Daintree Birds & Wildlife

Birds

Varied vegetation on the property ensures regular seasonal visits by a wide range of bird species. Birders will find that the bungalows provide perfect birdwatching accommodation, each having it's own private verandah overlooking water and many species of old- and new-growth rainforest trees.

... what a fabulous location! The wildlife is great - we saw over 30
species of birds before we had to really try! ...
Susan and Lawrence

... flashing Azure Kingfishers, Sunbirds, Gerygones, Pied and
Spectacled Monarchs, Leaden Flycatcher, Catbird, Topknots etc. etc
- 40 species just from our verandah ...
Sharyn and Douglas

There are also numerous tropical fruit trees and nectar-producing flowering plants which attract honeyeaters; the dam is visited by many water-birds such as the Black Bittern and a large variety of Egrets and Herons. Yellow-bellied Sunbirds and Macleay's, Yellow-spotted and Graceful Honeyeaters are permanent residents.

During the day the valley echoes to the call of the Yellow Oriole, and on moonlit nights to the Bush-stone Curlews.

Butterflies & Moths

Spectacular butterflies are often seen in large numbers fluttering around the flowering native plants. The predominant species are the irridescent blue Ulysses and Australia's largest butterfly, the magnificent Cairns Birdwing.

There are also Swallowtails, Triangles, Orchards and many, many more. You may be lucky enough to spot an enormous Hercules Moth, the largest moth in the world.

Frogs

The first rains of the wet season bring on a wonderful 24-hour-a-day "frog symphony" around the dam, and if a giant White-lipped Tree Frog (which can grow up to 140mm) should announce it's presence from inside a drainpipe then earplugs may be required!

Wildlife

Other residents of, and visitors to, Daintree Valley Haven include rare visits by a Striped Possum and an occasional Platypus. Frequently seen are Saw-shelled Turtles in the dam, Spectacled Flying Foxes, Northern Brown Bandicoots and the pretty little Northern Swamp Wallabies are becoming increasingly tame.

And of course the nearby magnificent Daintree River is home to Estuarine Crocodiles.

Whatever your field of expertise or interest - birding, biology, botany, zoology, etc. - if you should require the services of an expert guide Peter and Daphne are happy to assist with advice and arrangements. There are a number of specialist river tours and several land-based guides.

Daintree Valley Haven Bird List

The following is a list of birds which have so far been identified at Daintree Valley Haven and guests are invited to add new sightings to the Bird Log:

Baza, Pacific Bee-eater, Rainbow Bittern, Black Boatbill, Yellow-breasted Bronze-Cuckoo, Gould's Brush-turkey, Australian Bush-hen Butcherbird, Black Catbird, Spotted Cicadabird Cockatoo, Sulphur-crested Coot, Eurasian Cormorant, Little Black Cormorant, Little Pied Coucal, Pheasant Crake, Red-necked Cuckoo, Channel-billed Cuckoo, Fan-tailed Cuckoo, Oriental Cuckoo-Dove, Brown Cuckoo-shrike, Barred Cuckoo-shrike, Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike, White-bellied Currawong, Pied Darter, Australian Dollarbird Dove, Bar-shouldered Dove, Emerald Drongo, Spangled Duck, Pacific Black Egret, Cattle Egret, Great Egret, Intermediate Egret, Little Fairy-wren, Lovely Fairy-wren, Red-backed Falcon, Peregrine Fantail, Grey Fantail, Rufous Fig Parrot, Double-eyed Figbird

Flycatcher, Leaden Flycatcher, Satin Flycatcher, Shining Friarbird, Helmeted Friarbird, Silver-crowned Frogmouth, Papuan Fruit-dove, Superb Fruit-Dove, Wompoo Gerygone, Fairy Goose, Magpie Goshawk, Brown Goshawk, Grey Grassbird, Tawny Grebe, Australasian Hardhead Heron, White-faced Heron, White-necked Honeyeater, Bridled Honeyeater, Dusky Honeyeater, Graceful Honeyeater, Lewin's Honeyeater, Macleay's Honeyeater, Scarlet Honeyeater, Yellow-spotted Ibis, Australian White (Sacred) Kingfisher, Azure Kingfisher, Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher, Forest Kingfisher, Little Kite, Black Kite, Brahminy Kite, Whistling Koel, Common Kookaburra, Laughing Lapwing, Masked Lorikeet, Rainbow Lorikeet, Scaly-breasted Magpie-lark Mannikin, Chestnut-breasted Martin, Tree Mistletoebird

Monarch, Black-faced Monarch, Pied Monarch, Spectacled Monarch, White-eared Moorhen, Dusky Night Heron, Nankeen Nightjar, Long-tailed Oriole, Olive-backed Oriole, Yellow Parrot, Australian King Parrot, Double-eyed Pelican, Australian Pigeon, Topknot Pygmy-goose, Green Rail, Buff-banded Riflebird, Victoria's Scrub-fowl, Orange-footed Scrubwren, Large-billed Scrubwren, White-browed Shoveller, Australasian Shrike-thrush, Little Shrike-thrush, Rufous Silvereye Snipe, Latham's Spoonbill, Royal Spoonbill, Yellow-billed Starling, Metallic Stone-curlew, Bush Stork, Black-necked (Jabiru) Sunbird, Yellow-bellied Swallow, Welcome Swamp-hen, Purple Swiftlet, White-rumped Thrush, Russet-tailed Triller, Varied Turtle-dove, Spotted Whistler, Grey Whistling Duck, Wandering Woodswallow, White-breasted

Wildlife photography courtesy of Dan Irby, Jonathan Munro and Daphne Titus-Rees