Daintree Birdwatching

Daintree in North Queensland's Wet Tropics, Cairns Region, is recognised as one of the premier birdwatching locations of Australia with many bird enthusiasts and wildlife photographers visiting the area. There are over 430 species recorded in the Cairns area of the Wet Tropics, being more than one half of Australia's entire bird species. Not all of these are in the lowlands, and not all are present all year.

The Wet Tropics has 12 of Australia's endemic species and of these the Macleay's Honeyeater, Bridled Honeyeater, Pied Monarch, and Victoria's Riflebird can be seen in and around Daintree. Also of enormous interest to birdwatchers are the Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher, Great-billed Heron, Little Kingfisher and several other species of Kingfisher, Black Bittern, Mangrove Robin, Lovely Fairy-wren, Double-eyed Fig Parrot, Red-necked Crake and of course, the Southern Cassowary which may be seen on the northern side of the river.

Several specialist early morning Daintree River birdwatching tours and land based birding tours are available to keep the keen birder busy during their visit to Daintree, and we encourage all birdwatchers to take the time to participate in as many of these local birding activities as possible. The Red Mill House site's Activities page lists some recommended itinerary's for both the serious birder and those with an interest in wildlife generally. Daintree is an excellent base for those who wish to photograph wildlife and nature.

The Daintree Birdwatching Bulletin Board is complied by Andrew and Trish Forsyth, keen birdwatchers and owner/operators of Award Winning Red Mill House in Daintree. Red Mill House is World renown and has been the birdwatching accommodation of choice in the Daintree since the early 1990s.

Andrew and Trish took up residence in January 2003 and the business has continued to grow and the good reputation of their hospitality and bird watching expertise has continued to be spread.

The Red Mill House site also has detailed information on Daintree Birds with descriptions and photos of many species, and a Daintree Checklist which is able to downloaded and printed. Local birdwatching spots are also detailed. If there is any further information required regarding birdwatching in the Cairns Region of Far North Queensland region please do not hesitate to contact Andrew and Trish.