Birds in Habitats
Most bird species show distinct preferences for certain habitats, and some are found in only one habitat type. However, a few species are found in many habitats.
Select a habitat below to learn more.
Can you guess which habitat each of the birds below prefers?
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Hover (or tap) over the image of each bird to see if you were right.
Australian White Ibis
The Australian White Ibis is mainly a bird of wetlands, but in recent decades it has also become a scavenger in urban areas because people feed it and leave food scraps around. Ibis also moved to urban areas because too much water has been taken from the inland river systems where these birds used to breed.
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Photo by Sardaka [CC BY-SA 4.0]
Australian Brush-turkey
The Australian Brush-turkey is originally a bird of rainforests, but most of this habitat was cleared by European settlers a long time ago, and was replaced by farms and urban areas. Suburban gardens often attract these birds because mulch resembles the litter of the rainforest floor.
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Photo by Bernard Gagnon [CC BY-SA 4.0]
Silver Gull
The familiar Silver Gull is a seabird that usually hunts fish and other marine animals, but it also scavenges dead animals on beaches and mudflats along the coast. It has also learned to find food scraps left by people in adjoining urban areas.
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Photo by Krzysztof Golik [CC BY-SA 4.0]
Noisy Miner
Once probably restricted to open grassy woodlands on the western side of the Great Dividing Range, the Noisy Miner has found a similar habitat in the parks and gardens of urban areas and is now the dominant bird species of the suburbs.
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Photo by Neil Humphris [CC BY-NC-SA 4.0]
Pale-headed Rosella
The pretty Pale-headed Rosella feeds on the seeds of grasses and other plants of open forests and woodlands dominated by eucalypts (gum trees), but also visits adjoining urban areas, especially in its search for tree hollows suitable for nesting.
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Photo by Melissa Marie [Used with permission]
Masked Lapwing
The noisy Masked Lapwing inhabits open grasslands, where it slowly stalks invertebrates hidden in the grass, and was probably once restricted to open plains outback. But after European settlers cut down much of the coastal forest, these birds moved into parks in urban areas that provided the perfect open habitat for these birds!
Photo by Bernard DUPONT [CC BY-SA 2.0]
Banner image: Rainbow Lorikeets nesting by Jim Bendon. CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia