Australia: An Introtour to Birding the Land Down-Under

This is the most easygoing tour that we offer in Australia. What does this mean for tour participants? Firstly, the premier Eastern Australia birding hotspots covered on this tour have all been carefully selected as there are no long drives required. Secondly, the scheduled domestic flights connecting the 3 legs (i.e. Cairns, Brisbane, Tasmania), have been selected to ensure no super early departures or late arrivals occur (unlike those on our Eastern Australia Tour, which takes flights designed to maximize more time in the field). Thirdly, this tour is run at a relaxed pace. It is not designed to get the biggest bird species list or largest bird family list (for that see our intense Eastern Australia), but rather to provide a comprehensive introduction to Australian birds and get a decent overview of some of the most impressive species and bird groups in the region. Expect to see representatives from interesting Australasian bird families like, bowerbirds, frogmouths, parrots, cockatoos, megapodes, cranes, kingfishers, bee-eaters, fairywrens, honeyeaters, logrunners, Australasian Robins, and even birds-of-paradise! Fourthly: You may notice that the hand-picked birding sites on this tour are also covered on other Tropical Birding tours in the region (i.e. Eastern Australia Tour and Australia Birding with a Camera® Tour). However, on this tour an extra night in spent on each of the three legs, (i.e. one more night on the Atherton Tablelands, one extra night at O’Reilly’s, and an additional night on Tasmania). This allows more time to cover each of the major sites than on those tours, leading to a more chilled pace each day in the field. There are also fewer one-night stays than our other Australian offerings. The itinerary is only 16 days, so it shorter than our other Australian birding tours. We are well aware that those that make the long journey to Australia often like to add on personal side trips (e.g. To Kakadu National Park or Ayer’s Rock in the Northern Territory, or to  experience the opera house in Sydney). A shorter trip of this nature allows you greater scope for this and our office staff are here to advise of the myriad options Australia has to offer.

Lastly, I should mention that although this is a birding tour, cameras are welcome on this tour, and there will be time for casual photography along the way, due to the relaxed pace. However, if you wish for a more extensive coverage of birds species and mammals to photograph you should consider either our Australia Photo Tour or Australia Birding with a Camera® Tour). that both cover more sites and spend more time in the field overall.

As well as birds we will seek mammals too, and it is possible to see Platypus, Koala, kangaroos and wallabies on this tour, although none of these are guaranteed, of course! We will see some Aussie mammals; we are just not sure which ones!

In summary, if you wish to have a relaxed pace tour, offering a very good introduction to Australian birds and mammals then this is the perfect tour for you. You will have ample time to soak in the variety of birds, bird habitats, and mammals offered on this exciting Introtour run by one of our many very experienced guides in the region.