Annual Spring Bird Survey Report 2025

By Judy Christie, Blue Wren Subcommittee, Bulletin 10/2025, December

It was a perfect morning for finding birds on Sunday 19 October 2025 when 17 people set out at 6.45am for an hour and a quarter for this year’s Glebe/Forest Lodge spring bird survey. The weather was mild with no wind and there were plenty of birds to see. Eight groups surveyed the same sites in Glebe and Forest Lodge as in previous years. Lake Northam in Victoria Park was surveyed the morning before. 

The following sites were surveyed:

1. Harold Park parklands, Tramsheds precinct, ‘The Hill’, Jubilee Oval and Bicentennial Park
2. Federal Park saltmarsh and surrounds
3. North from the arches in Federal Park west of Johnstons Creek canal, with a focus on the mangroves and Rozelle Bay including around to the marina
4. Johnstons Creek corridor from the Wood Street Lands, Orphan School Creek to the Tramsheds (west side)
5. Forest Lodge streets including along St Johns Road and nearby streets
6. Pocket Parks – Arthur (Paddy) Gray Reserve, John Street Reserve and St James Park, Foley Park and Library precinct
7. Palmerston Steps, along Bridge Road to Blackwattle Bay past the Sydney Secondary College and including Ferry Road and adjacent parks and reserves
8. Blackwattle Bay Park foreshore walk and bay, from Pope Paul VI Reserve to Forsyth Street
9. Victoria Park around Lake Northam.

Results are summarised below

Species name	Number	Comment
Australian Brush-turkey	2	Seen during survey as well as several incidental observations. Now a regular breeding species.
Australian King Parrot	1	A new species for our survey list! Seen and heard along the Johnstons Creek Canal and nearby leafy areas.
Australian Magpie	37	Similar numbers to 2024 with nests and juvenile birds seen. Also additional incidental sightings not included in numbers.
Australian Raven	7	Similar numbers to previous years.
Australian White Ibis	17	Slightly more birds than usual despite dry conditions.
Australasian Figbird	36	A six-fold increase in observations compared to 2024. A major increasing species.
Crested Pigeon	1	Significant drop in numbers compared to the last 2 years. Renovations to Jubilee Oval may have affected numbers.
Channel-billed Cuckoo	3	Similar numbers to 2024.
Common Myna*	24	An increase in observations since 2024.
Dusky Moorhen	10	Only one chick observed amongst usual number of adults – may have been more in the dense reed beds which have grown well during the last year
Eastern Koel	2	Heard by many groups with numbers similar to previous years.
Feral Pigeon (Rock Dove)*	68	Numbers still increasing. By far the most common non-native species.
Galah	12	More birds seen this year with 3 different small flocks observed, mostly on grassy areas.
Grey Butcherbird	10	Similar number to 2024 with one sighting of 3 young birds being fed by adult. Common in all well-treed parks
Grey Teal	2	A pair of Grey Teal were seen in Lake Northam. This is the first time we have recorded this species in our spring survey.
Laughing Kookaburra	9	An increase in sightings this year.
Magpie-Lark (Pee-wee)	9	A big increase in sightings this year even with possibility of some double counting as birds move along the creek, and despite aggressive behaviour of Noisy Miners.
Little Black Cormorant	10	The most common cormorant near and in water bodies, with similar numbers to 2024.
Little Corella	24	More common in mid-summer but several sightings in the Johnstons Creek corridor.
Masked Lapwing	4	Several pairs around and seen in various spots.
Noisy Miner	167	The usual high numbers seen this year with empty nests and nests with young birds being fed. Widespread wherever there are trees, especially Eucalypts.
Pacific Black Duck	14	Good numbers in Lake Northam again this year including 6 immature birds with the adults.
Pied Currawong	20	Widespread across the suburbs especially in parks with large trees with 3 young birds spotted in a nest in St James park.
Rainbow Lorikeet	249	By far the most common bird species seen and reported by all groups. Plenty of nectar in flowering bottlebrush and more than 60 birds seen in and around one flowering eucalypt in Forest Lodge.
Silver Gull	13	Similar numbers to 2024.
Red Wattlebird	3	Good to find the red wattlebirds back in St Johns Road after several years of absence.
Spotted Dove*	2	A decreasing species. (For example, in 2020 there were 18 spotted doves counted!)
Striated Heron	1	Found in the mangroves where striated herons are often seen (but not so often picked up in our annual survey morning).
Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo	9	A few more cockatoos than usual this year in various locations.
Tree Martin	6	Numbers of tree martins fell by 50% this year with no evidence of breeding in the air vents on Ross Street but possibly at the Old Post Office.
Welcome Swallow	16	Smaller numbers reflecting the drier conditions.
Willie Wagtail	3	Breeding success again likely near the mangroves.
White-faced Heron	3	A good morning for white-faced herons in the Johnstons Creek corridor and Blackwattle Bay circuit. There may have even been more than 3 but hard to pin down as moving about.
TOTALS	33 species 794 birds	A greater diversity of species and good total bird numbers both up on last year, but lower than some counts during the wet early 2020s.
* introduced species

Our snapshot survey of key habitat sites picked up most of the regular breeding native species (grey butcherbird, pied currawong, noisy miner, Australian magpie) with quite a few nests and juvenile birds. Not to mention the Australian brush-turkey which we must now include as a regular breeding native species in our area. The usual three introduced species (spotted dove, rock dove and common myna) were about, but numbers of spotted dove seem to have crashed while the feral pigeon keeps increasing.

An outstanding count of 36 Australian figbirds (compared to five last year) could be due to several reasons. The wet winter has encouraged the flowering and fruiting of the excessive number of tuckeroos (Cupaniopsis anarcardioides), planted both as street trees and freely self-seeding in parks and gardens, and better bird identification skills by surveyors has helped. The figbirds also use figs and palms for roosting and feeding and were especially noisy during October. Similarly, our regular summer cuckoos – the eastern koel and channel-billed cuckoo made themselves well heard. As in previous years, the rainbow lorikeet was the most common species seen, often feeding on flowering bottlebrush and several eucalypts, as well as on the wing. The noisy miner came in second and continues to be aggressive towards most other birds, making a really challenging environment for small and medium birds.

Several new birds appeared on our list this year – a king parrot that has been around the last year or so was picked up and two grey teal at Victoria Park were nice to see. However, the tree martins are no longer breeding in the building on Ross Street, perhaps due to building renovations. The extensive development of Blackwattle Bay also seems to be having a detrimental effect on waterbird numbers although it was also a busy morning on the water with lots of people and rowers out and about which would have affected roosting cormorants and others.

The most productive habitat for small and less common birds was once again around the mangroves at Rozelle Bay and around the edge of the bay where birds sometimes roost on boats and piers. Three willie wagtails again this year – our only small bird – were seen; magpie-larks were also seen and the striated heron which, while quite common, can also be elusive. The constructed mangroves, after a slow start, have now grown sufficiently to provide a dense, protective habitat and could be more extensively introduced along Rozelle Bay for fish habitat, improved water quality and of course roosting, feeding and breeding sites for native bird habitat.

After 12 years of annual surveys covering mostly the same sites, with many sites now being surveyed by the same people as well as new people, we have learnt where to look and what to look for. There is also the opportunity to review sites and adapt our surveys to changing conditions. The survey provides a useful benchmark of local avian diversity and profiles the changes from year to year.

Once again, we had a birdwatchers’ breakfast celebration at Esca to conclude our morning’s activities. Thank you to all volunteers who helped to make a very successful and enjoyable spring morning.