Australia and its offshore islands and territories have 898 recorded bird species as of 2014.[1] Of the recorded birds, 165 are considered vagrant or accidental visitors, of the remainder over 45% are classified as Australian endemics: found nowhere else on earth.[1] It has been suggested that up to 10% of Australian bird species may go extinct by the year 2100 as a result of climate change.[2]
Australian species range from the tiny 8 cm (3.1 in) weebill to the huge, flightless emu. Many species of Australian birds will immediately seem familiar to visitors from the Northern Hemisphere: Australian wrens look and act much like northern wrens, and Australian robins seem to be close relatives of the northern robins. However, the majority of Australian passerines are descended from the ancestors of the crow family, and the close resemblance is misleading: the cause is not genetic relatedness but convergent evolution.
For example, almost any land habitat offers a nice home for a small bird that specialises in finding small insects: the form best fitted to that task is one with long legs for agility and obstacle clearance, moderately-sized wings optimised for quick, short flights, and a large, upright tail for rapid changes of direction. In consequence, the unrelated birds that fill that role in the Americas and in Australia look and act as though they are close relatives.
Australian birds which show convergent evolution with Northern Hemisphere species:
Australia Birds, a portable folding guide authored by zoologist James Kavanagh, features 140 of the most familiar species. Part of a four title series on Australia flora & fauna featuring ecoregions and major bird spotting sites around the country.
Finding Australian Birds, authored by Tim Dolby and Rohan Clarke (2014), features the best places in Australia for finding birds.
The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2000, Garnett, Stephen T.; & Crowley, Gabriel M., Environment Australia, Canberra, 2000 ISBN0-642-54683-5, a comprehensive survey of the conservation status of Australian species, with costed conservation and recovery strategies.
The country does not suffer from several Apicomplexan parasites found throughout the rest of the world.[5]: 14, 36 Several species of both avian haemoproteids and avian Plasmodium spp. are absent here.[5]: 14, 36
birds, australia, books, with, similar, titles, disambiguation, this, article, includes, list, general, references, lacks, sufficient, corresponding, inline, citations, please, help, improve, this, article, introducing, more, precise, citations, march, 2013, l. For books with similar titles see The Birds of Australia disambiguation This article includes a list of general references but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations March 2013 Learn how and when to remove this template message Australia and its offshore islands and territories have 898 recorded bird species as of 2014 1 Of the recorded birds 165 are considered vagrant or accidental visitors of the remainder over 45 are classified as Australian endemics found nowhere else on earth 1 It has been suggested that up to 10 of Australian bird species may go extinct by the year 2100 as a result of climate change 2 A flock of galahsA cockatielAustralian species range from the tiny 8 cm 3 1 in weebill to the huge flightless emu Many species of Australian birds will immediately seem familiar to visitors from the Northern Hemisphere Australian wrens look and act much like northern wrens and Australian robins seem to be close relatives of the northern robins However the majority of Australian passerines are descended from the ancestors of the crow family and the close resemblance is misleading the cause is not genetic relatedness but convergent evolution For example almost any land habitat offers a nice home for a small bird that specialises in finding small insects the form best fitted to that task is one with long legs for agility and obstacle clearance moderately sized wings optimised for quick short flights and a large upright tail for rapid changes of direction In consequence the unrelated birds that fill that role in the Americas and in Australia look and act as though they are close relatives Australian birds which show convergent evolution with Northern Hemisphere species honeyeaters resemble sunbirds sittellas resemble nuthatches Australasian babblers resemble scimitar babblers Australian robins resemble Old World chats Scrub robins resemble thrushes Contents 1 Kinds of birds 2 Regional lists 3 Organizations 4 Regional references and guides 5 Parasites 6 Gallery 7 References 8 External linksKinds of birds editAustralian birds can be classified into six categories Old endemics long established non passerines of ultimately Gondwanan origin notably emus cassowaries and the huge parrot group 3 Corvid radiation Passerines peculiar to Australasia descended from the crow family and now occupying a vast range of roles and sizes examples include wrens robins magpies thornbills pardalotes the huge honeyeater family treecreepers lyrebirds birds of paradise and bowerbirds Eurasian colonists later colonists from Eurasia including plovers swallows larks thrushes cisticolas sunbirds and some raptors Recent introductions birds recently introduced by humans some such as the European goldfinch and greenfinch appear to coexist with native fauna others such as the common starling blackbird house and tree sparrows and the common myna are more destructive Migratory shorebirds a suite of waders in the Scolopacidae and Charadriidae families which breed in northern Asia and Alaska and spend the non breeding season in Australasia Seabirds a large and cosmopolitan group of petrels albatrosses sulids gulls terns and cormorants many of which either breed on islands within Australian territory or frequent its coast and territorial watersRegional lists editFor comprehensive regional lists see List of birds of Australia covering Australia and its territories List of birds of Australia New Zealand and Antarctica the HANZAB list for Australia New Zealand Antarctica and the surrounding ocean and subantarctic islands For Australia s endemic species see List of endemic birds of Australia nbsp A kookaburraOther regional state and island bird lists Victoria New South Wales amp Lord Howe Island Queensland Western Australia Tasmania Northern Territory South Australia Ashmore Reef Boigu Saibai and Dauan Islands Christmas Island Cocos Keeling Islands Heard Island Kangaroo Island Macquarie Island Houtman AbrolhosOrganizations editNational organizations BirdLife Australia previously known as Birds Australia is the leading Australian NGO for birds birding ornithology and conservation formed by a merger of the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union and Bird Observation amp Conservation Australia 4 Australian Bird Study Association for banders and other field ornithologists Birding Aus an Internet mailing list about Australian birds nbsp A young Australian magpieAustralian regional and state organisations Australian Capital Territory Birds Australia Southern NSW amp ACT Canberra Ornithologists Group New South Wales NSW Bird Atlassers Inc Birding NSW Birds Australia Northern NSW Birds Australia Southern NSW amp ACT Cumberland Bird Observers Club Blue Mountains Bird Observers Inc Queensland Birds Australia Capricornia Birds Australia North Queensland Birds Australia Southern Queensland Birds Queensland South Australia Birds SA Tasmania Birds Tasmania Victoria Birds Australia Victoria Western Australia Birds Australia Western AustraliaRegional references and guides editImportant regional references include Australia Birds a portable folding guide authored by zoologist James Kavanagh features 140 of the most familiar species Part of a four title series on Australia flora amp fauna featuring ecoregions and major bird spotting sites around the country Finding Australian Birds authored by Tim Dolby and Rohan Clarke 2014 features the best places in Australia for finding birds The Handbook of Australian New Zealand and Antarctic Birds HANZAB the pre eminent scientific reference in seven volumes The New Atlas of Australian Birds an extensive detailed survey of Australian bird distributions The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2000 Garnett Stephen T amp Crowley Gabriel M Environment Australia Canberra 2000 ISBN 0 642 54683 5 a comprehensive survey of the conservation status of Australian species with costed conservation and recovery strategies Reader s Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds was once the standard general reference but is now somewhat dated The second edition 1986 remains in print Where to See Birds in Victoria edited by Tim Dolby 2009 features places in Victoria for seeing birds Full coverage field guides in print are as follows in rough order of authority Pizzey Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey G Knight F and Menkhorst P ed 7th edition 2003 ISBN 978 0 207 19821 2 Slater The Slater Field Guide to Australian Birds Slater P Slater P and Slater R 2009 revised edition Simpson and Day Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson K and Day N 8th edition 2010 ISBN 0 670 07231 1 Morcombe Field Guide to Australian Birds Morcombe M 2nd edition 2003 and complete compact edition 2004 Flegg Photographic Field Guide Birds of Australia Flegg J 2nd edition 2002 Trounson Australian Birds A Concise Photographic Field Guide Trounson D and Trounson M 2005 reprint Cayley What Bird is That Cayley N 2000 editionParasites editThe country does not suffer from several Apicomplexan parasites found throughout the rest of the world 5 14 36 Several species of both avian haemoproteids and avian Plasmodium spp are absent here 5 14 36 Gallery edit nbsp Wedgetail eagle nbsp Forest kingfisher nbsp Kookaburra nbsp Barking owl nbsp Plumed whistling duck nbsp White faced heron nbsp Australian magpie nbsp Rainbow bee eater nbsp Apostlebird nbsp Australian brush turkey nbsp Australian king parrot nbsp Black kite nbsp Cattle egret nbsp Eastern yellow robin nbsp Noisy friarbird nbsp Mistletoebird nbsp Superb lyrebird nbsp Tawny frogmouthReferences edit a b Dolby Tim Clarke Rohan 2014 Finding Australian Birds CSIRO Publishing ISBN 9780643097667 Garnett Stephen Franklin Donald eds 2014 Climate change adaptation plan for Australian Birds CSIRO Publishing ISBN 9780643108028 Olah George Theuerkauf Jorn Legault Andrew Gula Roman Stein John Butchart Stuart O Brien Mark Heinsohn Robert 2018 Parrots of Oceania a comparative study of extinction risk PDF Emu Austral Ornithology 118 1 94 112 doi 10 1080 01584197 2017 1410066 ISSN 0158 4197 Our Organization birdlife org au BirdLife Australia a b Atkinson Carter T Thomas Nancy J Hunter D Bruce eds 2009 01 13 Parasitic Diseases of Wild Birds Oxford UK Wiley Blackwell pp xi 595 ISBN 978 0 8138 0462 0 OCLC 352832662 S2CID 82770933 ISBN 978 0 8138 2081 1 ISBN 978 0 8138 0457 6 External links edit Birds Australia Archived from the original on 1999 11 27 Retrieved 2006 08 05 Australian raptors Fully digitised edition of The Birds of Australia in seven volumes by John Gould Action Plan for Australian Birds 2000 PDF download Australasian Bird Image Database ABID Archived from the original on 2008 02 28 Retrieved 2008 03 09 Where to See Birds in Victoria edited by Tim Dolby Yellow bellied sunbird video Birds of Australia treasures from the collection State Library of Queensland Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Birds of Australia amp oldid 1175340382, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
