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Birds - Class: Aves
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As of 2017, Australia and its' territories counted some 936 * species of birds among its' inhabitants. Of these, around 446 species, nearly half, can be encountered in the Northern Rivers and all but nearly 100 of them (mostly vagrants and sea-birds) with a fairly decent probability. There are 13 introduced species with most of these quite well established . More than 45% of all Australian land-based birds are endemic and are not found anywhere else in the world. Many Australian birds are were named by the early settlers and so names often reflect the species' similarity to northern hemisphere species even though they are not genetically similar.
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Birds can be found anywhere of course, but there are hot-spots for 'birding' in the Northern Rivers just as there are anywhere else. In these areas the vegetation is still mostly original with little disturbance by human influences and this is reflected in the variety of birdlife that can be found there. River and creek estuaries also offer excellent opportunities for bird-watching, as do wetlands of a decent size. All states and territories have birding clubs and/or associatons for those interested. 'iNaturalist' and the 'Atlas of Living Australia' often organise citizen science projects for the general public to participate in and so help raise awareness of the diversity of birds Australia can justifiably be proud of.
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For a small area such as the Northern Rivers to be home to as many species as there are bears testament to the variety of habitats that exists in the region. The Northern Rivers as defined for the purpose of this web-site is no larger than about 6 % of the total area of N.S.W. , the area does provide homes to about 40 % of the state's threatened species including some 75 % of threatened birds.
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It has long been held that many bird families evolved in the northern hemisphere and spread from there to the southern regions. Research has shown however that Songbirds, or Passerines , in particular may well have evolved first in Australia about 54 million years ago with major diversification happening during the 20 million years thereafter. It was to be another 10 million years before the Songbirds began to leave our shores and spread throughout the rest of the world. Since then the Passerines has grown to be the largest bird family with about 5,000 species.
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Songbirds were not the only family that are thought to have first evolved in Australia. Parrots and pigeons also count Australia as their ancestral homeland. This goes a long way to explain why Australia has the largest variety of pigeons and parrots in the world. As a matter of fact, the state of N.S.W. has more parrot species thatn Asia and Africa combined. Pigeon fossils found in Australia pre-date their European counterparts by 20 million years. Even the famous Dodo from the island of Mauritius, itself a flightless giant pigeon, has been shown to have Australian origins.
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A checklist of the Birds of the Northern Rivers is available from the 'CHECKLISTS' page under the 'INFO' tab.
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References:
Cayley, Neville W. (2011) What Bird is That? (Signature Edition, Revised by Terence R. Lindsey. ) Collins Publishers, Sydney, N.S.W.
Debus, Stephen, (2019) A Field Guide to the Birds of Prey of Australia. 3rd. Edition. CSIRO publishing, Clayton, Victoria.
Low, Tim, (2017) Where Song Began, Penguin Australia Pty.Ltd., Melbourne, Victoria.
Menkhorst, P. et al. (2017) The Australian Bird Guide. CSIRO Publishing, Clayton, Vic.
Seaton, R., Gilfedder, M. and Debus, S. (2019) Australian Birds of Prey in Flight. CSIRO Publishing, Clayton, Victoria.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birds_of_Australia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_birds_of_Australia
https://www.awe.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/northern-rivers.pdf
Text:
Erik Beringen.
Erik Beringen.