Shark Bay Bird Species list
Prepared by Birds Australia
Western Australia Inc.
BIRDS OF
SHARK BAY
Number 06b in a series of
Bird Guides of Western Australia
| CODE | |||
| First column | Breeding records | B | |
| Second column | Species | ||
| Third column | Relative abundance | C | Common |
| M | Moderately common | ||
| U | Uncommon | ||
| Ra | Rare | ||
| Fourth column | Ecological status | R | Resident |
| M | Migrant | ||
| Vi | Visitor | ||
| N | Nomad | ||
| V | Vagrant | ||
| Fifth column | Notes | ❖︎ | Also recorded Dirk Hartog Is. |
| B | Emu | C | N | also Faure Is. | |
| MOUNDBUILDERS, QUAILS | |||||
| Malleefowl | U | R | to Tamala, south P.P.Int. to Peron N.P | ||
| B | Stubble Quail | UM | R/Vi | ❖︎ | |
| WATERFOWL | |||||
| Black Swan | U | Vi | |||
| Australian Shelduck | U | Vi | ❖︎ | ||
| Australian Wood Duck | U | Vi | |||
| Pacific Black Duck | U | Vi | |||
| Australasian Shoveler | U | Vi | Hamelin Bore Jan ’91 WA database | ||
| Grey Teal | U | Vi | |||
| Pink-eared Duck | U | Vi | |||
| Hardhead | R | Vi | |||
| SEABIRDS | |||||
| Southern Giant-Petrel | Ra | Vi | open seas winter | ||
| Cape Petrel | Ra | Vi | open seas winter | ||
| Soft-Plumaged Petrel | C | Vi | well off-shore, follows ships | ||
| Streaked Shearwater | U | Vi | open seas summer | ||
| B | Wedge-tailed Shearwater | C | Vi | breeding on islands, flocks 10 – 100+ | |
| Little Shearwater | Ra | Vi | open seas | ||
| Yellow-nosed Albatross | C | Vi | May-Nov near fishing boats | ||
| Wilson’s Storm-Petrel | M | M | passage migrant, open seas | ||
| PELICANS, CORMORANTS, ALLIES | |||||
| Australasian Gannet | Ra | Vi | usually single birds, winter | ||
| B | Little Pied Cormorant | U | R | breeds islands Freycinet Estuary | |
| B | Pied Cormorant | C | B | breeds islands | |
| Great Cormorant | U | Vi | |||
| B | Australian Pelican | C | Vi | breeds Pelican Is. | |
| Lesser Frigatebird | Ra | Vi | 1 Monkey Mia ’75 Davies & Chapman | ||
| HERONS, IBIS | |||||
| White-faced Heron | C | R | |||
| B | Eastern Reef Egret | C | R | ||
| White-necked Heron | R | Vi | Hamelin Bore overflow | ||
| Little Egret | M | R | |||
| Striated Heron | C | R | |||
| Nankeen Night Heron | Ra | ? | Peron Pen. ’75 Davies & Chapman Hamelin Bore ’95 O’Connor |
||
| Glossy Ibis | U | R | Hamelin Bore overflow | ||
| HAWKS, EAGLES, FALCONS | |||||
| B | Osprey | C | R | mainly islands | |
| Black-shouldered Kite | U | Vi | winter | ||
| Letter-winged Kite | Ra | V | 1 Monkey Mia Sept ’94 (dead) WABN No 72 2 Oct 94 Useless Loop WABN No 72 both during irruption west coast (Ed) |
||
| Whistling Kite | M | R | near water | ||
| BisWhite-bellied Sea-Eagle | M | R | ❖︎ | ||
| Spotted Harrier | U | Vi | ❖︎ | ||
| Swamp Harrier | Ra | Vi | |||
| B | Brown Goshawk | U | R/Vi | ❖︎ | |
| B | Collared Sparrowhawk | U | R/Vi | ❖︎ | |
| B | Wedge-tailed Eagle | M | R | ❖︎ | |
| Little Eagle | U | R | ❖︎ | ||
| Brown Falcon | C | R | ❖︎ | ||
| B | Australian Hobby | M | R/Vi | an autumn-winter visitor | |
| B | Nankeen Kestrel | C | R/Vi | ❖︎ | autumn-winter visitor |
| CRAKES, RAILS, BUSTARD | |||||
| Buff-banded Rail | Ra | N | 2 Nanga Mill overflow Oct ’84 Storr | ||
| Baillon’s Crake | Ra | N | Hamelin Bore | ||
| B | Australian Spotted Crake | Ra | R | 1 Hamelin Bore July ’92 database | |
| Spotless Crake | Ra | N | Hamelin Bore | ||
| Black-tailed Native-hen | Ra | N | wet years | ||
| Eurasian Coot | U | to Hamelin | |||
| B | Australian Bustard | U | NR | ❖︎ | |
| Painted Button-quail | Ra | Dirk Hartog ’75 Davies & Chapman | |||
| WADERS | |||||
| Black-tailed Godwit | Ra | Vi | 1 Hamelin Bore ’64 Ford | ||
| Bar-tailed Godwit | C | Vi | ❖︎ | ||
| Little Curlew | R | Vi | |||
| Whimbrel | C | Vi | ❖︎ | ||
| Eastern Curlew | C | Vi | ❖︎ | ||
| Marsh Sandpiper | U | Vi | |||
| Common Greenshank | M | Vi | ❖︎ | ||
| Wood Sandpiper | M | Vi | Hamelin Bore, coastal | ||
| Terek Sandpiper | U | Vi | Monkey Mia | ||
| Common Sandpiper | M | Vi | ❖︎ | ||
| Grey-tailed Tattler | M | Vi | ❖︎ | ||
| Ruddy Turnstone | M | Vi | ❖︎ | ||
| Great Knot | M | Vi | |||
| Red Knot | M | Vi | ❖︎ | ||
| Sanderling | Ra | Vi | |||
| Red-necked Stint | C | Vi | ❖︎ | ||
| Sharp-tailed Sandpiper | M | Vi | ❖︎ | ||
| Curlew Sandpiper | M | Vi | |||
| Broad-billed Sandpiper | Ra | Vi | Hamelin Bay | ||
| Ruff | Ra | Vi | Hamelin Bore ’64 Ford | ||
| B | Bush Stone-curlew | U | R | ❖︎ | |
| B | Pied Oystercatcher | M | R | ❖︎ | |
| B | Sooty Oystercatcher | M | R | ❖︎ | North Peron Pen., islands |
| Black-winged Stilt | M | Vi | ❖︎ | locally common wet years | |
| Banded Stilt | M | Vi | ❖︎ | uncommon to common visitor | |
| Red-necked Avocet | U | Vi | Hamelin | ||
| Pacific Golden Plover | Ra | Vi | |||
| Grey Plover | U | Vi | |||
| B | Red-capped Plover | C | R | ||
| Lesser Sand Plover | U | Vi | |||
| Greater Sand Plover | U | Vi | |||
| Inland Dotterel | Ra | ? | Dirk Hartog ’73 Davies & Chapman | ||
| Black-fronted Dotterel | Ra | Vi | |||
| Banded Lapwing | C | R/Vi | also autumn-winter visitor- first report C1915 |
||
| Oriental Pratincole | Ra | V | Hamelin Bay ’76 Serventy & Whittell | ||
| SKUAS, GULLS, TERNS | |||||
| B | Pacific Gull | M | R | ❖︎ | breeding islands |
| B | Silver Gull | C | R | ❖︎ | breeding islands |
| Gull-billed Tern | Ra | Vi | |||
| B | Caspian Tern | M | R | ❖︎ | breeding islands |
| Lesser Crested Tern | U | Vi | |||
| B | Crested Tern | C | R | ❖︎ | breeding islands |
| B | Roseate Tern | M | R | ❖︎ | breeding Meade Is. |
| B | Fairy Tern | M | R | ❖︎ | breeding on islands |
| B | Bridled Tern | C | Vi | ❖︎ | breeding on islands |
| Whiskered Tern | U | Vi | Hamelin | ||
| PIGEONS, DOVES | |||||
| Rock Dove | M | ||||
| B | Laughing Turtle-Dove | U | R | first recorded Monkey Mia Aug ’94 numbers increasing |
|
| B | Common Bronzewing | C | R | ❖︎ | |
| B | Crested Pigeon | C | R | ||
| COCKATOOS, PARROTS | |||||
| B | Galah | U | R | nests in hollows in cliffs ’89 M. Brooker | |
| Cockateil | U | Vi | to Hamelin | ||
| Regent Parrot | U | Vi | 3 Monkey Mia feeding on mistletoe fruit ’89 M.Brooker, southern P.P. |
||
| Budgerigar | U | Vi | accidental Dirk Hartog. Flock Monkey Mia ’89 M. Brooker |
||
| B | Rock Parrot | U | R | common some islands, elsewhere scarce | |
| CUCKOOS | |||||
| Pallid Cuckoo | U | Vi | v | May – Sept | |
| Black-eared Cuckoo | U | Vi | Host White-browed Scrub-wren ’96 | ||
| B | Horsfield’s Bronze-Cuckoo | M | Vi | Hosts White-winged Wren ’75 Davies & Chapman – Thick-billed Grasswren and Variegated Fairy-wren ’89 M.Brooker |
|
| Shining Bronze-Cuckoo | Ra | M | 1 Monkey Mia Sept ’94 B. Brooker | ||
| OWLS, FROGMOUTH, ALLIES | |||||
| Southern Boobook | Ra | 1 Dirk Hartog ’75 Davies & Chapman | |||
| Barn Owl | Ra | Vi | |||
| Tawny Frogmouth | Ra | 1 Monkey Mia ’89 M. Brooker | |||
| Spotted Nightjar | Ra | 2 records ’23 ’75 Davies & Chapman | |||
| B | Australian Owlet-nightjar | U | R | heard Monkey Mia ’89 M. Brooker, breeding Hamelin ’96 |
|
| Fork-tailed Swift | U | Vi | summer also April ’89 M Brooker | ||
| Sacred Kingfisher | U | M | perhaps passage migrant | ||
| Rainbow Bee-eater | U | Vi | Hamelin | ||
| FAIRY-WRENS, ALLIES | |||||
| B | Splendid Fairy-wren | C | R | ||
| B | Variegated Fairy-wren | M | R | ❖︎ | |
| B | Blue-breasted Fairy-wren | M | R | North to Tamala | |
| B | White-winged Fairy-wren | C | R | also sub-species leucopterus Dirk Hartog | |
| B | Southern Emu-wren | M | R | race Hartogi, endemic Dirk Hartog | |
| B | Thick-billed Grasswren | C | R | south to Nanga Homestead | |
| PARDALOTES, THORNBILLS, ALLIES | |||||
| B | White-browed Scrubwren | C | R | ❖︎ | |
| B | Rufous Fieldwren | M | R | ❖︎ | |
| B | Redthroat | M | R | ||
| Weebill | M | R | North to Tamala, Hamelin | ||
| Western Gerygone | U | Vi | visitor and passage migrant | ||
| B | Inland Thornbill | C | R | ||
| B | Chestnut-rumped Thornbill | C | R | north to Monkey Mia Road | |
| B | Slender-billed Thornbill | Ra | R | northern Peron Pen. south to Monkey Mia Road ’75 Davies & Chapman |
|
| B | Yellow-rumped Thornbill | U | R | north to Tamala | |
| Southern Whiteface | M | R | north to Tamala | ||
| HONEYEATERS, CHATS | |||||
| B | Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater | U | R | ||
| B | Singing Honeyeater | C | R | ❖︎ | |
| Grey-fronted Honeyeater | U | R | north to Tamala, south P.P. | ||
| Brown-headed Honeyeater | U | R | north to Tamala, Nanga | ||
| B | Brown Honeyeater | U | R/Vi | ❖︎ | |
| White-fronted Honeyeater | Vi | irregular, common wet years | |||
| B | Pied Honeyeater | Vi | irregular, common wet years | ||
| Crimson Chat | Vi | ❖︎ | irregular, mainly wet years | ||
| Orange Chat | R | Vi | nomadic | ||
| White-fronted Chat | U | R/Vi | ❖︎ | All three species of chats present Hamelin Bore Jan ’91 Barrett, Clegg (pers. com.) | |
| AUSTRALIAN ROBINS | |||||
| B | Red-capped Robin | U | R/Vi | ❖︎ | winter visitor |
| B | Hooded Robin | U | R | ❖︎ | |
| B | Western Yellow Robin | M | R | north to Tamala | |
| B | Southern Scrub-robin | M | R | ||
| BABBLERS, QUAIL-THRUSH | |||||
| B | White-browed Babbler | M | R | ||
| B | Chiming Wedgebill | C | R | ||
| B | Chestnut Quail-thrush | M | R | South of Peron Pen. | |
| WHISTLERS, FLYCATCHERS | |||||
| B | Crested Bellbird | C | R | ❖︎ | |
| B | Rufous Whistler | U | R | Monkey Mia ’96 B. Brooker | |
| B | Grey Shrike-thrush | M | R | not islands | |
| Magpie-lark | U | Vi | |||
| B | Grey Fantail | C | Vi | winter visitor, south to Little Lagoon | |
| B | Mangrove Grey Fantail | C | R | ||
| B | Willie Wagtail | M | R | ❖︎ | |
| CUCKOO-SHRIKES, TRILLERS | |||||
| B | Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike | C | R | ❖︎ | also passage migrant |
| B | White-winged Triller | M | Vi | passage – breeding wet years | |
| WOODSWALLOWS, BUTCHERBIRDS | |||||
| White-breasted Woodswallow | U | R | north P.P., mangroves | ||
| B | Masked Woodswallow | C | Vi | breeding wet years | |
| Black-faced Woodswallow | U | R | ❖︎ | small population Nanga station | |
| Dusky Woodswallow | Ra | V | winter | ||
| Little Woodswallow | U | V | winter-rocky coasts | ||
| B | Grey Butcherbird | M | R | ❖︎ | Edel Land |
| Pied Butcherbird | Ra | 1 Hamelin Bore Jan ’91 WA database | |||
| Grey Currawong | U | R | North to Tamala | ||
| Australian Raven | U | R | north of Nanga | ||
| B | Little Crow | C | R | ❖︎ | |
| B | Richard’s Pipit | C | R | ❖︎ | |
| B | Zebra Finch | C | R | ❖︎ | |
| Mistletoebird | U | N | ❖︎ | ||
| SWALLOWS, MARTINS | |||||
| B | White-backed Swallow | C | R | ||
| B | Welcome Swallow | C | R/Vi | ❖︎ | |
| B | Tree Martin | M | R/Vi | ❖︎ | also passage migrant |
| B | Fairy Martin | M | Vi | ||
| OLD WORLD WARBLERS | |||||
| Clamorous Reed-Warbler | Ra | R | Hamelin Bore | ||
| Little Grassbird | U | R | Hamelin Bore | ||
| Brown Songlark | U | Rn | ❖︎ | common wet years | |
| SILVEREYES | |||||
| B | Yellow White-eye | C | R | mangroves -Monkey Mia in transit ‘89 B.Brooker |
|
| B | Silvereye | C | R | ❖︎ | |
The area includes the seas and land south of Dirk Hartog Island to a line joining Tamala and Hamelin. This line roughly coincides with the acacia dominated vegetation to the north and the eucalypt dominated vegetation to the south.
REFERENCES
BLAKERS, M., DAVIES, S.J.J.F. and REILLY, P.N. 1984. The Atlas of Australian Birds. Melbourne University Press: Melbourne.
BROOKER, B. 1996. Land Birds of Monkey Mia – a study, 1994-1996 (unpublished)
BROOKER, M.G. 1989. Land birds at Monkey Mia, Peron Peninsula, Western Australia. 1985 – 1987. West. Aus. Nat. 18, 29 – 34
DATABASE OF WESTERN AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. W.A. Group Headquarters.
DAVIES, S.J.J.F. and CHAPMAN, G.S. 1975. The status of birds on Peron Peninsula and Dirk Hartog Island, Shark Bay, W.A. Emu 75: 55-61.
FORD, J. 1966. Aquatic Birds of Hamelin Pool Lake. Western Australia. pp 71 – 74. The West Australian Naturalist. Vol 010 No. 3.
Johnstone, R.E., Burbidge, Allan H., and Stone, P. Birds of the southern Carnarvon Basin, Western Australia: distribution, status and historical changes. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement No. 61:371-448 (2000)
SERVENTY, D.L.and WHITTELL, H.M. 1976. Birds of Western Australia. University Press, Perth.
STORR, G.M. 1985. Birds of the Gasgoyne Region Western Australia. Rec. West. Aust. Mus. suppl. No. 21.
STORR, G.M. 1990. Birds of the Shark Bay area, Western Australia. pp 299
– 312. In Research in Shark Bay. Eds. Berry, P.F., Bradshaw, S.D. and
Wilson, B.R. West. Aus. Mus. Perth.
Western Australian Bird Notes. Issues 19-76.
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