Explore amazing Australia with Bird Alliance of Oregon! There are fairy-wrens, kookaburras, parrots, and parakeets galore. Koalas and kangaroos are easily seen! An (optional) extension will take us to Victoria. This trip is designed to thrill the avid birder and novice alike and will focus on all of the odd wildlife Australia has to offer.
Turquoise Splendid Fairy-Wren, photo by Brian McCauley
Musk Lorikeet, photo by Patrick Kavanagh
Koala, photo by Cuatrok77
Buff-breasted Paradise-kingfisher, photo by Steve Dew
Sarus Crane, photo by Vaidyarupal
Paradise Riflebird, photo by Francesco Veronesi
By choosing to travel with Bird Alliance of Oregon, you are supporting our conservation work here in the Pacific Northwest.
RegisterBeginning in beautiful Queensland, we’ll start at famous Lamington National Park (outside of Brisbane) where we will have our first chance to see a Koala. We’ll be on the lookout for Paradise Riflebird, Green Catbird, Satin and Regent Bowerbird, Albert’s Lyrebird, and the cute Logrunner. We hope we will be able to study the Satin Bowerbird tending to its bower. A day trip will take us inland where we will be looking for Apostlebird, Musk Lorikeet, and many more.
After 3 full days in the Brisbane area, we will fly north to Cairns where the Atherton Tablelands are world-renowned for their avian diversity. We will look for the Southern Cassowary, Brolga and Sarus Crane, Australian Bustard, Buff-breasted Paradise-kingfisher, Golden and Tooth-billed Bowerbird, and Chowchilla. There is a really good chance of seeing the unique Duck-billed Platypus as well. We will spend an afternoon on the Cairns Esplanade to look for shorebirds such as Great Knot, both Greater and Lesser Sand-plovers, and Terek Sandpiper. With the incoming tide there will be a very special treat as the birds are amazingly close right off the boardwalk. A day trip to the Great Barrier Reef is a must! You will have a chance to snorkel or admire the amazing myriad of fish and corals through the glass bottom boat.
Our extension option will take us to Melbourne where we will visit the Royal Botanical Gardens and explore the city for half a day. We will sample the unique
scrubland of the mallee, hoping for the unique Malleefowl. We’ll also visit the Dandenong Ranges and drive a stretch of the Great Ocean Road looking for Emu, Eastern Spinebill, Southern Emu-wren, Crescent Honeyeater, Hooded Plover, and the legendary Superb Lyrebird which is able to mimic camera shutters, car alarms, and the noise of chainsaws. The absolute highlight may turn out to be seeing the Plains Wanderer near Deniliquin, We will need to do some spotlighting to see this most unusual and critically endangered nocturnal bird that is placed in its own family.
*Trip fees cover all ground transportation, double-occupancy lodging, breakfasts, lunches, dinners, local guides, entrance fees, excursions, and the services of your skilled leaders. Fees do NOT include airfare to and from your destination.
