Australia's Most Common Birds - Part 2

It's time for a squawkquel. Identifying Australian birds is challenging at the best of times and it's hard to know where to start. But it begins with the birds you'll see every day. In part two of this series on our most common birds, we're going fiercer, stranger and bigger than ever before.
Thanks very much to skoimedia and mathews.wildlife on instagram and ‪@wildslowscape‬ for footage and images.
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[@sirmuckingham2494]

Every Australian's blood pressure went up when the call of the Plover played.

[@tazgecko]

A cold shiver went up my spine ...

[@flowerfairy1950]

They are only protecting their young. I find despite the challenges they face, they survive.

[@RackieD]

so if you live near them, they can recognize you xD ive seen people getting swooped, but ive never been. Just pays to say hello to your local birds

[@flowerfairy1950]

@@RackieD Magpies are the same, be kind and they know who their friends are 😊

[@katem3961]

We affectionately called them pluggers as kids, and we quickly perfected our belly dives 😂

[@TallowTheQuoll]

I currently have a bush Turkey building a mound in my front garden and it's honestly the coolest shit ever, best bit is the landlord isn't allowed to destroy it because they're protected 🤣

[@Flesh_Wizard]

I love bush turkeys. Like when they start sprinting and somehow turn at a 90° angle without losing any speed😂

[@twisteraustralus]

Next do “Australia’s LEAST common birds”

[@andrewhazlewood4569]

@@twisteraustralus Albert’s Lyrebird is a cert for that list. I am privileged to have seen and heard one.

[@MrSpitfireMustang]

Why would the landlord want to destroy it?

[@zeroic3485]

Oi! The second my cat heard the Plover sound, she jumped off my couched and dived to the TV while the dark souls music was playing!

[@VishkarSentry]

@@zeroic3485 A fair reaction.

[@qbmac2306]

Outrageous! You didn't even mention (insert bird name here)!

[@R0WDY]

Whip bird

[@mmmarcd]

Australia gets the best wakeup soundtrack from our birds than any other country. It's the first thing you notice when comming back home

[@ShieldToad-mk2rp]

Do you mean because they will wake you up? I feel like you're quite unlucky, with having parrots be so common they are gorgeous but their calls are shriekish. While in North America and Europe we get to hear a wide range of songbirds (alongside the cooing pigeons). To me it's also really weird seeing so few songbirds on the list cause to me they feel so standard and universal.

[@Sthuont]

@@ShieldToad-mk2rp Australia has plenty of songbirds, including one of the largest songbirds in the world, the superb lyrebird (which is also the most accomplished mimic). Songbirds also appear to have had their evolutionary origin in Australia and they then radiated out to the rest of the world.

[@hollylucianta6711]

@@ShieldToad-mk2rp Honestly, you get used to it and learn to love the shrieks. It was such a nice feeling to come home from deployment and hear the black cockatoos calling to each other. And galahs and corellas yelling at each other makes me smile, they're such clowns.

[@JohnGardnerAlhadis]

This man is a national treasure. Protect him at all costs.

[@cadoized]

babe wakeup new backyard naturalist

[@inMode85]

Fuck yes! My thoughts exactly

[@AnUncleanHippy]

I remember helping a tawny frogmouth get out of our yard one time. My dogs were going off their heads at something, so I went out to have a look, and there was this tawny frogmouth near the shed on the ground. I think it'd gotten lost, and didn't know how to get out, so I picked 'em up, pointed them at the sky, and off they flew. Good bird.

[@kristiemclennan]

Have you been wondering how it got there and stayed there ever since? What’s your hypothesis?

[@AnUncleanHippy]

@@kristiemclennan We have an undercover pagola with a fernery that's under shadecloth. I think it must've just flown in one night and didn't know how to get out.

[@kristiemclennan]

@@AnUncleanHippy sound like it was playing dumb in defence of the dogs?

[@ChrisGuiver]

@@AnUncleanHippy It may have been chasing a mouse or other food in there...

[@grandmothergoose]

I keep forgetting how terrifying pelicans are. Thanks for the reminder.

[@patrickwastie5]

Had a pelican shit on my car once It was probably what Pearl harbour felt like because it was a massive air raid bomb

[@LabiaLicker]

Disappointed that none of the videos of pelicans trying to eat things they shouldn't (like toddlers) wasn't included

[@BulletYTube]

@@patrickwastie5I think we all have a pelican story 😂

[@richardparrott7192]

Even more terrifying was a dive buddy's car windscreen who made the mistake of parking under a light pole when we went for a dive. The pelican poo when we came back was like laminated plastic paint that covered the entire windscreen and stripped paint from the bonnet!

[@auzzierocks]

They also eat pigeons live

[@VishkarSentry]

The only plover video to truly get the facts straight, thank you very much mr backyard naturalist.

[@tarantuIas]

Plovers are so based 🫡

[@mrbanjofrog]

Perfect video for some calamari and chips at sundown!

[@Flesh_Wizard]

Mind the seagulls mate😂

[@katem3961]

When living in Exmouth Western Australia, we had a small metal bird bath underneath a large flame tree. Dad emu (aka bush chook) would arrive each afternoon for weeks with all his kids in tow to have a drink and nap together underneath the tree for an hour or so 🥰

[@h.c5750]

Best Aussie animal channel is back at it!

[@OlessanYT]

Wedge-tailed eagle my beloved

[@heidithesausage]

Amazing 🥰

[@VishkarSentry]

Thank You ❤

[@the-Backyard-Naturalist]

You're welcome mate

[@shrikelet]

The Morrowind reference is appropriate because the Masked Lapwing is basically an IRL Cliff-racer.

[@VishkarSentry]

@@shrikelet They do indeed fly incredibly erratically ♥️

[@DeathOfRetailPrice]

Unexpected Aunty Donna is always welcome.

[@the-Backyard-Naturalist]

Haven't you done well

[@ectoplasmicz]

Your ending perfectly encapsulated how my love for birds grew in recent years. Learning and being able to identify it opened up this rich world that was always around me, and now going for walks or driving to the bush for days out is an exciting prospect for all the birds and plants ill get to see :) Also had the opportunity adopt a rescued rainbow velociraptor (lorikeet) who's brought so much joy!

[@trinefanmel]

Well said! I had a similar experience when I chose to survey birds in my local area for a uni assessment. I now see them everywhere and I love watching them going about their business in the backyard. Then it comes full circle when they stop to look at us for a while to figure out what WE are and what WE'RE doing.

[@heidithesausage]

Same. We really are so lucky here.

[@jcaites]

I'm iving in Europe, 1000s of miles away from Australia and I look forward to every one of your videos. Seeing this makes me really miss home, and appreciate the birdbrained beauty of my great southern land. Your work is a fusion of great editing, clever jokes and wordplay, and insight into Australia's amazing nature.

[@john_barnett]

Did not expect to see Sonichu in a backyard naturalist video

[@Lykori]

God I hope he doesn't catch the curse 😢

[@TheMergeBuff45]

Also shocked the Eastern Whipbird didn’t even get a mention. I grew up in the bush and you would hear them all the time.

[@ghoulashtea]

Ahhh yes, the pheasant coucal. My family always refers to them as 'the naruto birds' for their habit of waiting by the side of the road at dusk and deciding to naruto run across juuust after you think they aren't going to. They must be some kind of wizard though, as we've never hit one (yet) - must be calculating the opportune moment to cross for maximum exhilaration

[@argumentative2532]

Hitting some A tier references with Groening, Halo and sonichu

[@JohnGardnerAlhadis]

"I just think they're neat" was also a well-timed _Simpsons_ reference (when Marge extolled the virtue of potatoes). I appreciate that the millennial humour is still subtle enough that my Gen-Jones parents can enjoy these videos without being perturbed.

[@UpsideDownYuGiOh]

Listen to the background track at 1:27, though he could slip that by everyone but I see you

[@PinataOblongata]

Can't believe you didn't mention Wood Ducks kidnapping hoards of ducklings from other Wood Duck parents they don't think are doing a good enough job 😅

[@lolcatz88]

Please please please,do the bush curlew in part 3!

[@emmalynn1142]

Those lil guys are absolutely hilarious, I love them so much

[@relwalretep]

BLUNNIES!

[@southron_d1349]

I've been swooped by Masked Lapwings before. It's a little unnerving but no more than that. Never been swooped by Magpies, though. Nor seen it happen to anyone, either. There's a pair of Lapwings on the other side of my back fence and they sound off a lot. I like hearing them. We had a hakea some years ago but it was destroyed by a couple of Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos. Worth it!

[@sandrosliske]

I've only been swooped once by lapwings, and that was when I was a dumb kid at school trying to get swooped because we had nothing better to do.

[@VishkarSentry]

@@sandrosliske How entertaining that sounds.

[@sandrosliske]

@@VishkarSentry it was enjoyable

[@Vespasian705]

@@sandrosliske I did this way to much as a kid, as well as throwing sticks at bee hives and seeing who could run the fastest.

[@sandrosliske]

@Vespasian705 open hand slapping bees until we got stung. I swear, the further you go back, the more dumber the reasons people got injured.

[@scpmpf]

Mate, love your videos. Not only the great content but especially the laconic narration. Keep them coming.

[@viskaserk]

for part 3, might i suggest completing the collection of birds you might see attacking small children in victoria with the cape barren goose? they're gorgeous but absolutely vicious during nesting season, as i'm sure anyone who's visited phillip island trying to see the penguins would know.

[@g_e_o_m9369]

I once had one of these idiots stand up to my car on Phillip Island, it was only when I drove right up to it slowly that it finally acquiesced to my intentions of driving to the GP circuit and cleared the road. Utterly stupid creatures.

[@g_e_o_m9369]

I once had one of these idiots stand up to my car on Phillip Island, it was only when I drove right up to it slowly that it finally acquiesced to my intentions of driving to the GP circuit and cleared the road. Utterly stupid creatures.

[@CaratsRitzy]

15:25 100% can confirm, you know ya scuffed it/pulled an all-nighter when you near theses Cockies start to make house call towards their favourite breakkie tree in the morning. Black Cockies are shy by nature, a direct contrast to their very socialable Sulphur-Crested Cockies in the eastern states.

[@Braydan789]

Yessss the plover made it to one of your videos

[@VishkarSentry]

@@Braydan789 Finally

[@SweetChilliJesus]

Loving the Age of Mythology soundtrack as background music for the tawnies

[@AzureRei]

I could watch these videos forever, absolutely love them. I'm so fond of all these birds, especially the king parrot.

[@crookfordacelington8067]

Awesome video legend keep them coming! The Auntie Donna clip killed me

[@seanshaw8321]

Great video, you’re a man after my own heart with your humour and love our critters

[@the_newt_nest]

I read The Bird Way and now that and you have made me want to go to Australia. I want to see your fairy wrens.

[@abxy2257]

Love this channel

[@abxy2257]

Cheers for the video Darcy

[@davidnelson7786]

Absolutely love our Wedge Tailed Eagle. Was lucky enough to escort bird and it’s keeper in a lift at the MCG to access the grandstand roof for its role as Seagull scarer. Massive, majestic bird up close.

[@Squirrelmind66]

Never change, Backyard Naturalist.

[@ryanpage5690]

Man I absolutely love your videos. They are informative with a bit of character and sway you'd only get from a fellow Aussie. I hope more people get to see this channel

[@Flesh_Wizard]

"you know what else lives on the ground?" *MY MOM! WOOOOOO!!!!!!*

[@chickennugget6684]

I implore all to look at baby Emus, they are adorable. ..just don't do it in person if you like being alive.

[@neilcam]

Lovely stuff, Darcy. And I did like the carrying the nerdism even further to the point of using Dvorak's Humoresque as the closing music. As both a bird nerd and a classical viola player, I say "Bravo, sir!"

[@jonbrown314]

I love the Apostle Birds. Working FIFO, they are one of the few joys I get to see around camp. They're call always making me smile.

[@davidhynd4435]

Love your videos. And, yes please, a part three. I have American friends and a brother-in-law who's also a septic tank. The thing that I've heard them comment on most is just how colourful our birds are. Birds in the US of A are less so, apparently. Just another reason to be grateful to be Aussie.

[@8MrBreadSticks8]

Wonderful video, thank you for making such great content

[@TheRealLeewon]

Some of my favourite birds! I’ve gotten into birdwatching recently and get excited whenever I can add them to my birdwatching app collection

[@UpsideDownYuGiOh]

1:27 It has been some many long years, but you can never slip such a mythical soundtrack by unnoticed.

[@BaronVonShnozza]

The masked lapwing is my spirit animal. Never sleeps, always ready for action, never backs down.

[@sarahrichardson3692]

Another awesome video, Ty :-) Birds are my jam, I love them all :-) yes even the plover!

[@RackieD]

Well you cant mention the yellow tail and not talk about the red tail cocky, cant wait for pt 3!

[@mariblue72]

We used to have budgies, cockatiels, quails, and mallee ringnecks when I was a kid, never had an issue with them. A little nibble and the occassional flutter as they'd fly overhead, no big deal. Then I moved to somewhere slightly less rural as a teenager a little over 20 years ago, never heard of plovers before and my introduction to them was getting dive bombed walking across a patch of grass that was bird free a week or two before. This came after having to switch up my usual walking route because I'd started getting swooped by magpies for the first time that same summer. 😅 Getting attacked gave me a real phobia of birds which I thought was for good, so please know that your videos are starting to turn me back around to appreciating birds again. I might not ever get to the point where I could own one again, but I've really started to enjoy watching them in the garden (including the very big magpies in the area - haven't seen any more plovers though!).

[@fluroflash2803]

I love your content. Please continue

[@grantodaniel7053]

Fantastic vid mate, always get excited when one of yours pops up! Thanks, and keep up the great work. 👍👍

[@UnstableStrafe]

I'd seen a pair of wood ducks with 20 ducklings wandering around when I was in australia. It was a lot of smol babies

[@RedPanda74]

I live in a northern suburb of Perth. We have had a mated pair of Frogmouths in our backyard for years. I love seeing them sitting on our gate and fence of an evening!

[@dylangarsed7254]

Another great video dude. Brilliant! My dog looked at me very strangely when the plovers started. 😅

[@VishkarSentry]

@@dylangarsed7254 Alarm birds ♥️

[@durantan2343]

Gouldian Finch is probably my fave Aussie bird! The colours and so small and cute.

[@ThatKidYouKnow27]

I just want you to know your videos are the highlight of my week.

[@ILostMyKeys]

Aunty Dona AND a Halo 2 reference? Dangerously based

[@UpsideDownYuGiOh]

1:27, listen to that sound track again. He thought he could slip that one by everyone

[@AussieAquatic]

Thoroughly enjoyable as always :)

[@grantb8168]

What's hard is dealing with the fact that apparently I'm an 85 year old grandma and there's something I need to learn about hedgehogs. Well F Me Dead. Anyway, on with the show. Here I was going to politely suggest that because you had a rant about those Collingwood birds, it would only be fair that a gentle prose about the White Swans of Sydney would be substantively edifying, at least for me. Then you go and show that clip of a red-eyed, black demon, raping a golden retriever and all I can think about is the caning on Saturday night. Where was that glorious viciousness when "WE" needed it. Seriously, timing is not your strong point, Darcy. Damn I F'ing love this channel. Few can stimulate intrigue whilst satisfying fading, classical musical tastes and also, stirring the pot of the comedically challenged. Well done Tube friend and please keep up the great work. At this point I need all the laughs and smiles I can get. BTW; I've never seen a Wedgie in real life so an extended doco on our Aussie superstars would be appreciated if at all possible. 😊

[@the-Backyard-Naturalist]

Thank you Grant! It's always a pleasure to see you in the comments. Honestly we need to give Sydney FC phone call about their mascot not being lore accurate. But that's black and white thinking for ya! I would like to do a wedgetail episode down the track, but it took many days of patience to film the one in this video. They're illusive buggers as well as majestic ones!

[@juliagardner9750]

Wonderful commentary and so informative on our feathered friends.Tha k goodness they all protected now!

[@OlessanYT]

Lapwing_Enjoyer evidently praises not the sun, but the Pigeon of the Necrotic Void™

[@VishkarSentry]

@@OlessanYT Void pigeon my beloved

[@lordanderson8090]

Exquisite music choice sir ⚡️ 🔱

[@Bozzl3]

Yellow Tailed Black Cockies are one of my faves. Their calls are so delightful and they get surpringly large. They can be found in parklands in cities. I used to see them all the time around Wattle Park in Melbourne.

[@nicolasmyhre]

can we get "look at some birds you sweaty nerd" on a tshirt please

[@DestrierWillowWisp]

Love seeing the boobook get an honourable mention in the tawny frogmouth segment. There's one that frequents my suburb and it's nice to hear their signature call on a more quiet night.

[@Grievous-]

Some of your jokes are completly....bird brained... 😆 Amazing video!

[@MoistJas]

Great birds great vid

[@GiselleGabriels-i8l]

Don't know what's better, the bird facts or the banging soundtrack

[@smmcb647]

Awesome video! So appreciate you including the bird calls so I can recognise those bird sounds when in the bush.

[@Monty_NSW]

too funny...a nice spin on an interesting but oft dryly presented topic, thanks Darcy, I'm in!

[@trinefanmel]

11:00 Ah, the dulcet tones of Mike Dalton, NBN News... Some of my favourite birds are here and I love your work!

[@jennifertheyowiehunter8753]

Another cool thing about bush turkeys (and lyrebirds too) they play an important role in fire management has they flick the leaves over quickening the decomposing process

[@austinhowell1339]

Love these videos so much, don't forget the Zebra Finch in the next one mate

[@The1nsane1]

and the Double Bar!

[@taylorkershaw2509]

Aussie Birds - Greatest Hits more like. Still waiting for the lovely Liquorice All-sorts Duck (Shelduck, love their honks) Keep up the excellent videos man!

[@loggerT123]

Please talk about more aussie plants! I want to learn about more edible wild plants and i really like your style

[@goosechucker2154]

One time I disturbed a pheasant coucal who was foraging in a little green strip next to the beach. It flew into a nearby dead tree and gave me a disapproving "woob woob". Lovely bird.

[@ChrisGuiver]

Wonderful video, terrific topic, and great humor. Thanks

[@syjrun]

Love the writing, love the awareness. Love it Love it Love it

[@ericisbananaman]

Can we please get confirmation that the golden retriever going for an innocent paddle is okay after that unprovoked swan attack?

[@the-Backyard-Naturalist]

Fact check: He is okay and made it back to shore before jumping in again.

[@Can0spam]

@@the-Backyard-Naturalist Of coarse he jumped back in. Golden Retrievers live in the 𝖓𝖔𝖜!

[@The1nsane1]

@@Can0spam Or they're a bit dim.

[@jzawh]

appreciate your content, has actually got me into bird spotting and ticking them off my book I bought.

[@pinkroses8714]

Please do the Bell Bird and its call . Love your channel !!!

[@Poohze01]

Great collection! Looking forward to Part III!!!

[@_Dei_]

Thank you for putting the Tawny's call on your video. I've been spooked by one on more than one occasion while putting my garbages out at night, including once when one was sitting on the gate I have to go through. Didn't see it until it launched into the air right in front of me. That sound though... I hear it often. Good to know what it is.

[@rob3942]

Very informative and entertaining Darcy. Gonya mate yes more please Go well

[@dingus153]

My (indoor only) cat really appreciates when I watch these vids on my TV

[@entguarde]

Welp now I’ve gotta go to Australia. The one thing that just always baffles me is how parrots and their relatives are in so many places. Australia, Africa, Central and South America, they’ve almost essentially conquered the southern hemisphere (and a little bit of the northern at one point, rip Carolina Parakeet)

[@JohnGardnerAlhadis]

Well, the continents were all joined at some point in Earth's history (and sea levels used to be lower due to glaciation events, meaning there were more land bridges for animals to traverse).

[@kazwilson425]

And our birds our noisy. I missed that sound so much when I was overseas. Nothing quiet like it. Any semi-rural area will do you, up near the Blue Mountains would be a good place to start.

[@Underestimated37]

Really cool thing about the seagulls, they used to nest 4hrs inland up in the Mallee on the shores of saltwater Lake Tyrrell, and as a result a completely landlocked town aptly named Sea Lake has seagulls as the town symbol!

[@Bottle-OBill]

Yayyyy! Happy Jacks got a mention! I love those goofy guys

[@surface3122]

Just went and rewarched the other birds videos to make sure. Here's my list of awesome birds you missed for part 3. Can't wait! Bush-Stone Curlew Sunbird Swamphen Cassowary Brolga Egret Zenra finch TI Pigeon

[@nrgpower5689]

your videos are always wonderful keep up the great work

[@reee2754]

lovely video, i love birds please do a part 3

[@dmays67]

Was so chuffed to see your vid pop up mate. And you mentioned my personal nemesis!, the Corella. I work around Gympie QLD and the little screeching horde is never far away.

[@Cheskaz]

Wasn't expecting the Aunty Donna and it made us laugh out loud

[@nickbowd]

Thanks for your great videos.

[@leoniigrant7537]

Apostlebirds were known as Happy Jacks where I grew up. Such cheeky birds!

[@auzzierocks]

Here in wollongong, we were taught by the aboriginal elders that if you hear a black cockatoo, it means it's going to rain. Quite accurate sometimes too

[@rooma2444]

Dharawhal!

[@stellarmonk]

We had bush turkeys live in my friends back yard. They were pretty cool. They built mounds which we stayed away from until they moved onto another place.