sea-Eagle has white on the head, rump and underparts and dark grey on the back and wings.
Falcons have a notch or "tooth" at the tip of their beaks. If you see one of these birds of prey perched, notice the shape of the head: A falcon's is short and rounded whereas a hawk's is pointier. Hawks do not have a notch at the tips of their beaks—a "tooth" that falcons use to kill their prey.
Falcons are slender- and pointy-winged speedsters with steadier wing flaps. Big Black Birds (eagles and vultures) are the super-size, darker-plumed titans that make spare use of their wings.
Wedge-tailed eagle
Wedge-tailed eagles are Australia's largest birds of prey, with a massive wingspan of between 1.8 and 2.3 metres. The females are larger than the males and both sexes start off as a light reddish brown, darkening with age to almost black.
The bush stone-curlew is probably heard more than it is seen. Its call sounds like a wail or a scream in the night. When scared, it screeches – a sound similar to the screech of a possum. A field report from Brookton, Western Australia, noted that their call was heard in response to the cry of possums shot by hunters.
Their scientific name is Burhinus grallarius but you might know them by their other names: Bush Thick-knee, Southern Stone-curlew, Southern Stone-plover, Weeloo, Willaroo, Angelbird and Scrub curlew. You'll often hear them calling out at night, during breeding season, or before rain.
Native to India, Asia and the Middle East, the Indian myna is a medium-sized bird with a yellow bill and brown and black feathers. Indian mynas were first released in Australia in the 1860s to control pests in Victoria's market gardens.
The human soldiers fired their Lewis guns with vigor, but it was the emus that came out victorious in the Great Emu War of 1932. The birds remain plentiful in the areas outside of Perth to this day, and their triumph may be destined for the big screen.
The hooded pitohui, scientific name Pitohui dichrous, is a poisonous bird that lives on the island of Papua New Guinea, off the northern coast of Australia.
The southern cassowary is known as the world's most dangerous bird. Native to the forests of New Guinea and Northern Australia, in captivity the bird displays extreme aggression.
The Black Falcon is a raptor (bird of prey) and is the largest of the Australian falcons. It is slim and uniformly dark brown to sooty black, with a pale throat. The bill and feet are blueish-white.
Grey Goshawk (white morph). Image courtesy Bernie McRitchie. The Grey Goshawk Accipiter novaehollandiae is a medium sized raptor that inhabits a variety of wet forest types in Australia, New Guinea and its neighbouring islands.
The Brahminy Kite is one of the medium-sized raptors (birds of prey), with a white head and breast. The rest of its body is a striking chestnut brown.