Birds to look out for in October

What birds might you see this month? Here are a few to look out for…

In the centre of the frame, an Oriental Dollarbird is perched on an exposed branch against a pale blue-grey sky. — *Dollarbirds return to northern and eastern Australia in spring each year to breed . Photo by John Barkla*

Large flocks of migratory shorebirds returning to southern Australia from arctic breeding grounds 
Dollarbirds returning to eastern and northern Australia from New Guinea
Channel-billed Cuckoos in the Top End 
Flocks of White-breasted and Masked Woodswallows in southern Australia 
Oriental Pratincoles in northern Australia 
Return of Fork-tailed Swifts to northern Australia 
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrikes arriving back in Tasmania

To the right of the frame, a grey and black Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike is perched on a branch against an orange dappled background, facing towards the left. — *Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike by Wilson Lennard*

Interesting historical records from October:

15/10/2010   Island Monarch | Cassini Island, WA | 4th record for Australia 

6/10/2010   Red-billed Tropicbird | Lord Howe Island | 1st record for Australia 

31/10/2008   Great Shearwater | off Abrolhos Islands, WA | 1st record for WA 

26/10/1997   Blue Rock-Thrush | Noosa Heads NP, Qld | 1st record for Australia 

19/10/1991   Black-headed Gull | Broome, WA | 1st record for Australia 

15/10/1983   Dark-sided Warbler | Marble Bar, WA | 1st record for Australia 

26/10/1986   Spotted Redshank | near Port Hedland, WA | 1st record for Australia 

Aussie Bird Count

Have you registered for this year’s Aussie Bird Count yet? It’s Australia’s favourite citizen science event and we’d love you to get involved. Simply click here to find out all you’ll need to know to have a go!