Our Birds

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In excess of 60 bird species are recorded from the reserve. Two heathland species, rare in the Port Phillip region, that occur In the reserve in the context of the heathland complex habitat are beautiful firetail and southern emu-wren. The reserve provides habitat for resident breeding birds, regular breeding and non-breeding visitors and transient birds. It also provides foraging habitat for some species that move more or less freely through the landscape, especially water-birds and honeyeaters, and may form part of a larger home-range for relatively sparsely-distributed species such as raptors.

Currently Recorded Species List:

Musk duck Biziura lobata
Australian wood duck Chenonetta jubata
Pacific black duck Anas superciliosa
Chestnut teal Anas castanea
Great-crested grebe Podiceps cristatis
*Spotted turtle-dove Streptopelia chinensis
Common bronzewing Phaps chalcoptera
Little pied cormorant Phalacrocorax melanoleucos
Pied cormorant Phalacrocorax varius
Great cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo
Black-faced cormorant Phalacrocorax fuscescens
Little black cormorant Phalacrocorax sulcirostris
Australian pelican Pelecanus conspicillatus
White-faced heron Egretta novaehollandiae
Masked lapwing Vanellus miles
Australian white ibis Threskiornis molucca
Straw-necked ibis Threskiornis spinicollis
Brown goshawk Accipter fasciatus
Swamp harrier Circus approximans
Eurasian coot Fulica atra
Silver gull Larus novaehollandiae
Rainbow lorikeet Trichoglossus haematodus
Scaly-breasted lorikeet Trichoglossus chlorolepidotus
Eastern rosella Platycercus eximius
Fan-tailed cuckoo Cacomantis flabelliformis
Horsfield’s bronze-cuckoo Chrysococcyx basalis
Tawny frogmouth Podargus strigoides
Laughing kookaburra Dacelo novaeguineae
Superb fairy-wren Malurus cyaneus
Spotted pardalote Pardaloyus punctatus
White-browed scrubwren Sericornis frontalis
Striated thornbill Acanthiza lineata
Brown thornbill Acanthiza pusilla
Striated pardalote Pardalotus striatus
Eastern spinebill Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris
Yellow-faced honeyeater Lichenostomus chrysops
Noisy miner Manorina melanocephala
Bell miner Manorina melanophrys
Little wattlebird Anthocaera chrysoptera
Red wattlebird Anthocaera carunculata
White-eared honeyeater Lichenostomus leucotis
New Holland honeyeater Phylidonyris novaehollandiae
Black-faced cuckoo-shrike Coracina novaehollandiae
Olive-backed oriole Oriolus sagittatus
Golden whistler Pachycephala pectoralis
Rufous whistler Pachycephala rufiventris
Grey shrike-thrush Colluricincla harmonica
Grey butcherbird Cracticus torquatus
Australian magpie Gymnorhina tibicen
Grey fantail Rhipidura fuliginosa
Little raven Corvus mellori
Magpie-lark Grallina cyanoleuca
Eastern yellow robin Eopsaltria australis
Silvereye Zosterops lateralis
Welcome swallow Hirundo neoxena
*Common blackbird Turdus merula
*Common starling Sturnus vulgaris
*Common myna Acridotheres tristis
Mistletoe bird Dicaeum hirundinaceum
Red-browed finch Neochmia temporalis
Bassain thrush
Blue wren
Brown headed honeyeater
Cockatoo
Crested pigeon
Peaceful dove

* Species marked with an asterisk are introduced

Comments (4)

Replyon Apr 09, 2020, 4:29 am
Chloe

Are there any eagles around Frankston? Recently I have seen what appears to be a large black and white bird circling my chickens from above at a reasonable height. I can’t identify the bird but it scares my chooks and is quite large and appears to circle them from above.
- Replyon Apr 13, 2024, 6:59 am
  FNCR.1
  
  Yes, there are eagles around Frankston Nature Conservation Reserve – specifically the Wedge-tailed Eagle. The traditional owners saw this eagle Bunjil, as creator of the land. Bunjil originated from a falling star, and as he fell from the sky, he blew air from his beak to create the earth we live on today. He scratched in the soil with his talons, and the first trees and plants started to grow. Bunjils offspring act as protectors of the land.
  
  Other birds of prey found in this area include the Powerful Owl and Brown Goshawk.
Replyon Oct 05, 2022, 7:31 am
Veronica

What is the name of a particular bird that I often see in my garden. It has a long bill & likes the sap in the flowers. It’s greyish speckled & has two very distinctive pink things hanging on each side of it’s throat. It attacks any minor birds if they happen to inhabit my garden. Is there any particular food or seed I can get for it? I put some banana & peelings in the garden recently & this bird just loved the mashed banana.
- Replyon Apr 13, 2024, 7:14 am
  FNCR.1
  
  It sounds like a Red Wattlebird.
  
  A loud and active bird, the red wattlebird is found in pairs, in a small family group, or alone during the breeding season, and gathers in larger groups of up to several hundred birds over winter. It flies straight or with a slightly undulating pattern, alternating between gliding and flapping its wings with quick shallow beats, at or slightly above the level of the tree canopy. The red wattlebird moves on the ground by hopping, cocking its tail upwards slightly.
  
  Aggressive and territorial, the red wattlebird defends its nest and sources of food against other birds. It either calls at, snaps at the tails of, or flies at other birds, sometimes scuffling with members of the same species or other large honeyeaters in the air. Displacement is a dominant display in which a red wattlebird will land on a perch that has been immediately vacated by another bird. A smaller red wattlebird adopts a horizontal appeasement posture side-on to the aggressor in which it lowers its head, flutters its wings and edges closer to the other bird.
  
  As well as smaller bird species, red wattlebirds can mob and chase larger species, such as the Australian magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen), butcherbirds, currawongs, the black-faced cuckooshrike (Coracina novaehollandiae), the olive-backed oriole (Oriolus sagittatus), crows, ravens, the laughing kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae), and even small raptors like the collared sparrowhawk (Accipiter cirrocephalus)

Our Birds

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