Brolga. Our largest waterbird, the brolga, is the absolute dancing queen of Australia with its elaborate, ritualised moves. They can be seen bobbing their heads, bowing and strutting their stuff all over Australia. Sometimes, they even lean back, tilt their bill to the sky and let out a loud trumpet noise.
Water birds include: ducks, geese and swans (Order Anseriformes); grebes (Order Podicipediformes); pelicans, darters and many cormorants (Order Pelecaniformes); herons, ibises, spoonbills and storks (Order Ciconiiformes); cranes, rails, moorhens and coots (Order Gruiformes); and several waders (Order Charadriiformes).
The cassowary is a large, flightless bird most closely related to the emu. Although the emu is taller, the cassowary is the heaviest bird in Australia and the second heaviest in the world after its cousin, the ostrich. It is covered in dense, two-quilled black feathers that, from a distance, look like hair.
The cassowary is a curious creature. Leading a prominently solitary existence, this regal, flightless big bird roams the rainforest and coast of Tropical North Queensland but is so elusive that often the only sign that they truly exist, is literally, a sign.
Cormorants and Australasian darters
Cormorants and Australasian darter are black and white birds that can be identified by colour of bill and face, and shape of bill (cormorants have hooked bills; darters have dagger-like bills).
The largest species of cormorant in Australia with almost entirely black plumage, apart from a white and yellow chin. The bill is grey and the legs and feet are black. During the breeding season, Great Cormorants have orange-red skin on their faces and throats, but this fades to yellow at other times.
With a wingspan up to 3m, the pelican is Australia's largest flying bird. Found in estuarine waterways, rivers and lakes throughout Australia, the antics of these Australian birds make for fascinating bird watching. The pelican has an elongated bill that measures up to 47cm – the longest in the world.
The emu (/ˈiːmjuː/; Dromaius novaehollandiae) is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia, where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the genus Dromaius.
The family Casuariidae includes three living cassowary species, all of the genus Casuarius: Casuarius casuarius. The southern, or double-wattled cassowary, with a bright blue head, two red wattles, and black feathers, is the largest of the cassowaries.
The Great Kori Bustard (Ardeotis tardi) is the largest modern flying bird, with body masses up to 18 kg (19), but it takes off only with great difficulty by running like taxiing aircraft (20). Could Argentavis, ≈3.5 times heavier than the Great Kori Bustard, take off from the ground?
Ostriches (Struthio camelus) are the largest living birds in the world, with an average mass of 104 kg and average length of 210 cm. They lay the largest eggs and hold the record for the fastest land speed of any bird, reaching speeds of 70 kmph.
The great egret walks with its long neck outstretched as it hunts for food. Also known as the common egret or great white egret, the great egret is part of the heron family Ardeidae. The great egret ranges throughout various wet and dry habitats in Europe, Asia, Africa, and North and South America.
Larger birds like the Australian magpie, pied and grey butcherbird, currawong, kookaburra, Australian raven and tawny frogmouth eat larger insects like grasshoppers, moths and cicadas, as well as lizards and frogs.
Emu, endemic to Australia, is the second largest living bird (by height) in the world, and is also flightless. Penguins and turkeys are flightless birds too.
Native to Australia, the flightless emu is the second-largest bird in the world. The emu is the second-largest member of the ratites and extant species of bird in the world. They stand between 59 to 75 inches tall and weigh from 40 to 132 pounds.
A pelican is a huge waterbird with an enormous pouch under its long beak.
Dromornis planei was a massive bird with a formidable bill. It belonged to a uniquely Australian family of extinct flightless birds, the dromornithids (mihirungs). Because of the close relationship between mihirungs and ducks, Dromornis planei has been nicknamed the 'Demon Duck of Doom'.
The Eurasian coot (Fulica atra), also known as the common coot, or Australian coot, is a member of the rail and crake bird family, the Rallidae. It is found in Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and parts of North Africa. It has a slaty-black body, a glossy black head and a white bill with a white frontal shield.
Herons, Spoonbills, Bitterns and Storks
Two spoonbills – the royal and the yellow-billed – are native to Australia in permanent wetlands and also in temporarily-flooded cattle paddocks and other grasslands (as are herons and some other waterbirds).
Unlike the Magpie, the Pied Butcherbird has white underparts. The Pied Currawong gets its name from its call, which goes 'curra-wong, curra-wong'. Almost everyone in eastern Australia will have seen the Pied Currawong. They only live on Australia's east coast but there are a lot of them around.
Magpie-lark
It is also called a Peewee, Peewit, Mudlark or Little Magpie. Its name Magpie-lark is also confusing because it is neither a Magpie nor a Lark. It is more closely related to Monarchs, Fantails and Drongos.