4 Birds

*Kookaburra (Family Alcedinidae, Dacelo gigas)*
Noisy birds like the kookaburras make their presence known as soon as you arrive in the Valley. For other species you have to look more closely. Only a few of the many species represented in Millgrove are depicted here.

*Eastern Yellow Robin (Family Muscicapidae, Eopsaltria australis)*
The Eastern Yellow Robin breeds on the property and if you’re lucky you may discover its nest. Australian robins actually belong to a group known as the Old World flycatchers.

Crimson Rosella (Family Platycercidae, Platycercus elegans)

The Crimson Rosella with its brilliantly red plumage is one of the most beautiful parrots you’ll ever see. However, immature birds are green and look quite plain.

Some five weeks after hatching, the young leave the nest and form flocks with other immature birds.

Gang Gang Cockatoos (Family Cacatuidae, Callocephalon fimbriatum)

The Gang Gang Cockatoos often can be heard before you can see them. You hear their cracking of the seedpods of gum trees high in the canopy. Otherwise they’re very quiet. In the picture you see two males. The females are plain grey and bear no conspicuous colours.

*Scaly Thrush (Family Muscicapidae, Zoothera dauma)*
The Scaly Thrush is one of the best-camouflaged birds in the forest. As they also are very quiet they’re rarely seen or heard. The Thrush lives in shady areas and damp gullies of the forest.

*Crested Shrike Tit (Family Muscicapidae, Falcunculus frontatus)*
The Crested Shrike Tit is a bird of the high canopy and rarely comes to the ground. In the picture one of them is sitting on the remnant of a tree that was broken off by a storm. It’s still about 6 metres high up.

*Tawny Frogmouth (Family Podargidae, Podargus strigoides).*
The Tawny Frogmouth is a hunter of the night. In the picture its plumage shines in the flashlight. In daytime it sits still and is hardly distinguishable from a broken tree branch.

*Eastern Rosella (Family Platycercidae, Platycercus eximius)*
Eastern Rosellas are commonly found here in this timbered country. The birds feed on seeds, blossoms, nectar, fruit and insects. They nest in the hollows of eucalypts.

Scarlet Robin (Family Muscicapidae, Petroica multicolor)

Scarlet Robins are easily distinguished from other red robins by the white caps of the male birds. Their red and white markings stand out against the dark background of the forest. The female has only a red breast.

The best time to hear the pleasant subdued voice of this robin is at dawn.

*White-Naped Honeyeater (Family Meliphagidae, Melithreptus lunatus)*
The white-naped honeyeater is common in this Schlerophyll forest. It searches through the foliage of eucalypts for larval insects and spiders. It also looks for nectar in the blossoms.

*Superb Blue Wren (Family Maluridae, Malurus cyaneus)*
Only the male bird has beautiful colourings and is easy to see in the forest. The female bird is much plainer and difficult to see on the ground.

Grey Fantail (Family Muscicapidae, Rhipidura fuliginosa)

The grey fantail is easy to recognize in the lower branches of the forest.

The bird is sensitive to any interference with its nest and will desert the nest if people handle it. The species can be found in many types of habitats.