Western Australia: Southwest Australian Endemic Birds

Due to geographic isolation and diverse habitats, the southwest of the state of Western Australia boasts several endemic species and subspecies. This nine-day small-group well-paced Australian birding tour will focus on finding as many of these Western Australian endemic birds as possible, while also enjoying a wide range of other interesting flora and fauna along the way.

Blue-breasted Fairywren is one of our targets on this trip.

Local endemic bird species that we will be focusing our attention on during the tour include Carnaby’s (Short-billed) and Baudin’s (Long-billed) Black Cockatoos, Western Corella, Red-capped Parrot, Western Rosella, Noisy Scrubbird, Western Bristlebird, Red-winged Fairywren, Western Fieldwren, Western Thornbill, Western Wattlebird, Western Spinebill, Gilbert’s Honeyeater (formerly known as Western White-naped or Swan River Honeyeater), White-breasted Robin, Red-eared Firetail, Black-throated Whipbird, and Western Shriketit. Other species that are near-endemics to the state (and still Australian endemics) also form targets, as they are unlikely to be found on other eastern tours, these include Western Yellow Robin, Rufous Treecreeper, Blue-breasted Fairywren, and Spotted Scrubwren.

One of the toughest birds to see in all of Australia; we will hope to see Noisy Scrubbird well again, this is one seriously tough bird, but we have a great record of seeing them on our tours.

Additional species we will also be looking for include the Australian endemics Malleefowl, Square-tailed Kite, Banded Stilt, Hooded Plover, Rock Parrot, Elegant Parrot, Purple-crowned Lorikeet, Western Whistler, Splendid Fairywren, and the near-endemic Fairy Tern. The isolation of southwestern Australia has led to a high degree of endemism, also at the subspecies level, and we will try to see as many of these as possible in case of potential future splits, such as (Western) Scarlet Robin and others. This tour will prove interesting for those participants who have been birding on the Australian East Coast and/or in Tasmania and are interested in the possibility of some potential future armchair ticks!

Western Shriketit is a recent split and found in the southwest of Western Australia.