Birdwatching online: 5 bird livestreams

Take your birding to the next level with these five online bird cams

This article appeared in the latest issue of Australian Birdlife magazine. For more great reads, become a BirdLife Australia member and receive our quarterly, award-winning magazine in your mailbox. 

For many of us, our love of birds begins at home. But in this digital age, we’re no longer limited to the birds in our backyard – we can now watch birds from all over the world, in real time, from the comfort of our homes.

Thanks to the wonders of technology and the efforts of dedicated conservationists, online bird cams are bringing nature to us – capturing the awe and imagination of millions and connecting viewers to a whole new world of birds.

So, here are five bird livestreams from Australia and beyond to help take your birding to the next level.

1. Sea-EagleCAM

White-bellied Sea-Eagles (Sydney, NSW)

Coming to you live from the BirdLife Australia Discovery Centre in Sydney Olympic Park, Sea-EagleCAM gives you exclusive 24-hour access to the dramatic lives of a nesting White-bellied Sea-Eagle pair.

This BirdLife Southern NSW Research Project began in 2009, when volunteers installed the first CCTV camera at the site to record the nesting behaviour of the resident sea-eagles, and has evolved to include multiple cameras, microphones and infrared light for night vision – all carefully positioned to minimise disturbance. The popular live feed has been accessed millions of times, and viewers can also join a live chat with other Sea-EagleCAM enthusiasts.

Before Sea-EagleCAM, little was known about the breeding cycle of White-bellied Sea-Eagles. But this unique livestream allows scientists and researchers to closely monitor these remarkable raptors throughout their entire breeding season, providing better understanding of their behaviour, diet and habitat requirements so that we can continue to protect them. Not only does the Sea-EagleCAM team of volunteers bring Australia’s second largest bird of prey to your screen, they also record and analyse their behaviour during the breeding season – sharing detailed observations of their prey, behaviour and breeding cycle.

The live, remote camera feed is available to watch online at any time. Excitingly, the first eggs of the season were laid earlier this month – meaning the 2025 season is now underway.

Don’t miss out! Join the Sea-EagleCAM livestream today.

2. Peregrine Falcon nest cams

367 Collins Street Falcons (Melbourne, VIC)

The high drama of nesting Peregrine Falcons makes for some of Australia’s best reality TV viewing.

In the heart of Melbourne’s CBD, Peregrine Falcons have been using nest boxes on the ledge of a 34-storey skyscraper since 1991. In 2016, building owners installed webcams at the site – and the rest is history. Since becoming a global internet sensation during Covid lockdowns, the 24-hour livestream continues to soar in popularity, and now boasts a fanbase of over 52,000 members in the 367 Collins Falcon Watchers Facebook group.

The 367 Collins Street Falcons Livestream is led by the Victorian Peregrine Project (VPP), established by Peregrine expert and member of the BirdLife Australia Raptor Group (BARG) Dr Victor Hurley, in partnership with Mirvac.

The live feed begins once the pair returns to the site (typically around August or September) and can be streamed on YouTube.  

FalconCam (Orange, NSW)

 In NSW, another long-term Peregrine Falcon live feed has amassed a huge following online – offering intimate views from every angle of a roosting box on the side of a 50-metre-high water tower at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Orange. Since cameras were installed in 2007, viewers from all over the world have enjoyed close-up footage of these formidable predators, with current occupants Diamond and Xavier breeding at the site since 2016. A volunteer team study, monitor and record their breeding behaviour – contributing to the scientific study of Peregrine Falcons in Australia.

You can stream the live feeds (from four different angles!) on YouTube or via CSU’s FalconCam Project site.

3. Osprey Cams

Ospreys (Port Lincoln, SA and Daintree Rainforest, QLD)

For more celebrit-eyrie action, there are a number of Osprey nest cams around Australia – including a livestream from atop an abandoned barge at Port Lincoln in South Australia.

Join the Port Lincoln Osprey livestream

Last year, TV personality Jamie Durie installed a camera to capture a nesting pair of Ospreys, which had taken up residence on top of a crane at his property in Sydney’s Northern Beaches.

And at James Cook University’s Daintree Research Observatory, a live cam is trained on an Osprey nest at the very top of a crane, almost 50 metres above the rainforest canopy – offering a fascinating insight into their breeding biology.

4. Great Southern Reef Camera Network

Australasian Gannets (Pope’s Eye, Victoria)

Pope’s Eye in Victoria’s Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park is Australia’s oldest marine sanctuary. Here, a unique two-part live webcam lets viewers explore above and below the surface – an underwater camera records the marine life of a rocky reef, while the second camera captures a bird’s-eye view of a large colony of Australasian Gannets.

The Great Southern Reef Camera Network is managed and operated by Southern Ocean Environmental Link (SOEL). These webcams are solar powered and only operate during local daylight hours when there is enough sun.

Tune in over at SOEL’s YouTube channel here.

5. Cornell Bird Cams

(Worldwide)

If you’re wanting to travel further abroad in your virtual birdwatching journey, look no further than Cornell’s collection of bird cams. Bought to you by Cornell University’s prestigious Lab of Ornithology and partners, this project oversees livestreams of nesting and feeding birds from all over the world – from the dry forests of Panama to the canyons of California, featuring owls, hummingbirds, tropicbirds and more. A staff favourite is RoyalCam from across the Ditch – featuring a family of Northern Royal Albatrosses at Pukekura/Taiaroa Head  in New Zealand, the only mainland albatross colony in the world.

For the latest livestreams, including highlights from archived cam footage, visit the Cornell Lab Bird Cams YouTube channel.