Regional Field Guide to Birds: Red Centre to the Top End

By G Pizzey, F Knight and S Pizzey

Practical, portable and easy to use, these fully illustrated regional field guides are the ideal companion for all experienced and beginner birdwatchers in Australia.
the Pizzey & Knight regional birding guides are easy to use, handy and portable field guides for beginner and experienced birdwatchers alike. Designed to complement Australia's best-selling tHE FIELD GUIDE tO tHE BIRDS OF AUStRALIA, now in its 9th edition, each regional guide includes every bird found within the region, organized by the environments they are most likely to be seen in, and all beautifully illustrated by Frank Knight. Concise text highlights the key features of every species and an illustrated index helps to find your bird quickly. Accompanied by an introduction to the region's habitats, these guides are an essential companion for anyone out in the field and wanting to become more familiar with Australia's natural world. Books in the regional field guide series are: South East Coast & Ranges - Greater Sydney to Greater Melbourne from the Great Dividing Range to the coast, and tasmania, including adjacent seas and islands. Mallee to Limestone Coast - All of Western Victoria west to Greater Adelaide, and north to Broken Hill in NSWCentral East Coast and Ranges - From Newcastle (NSW) in the south to Gladstone (Qld) in the north.Red Centre to the top End - All of the Northern territory and adjacent seas. (the book is also relevant to areas immediately adjacent to Nt in Western Australia such as the Kunnanurra region which is a key visitor destination, and national parks along the border in Qld)

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Australia
• Release date: Oct 15, 2013
• ISBN: 9781743095874

G Pizzey

Graham Pizzey, who died in 2001, was a member of the Order of Australia and an Honorary Associate in Ornithology at the Museum of Victoria. He was also a council member of the Australian Conservation Foundation and of Birds Australia (the Royal Australasian Ornithologists' Union).

Book preview

Quick Reference Guide

SEABIRDS

Storm-petrels

Petrels

Shearwaters

Boobies, Frigatebirds

Jaegers

Tropicbirds

Gulls

Terns, Noddies

WADERS

Oystercatchers

Stilts, Avocets

Plovers, Dotterels

Lapwings

Pratincoles

Godwits, Curlews, Dowitcher

Medium Sandpipers, Tattlers

Knots, Turnstone

Stints, Sanderling

Jacana

Painted Snipe

Snipes

WATERBIRDS

Geese, Swan, Pelican

Ducks

Grebes

Darter, Cormorants

Cranes, Stork

Ibis, Spoonbills

Herons, Egrets

Bitterns

Bush-hen, Native-hen

Rails, Crakes

Swamphen, Coot

BIRDS OF BUSH AND OPEN COUNTRY

GROUND-DWELLERS

Emu

Stone-curlews

Bustard

Mound-builder

Pitta

Button-quaisl, Plains-wanderer

Quails

Quail-thrush

AERIAL BIRDS

Swifts

Swallows, Martins

Woodswallows

Falcons, Kestrel

Kites, Pacific Baza

Goshawks, Sparrowhawks

Harriers

Eagles

NOCTURNAL BIRDS

Hawk Owls

Barn Owls

Frogmouth

Owlet-nightjar

Nightjars

LARGER PERCHING BIRDS

Cockatoos, Corellas, Galah

Lorikeets, Rosellas, other parrots

Doves, Pigeons

Orioles, Figbird

Bowerbirds

Cuckoo-shrikes, Trillers Shrike-thrush

Cuckoos

Kingfishers, Kookaburra

Bee-eater Dollarbird

Miners, Friarbirds

Apostlebird, Babblers

Bellbird, Wedgebill

Butcherbirds, Magpie, Magpie-lark

Drongo, Crows Ravens

Songlarks

SMALLER PERCHING BIRDS

Honeyeaters

Treecreepers

Mistletoebird

Pardalotes, Sitella

Whiteyes, Thornbills

Gerygones

Redthroat, Fieldwren

Grasswrens, Emu-wrens Fairy-wrens

Whistlers, Shrike-tit

Fantails, Flycatchers

Robins and related Flycatchers

Reed-warblers, Grassbird, Cisticola

Bushlark, Pipit

Chats, Whitefaces, Gibberbird

Finches, Sparrow

Wagtails

What this guide covers

Contained within this guide are condensed versions of the descriptions and illustrations from The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia by Graham Pizzey and Frank Knight. It has been prepared as a portable companion guide for ease of use in the field, with the main guide providing more detailed information on each of the relevant species.

Species included here are those terrestrial and marine species considered to be residents or regular visitors to the region, or whose possible distribution includes the region, even though they may be recorded here only irregularly. This guide does not include species considered to be vagrant. (Information on these species is provided in The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia.)

To help with quick identification in the field, species have been grouped by the key environs in which they are most likely to be found, rather than in taxonomic order.

Birds of Bush and Open Country

This group includes those birds typically found on land, whether in or over forests, woodlands, shrublands, grasslands, farmlands or gardens.

Ground-dwellers — species spending all or most of their lives on the ground, e.g. Emus and quail.

Aerial birds — birds typically seen in the air, including birds of prey, swallows and martins.

Nocturnal birds — birds adapted for hunting and moving about at night, notably owls, frogmouths and nightjars.

larger perching birds — larger bush birds typically seen in tree canopies, perching on branches, stumps or on the ground. Most are songbirds (passerines) but also include non-passerines, such as doves and parrots.

Smaller perching birds — the smaller, quintessential songbirds of the Australian bush.

Species descriptions

The species descriptions are necessarily brief, but aim to convey the essential information to help identification in the field.