Our activities include conservation and research-oriented projects, educational activities, and activities which provide opportunities to meet with other people interested in birds and birding and to share experiences.
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We produce a range of brochures and other information on birds in Queensland, and on all aspects of birding in Queensland.
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Bird identification can be difficult, even for experienced birders, and many discussions occur during group walks and camps on this subject.
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We produce a range of brochures and other information on birds in Queensland, and on all aspects of birding in Queensland.
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“Of those bird species known to have been present or to have visited regularly in Australia when Europeans settled in 1788, 1.9% are Extinct and a further 11.5 % are considered Threatened. Some 6.0 % are Near Threatened.”
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Organizations like Birds Queensland assist with scientific research projects by raising money each year and allocating it as grants.
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Birds Queensland is a non-profit organisation that finances its own activities. Our logo is the brightly coloured and beautiful Sunbird which is normally found only between Normanton and Bundaberg.
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Welcome to the Birds Queensland member’s area. These pages contain information that will only be available to BQ members.
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Species to be referred to Rarities Committees

BQ Rarities Appraisal Committee species list – Updated 2019

Taxonomy follows International Ornithological Congress (IOC)

This is a list of species that the Bird Queensland Rarities Appraisal Committee would like to look. It at was last updated in 2019 with a few species removed and several more species added.

Reports should be submitted for any of the following species, and if the species is of National significance (shown in bold in the table) then the report will be referred on to Birdlife Australia’s Rarities Committee (BARC).

Common name Scientific name
Spotted Whistling Duck Dendrocygna guttata
Garganey Spatula querquedula
Northern Shoveler Spatula clypeata
Little Penguin Eudyptula minor
White-bellied Storm Petrel Fregetta grallaria
Polynesian Storm Petrel Nesofregetta fuliginosa
Wandering Albatross Diomedea exulans
Antipodean Albatross Diomedea antipodensis (D.a. antipodensis and D.a. gibsoni)
Southern Royal Albatross Diomedea epomophora
Sooty Albatross Phoebetria fusca
Light-mantled Albatross Phoebetria palpebrata
Shy Albatross Thalassarche cauta (T.c. cauta and T.c. steadi)
Salvin’s Albatross Thalassarche salvini
Grey-headed Albatross Thalassarche chrysostoma
Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross Thalassarche carteri
Buller’s Albatross Thalassarche bulleri (T.b. bulleri and T.b. platei)
Leach’s Storm Petrel Oceanodroma leucorhoa
Southern Fulmar Fulmarus glacialoides
Blue Petrel Halobaena caerulea
Broad-billed Prion Pachyptila vittata
Salvin’s Prion Pachyptila salvini
Antarctic Prion Pachyptila desolata1
Slender-billed Prion Pachyptila belcheri1
Kerguelen Petrel Aphrodroma brevirostris
Great-winged Petrel Pterodroma macroptera
Soft-plumaged Petrel Pterodroma mollis
Herald Petrel Pterodroma heraldica
Mottled Petrel Pterodroma inexpectata
White-necked Petrel Pterodroma cervicalis
Black-winged Petrel Pterodroma nigripennis
Collared Petrel Pterodroma brevipes
Cook’s Petrel Pterodroma cookii
Stejneger’s Petrel Pterodroma longirostris
White-chinned Petrel Procellaria aequinoctialis
Black Petrel Procellaria parkinsoni
Westland Petrel Procellaria westlandica
Tropical Shearwater Puffinus bailloni
Little Shearwater Puffinus assimilis
Common Diving Petrel Pelecanoides urinatrix
Bulwer’s Petrel Bulweria bulwerii
Yellow Bittern Ixobrychus sinensis
Gurney’s Eagle Aquila gurneyi
Red Goshawk Erythrotriorchis radiatus
Buff-breasted Buttonquail Turnix olivii
South Island Oystercatcher Haematopus finschi
Banded Stilt Cladorhynchus leucocephalus
Common Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula
Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius
Australian Painted-snipe Rostratula australis
Plains-wanderer Pedionomus torquatus
Ruff Calidris pugnax
Long-toed Stint Calidris subminuta
Dunlin Calidris alpina
Swinhoe’s Snipe Gallinago megala
Red-necked Phalarope Phalaropus lobatus
Red Phalarope Phalaropus fulicarius
Lesser Yellowlegs Tringa flavipes
Common Redshank Tringa totanus
Grey Noddy Anous albivitta
White Tern Gygis alba
Laughing Gull Leucophaeus atricilla
Franklin’s Gull Leucophaeus pipixcan
Pacific Gull Larus pacificus
Black-tailed Gull Larus crassirostris
Kelp Gull Larus dominicanus
Slaty-backed Gull Larus schistisagus
Fairy Tern Sternula nereis
Arctic Tern Sterna paradisaea
South Polar Skua Stercorarius maccormicki
Brown Skua Stercorarius antarcticus
Long-tailed Jaeger Stercorarius longicaudus
Orange-fronted Fruit Dove Ptilinopus aurantiifrons
Orange-bellied Fruit Dove Ptilinopus iozonus
Collared Imperial Pigeon Ducula mullerii
Zoe’s Imperial Pigeon Ducula zoeae
Pacific Long-tailed Cuckoo Urodynamis taitensis
Glossy Swiftlet Collocalia esculenta
Uniform Swiftlet Aerodramus vanikorensis
Papuan Spine-tailed Swift Mearnsia novaeguineae
House Swift Apus nipalensis
Little Paradise Kingfisher Tanysiptera hydrocharis
Superb Parrot Polytelis swainsonii
Princess Parrot Polytelis alexandrae
Golden-shouldered Parrot Psephotus chrysopterygius2
Paradise Parrot Psephotellus pulcherrimus
Swift Parrot Lathamus discolor
Night Parrot Pezoporus occidentalis
Blue-winged Parrot Neophema chrysostoma
Elegant Parrot Neophema elegans
Scarlet-chested Parrot Neophema splendida
Purple-crowned Lorikeet Parvipsitta porphyrocephala
Double-eyed Fig Parrot (Coxen’s) Cyclopsitta diophthalma coxeni
Regent Honeyeater Anthochaera phrygia
Eastern Bristlebird Dasyornis brachypterus
Rufous Fieldwren Calamanthus campestris
Slaty-backed Thornbill Acanthiza robustirostris
Banded Whiteface Aphelocephala nigricincta
Black-billed Magpie Pica hudsonia
Red-rumped Swallow Cecropis daurica
Oriental Reed Warbler Acrocephalus orientalis
Singing Starling Aplonis cantoroides
Common Blackbird Turdus merula
Eyebrowed Thrush Turdus obscurus
Blue Rock Thrush Monticola solitarius
Isabelline Wheatear Oenanthe isabellina
Red-capped Flowerpecker Dicaeum geelvinkianum
Eurasian Tree Sparrow Passer montanus
Star Finch (eastern form) Neochmia ruficauda ruficauda
Black-throated Finch (white-rumped form) Poephila cincta cincta3
Gouldian Finch Erythura gouldiae2
Grey Wagtail Motacilla cinerea
White Wagtail Motacilla alba
European Greenfinch Chloris chloris
Common Redpoll Acanthis flammea
  • 1 All non-specimen records only
  • 2 Records outside known range for the species as defined in The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2000 (Garnett et al. 2011)
  • 3 All records south of 21°S

Records in bold = species that need to be referred to BARC (Birdlife Australia Rarities Committee).

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Olive-backed Sunbird (Cinnyris jugularis) © Vince Bugeja