The Unique Birds of the Mallee Country
- Lauretta Stace
- 5 days ago
- 4 min read
We were fortunate to be invited to join a small, private group of keen birdwatchers and photographers in the sensational Mallee country of north-west Victoria. The private tour was organised by Bellbird Tours and was led by Australia's pre-eminent bird and wildlife guide, Tim Dolby, how lucky we are!
In our opinion, the best way to find interesting and rare birds is to have an expert guide to hear them, find them, identify them and point them out. Tim was able to locate and identify a range of rare and beautiful birds, some of which only exist in small pockets of Australia, including the mallee and desert country.
The Mallee Country is also majestic in its own right with its rich red sandy soil, mallee eucalypt forests, spinifex grass and river red gums.
Special Birds
Whilst every bird is special to us, the rare or threatened species are particularly important. It was such a joy to search for and find these beauties and in most cases, get some photographs to share with others. Here are some of the mallee country specials that our guide worked hard to find:
Striated Grasswren
This busy grasswren is only found in mallee woodland and dunes with large spinifex grass clumps in the interior of Australia. The Victorian mallee country is one of these places. Due to range restrictions, the bird is very challenging to locate and photograph. as it scurries around on the ground and low branches.
Mallee Emu-Wren
This delightful little bird with the long, fine tail feathers, is only found in this specific part of Victoria, darting amongst the clumps of spinifex. The male has a more extensive blue face.
Malleefowl
It was so exciting to see the magnificent Mallefowl as the bird strode through the woodland and strutted across the road at dusk. The Malleefowl is a heavy-set, ground dwelling bird that is a scarce and endemic resident of semi-arid open forest and mallee woodland. They build large nest-mounds from leaf litter and have striking. markings on their back and tail for camouflage in the environment.
Q. Why did the Malleefowl cross the road?
A. To get away from the human paparazzi!
White-browed Treecreeper
Whilst the Brown Treecreeper is fairly common, the White-browed Treecreeper is defiintely not. It is an uncommon resident of wooded habitats in the southern interior. Thanks to our guide, we were very fortunate to find one doing his thing - i.e. creeping up a tree.
Pink Cockatoo (AKA Major Mitchell's Cockatoo)
It was a great joy to see the distinctive and stunning pink cockatoo on a couple of occasions. The pale pink and white feathers are offset by a rich and vibrant red on the comb and under the wings.
Splendid Fairywren
Although not in full breeding-plumage, it was a rare treat to watch the Splendid Fairywren hopping about in the woodland. What a joyous little bird, clothed in turquoise and indigo blue.
Red-capped Robin
Although the Red-capped Robin's range is fairly wide across arid areas of Australia, this little fellow gets a highly-commended from us for posing nicely on a branch close to our cameras! It is always a pleasure to see this robin due to its vibrant colours and inquisitive nature.
Parrots galore
We were able to locate a number of beautiful parrots on our tour including the Australian Ringneck, Mulga Parrot, Bluebonnet and Regent Parrot. The Mulga, Bluebonnet and Regent Parrots were particularly flighty but we saw enough to enjoy the exquisite colours of these magnificent birds. The Regent Parrot is particularly rare and only found in a few pockets of open inland Australia.
The tale of the Red-lored Whistler
We spent a morning in the Murray Sunset National Park on a quest to find the elusive and secretive Red-lored Whistler. This bird has a very restricted range and likes to inhabit areas with a combination of mallee trees, sand dunes and cypress pines, so it's very specific! Whilst having a cuppa on the side of the road, the bird made a brief appearance and we heard its distinctive call. Nobody got a photograph, but we were all very happy, especially our guide, to find and see this rare and elusive bird. A stock image of this bird is copied below.
Other notable birds
We saw and identified 87 different species of birds on this tour, some of which are rarely seen. Birds of note for us included the Striped Honeyeater, Spotted and Striated Pardalotes, a variety of Honeyeaters and Thornbills and Rufous Whistler, along with regular favourites including Apostlebirds and Emus.
Woodland Wonderland
This part of Victoria is simply stunning with its rich red sand, mallee woodland and river red gums lining the creeks and inland lakes. We spent most of our time in the Hattah Kulkyne and Murray Sunset National Parks, along with some other adjoining sites.
Here's our small group walking through the Mallee Spinifex followed by some landscape images.
Next up:
Sea Lake, Green Lake and Lake Tyrrell
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