Birdlife of Lady Elliot Island

This blog lists the frequently sighted bird species on Lady Elliot Island which are divided into three main groups:

    • Seabirds: species adapted to life in a marine environment which spend the majority of their time at sea.
    • Shore birds: species usually found near intertidal habitats or inland wetlands which feed by wading in shallow water and probing wet mud or sand with their bills.
    • Land birds: species that spend the majority of their lives in terrestrial environments.In total, over 159 bird species have been recorded on the island including unusual visitors such as a Jabiru, barn owl and penguin!

Seabirds

Lesser Frigate Bird (Fregata ariel)

Photographer: Mat and Cathy Gilfedder

 Life span: 17-23 years

Fun Facts:

  • These birds are quite clumsy on land and incapable of taking flight from water
  • They nest in small trees or shrubs, building a platform nest of sticks and branches
  • Males will rattle their bills during courtship displays
  • Feed mostly on fish and squid and regurgitated food of other seabirds (Kleptoparasitism)

Where to spot on Lady Elliot Island:
These large sea birds are sighted hovering high over the island during windy days. On hot days with less wind, they often land in the Casuarina trees around the outside of the island or behind the island’s kitchen

Does this species nest on Lady Elliot Island?
This species does not breed on Lady Elliot Island but does roost and feed here

Greater Frigate Bird (Fregata minor)

Photographer: Graham Bell 

 Life span: 25 – 40 years

Fun Facts:

  • Parental care is prolonged in this species
  • Greater frigatebirds are seasonally monogamous, with a breeding season that can take two years from mating to the end of parental care
  • The greater frigatebird measures 85 to 105 cm in length and has a wingspan of 205–230 cm
  • They have the highest ratio of wing area to body mass and the lowest wing loading of any bird

Where to spot on Lady Elliot Island:
These large sea birds are often sighted hovering high over the island during windy days. On hot days with less wind, they land in the Casuarina trees around the outside of the island or behind the island’s kitchen

Does this species nest on Lady Elliot Island?
This species does not breed on Lady Elliot Island but does roost and feed here

Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster)

Photographer: @hokkarbird

 Life span: 15-30 years

Fun Facts:

  • Brown Boobies nest in colonies on predator-free tropical islands, especially coral atolls
  • Brown Boobies eat mainly fish and squid. They are acrobatic birds, particularly for their size and are able to soar when searching for prey and then pivot rapidly to dive
  • The male selects a nesting territory from the air, then checks the site by landing and performing a display called “parading,” in which he holds the tail up and lists from side to side while walking with exaggerated steps
  • Brown boobies often lay two eggs but only raise one chick past the fledgling stage. It is thought that having a second egg is for insurance purposes in case one egg doesn’t make it!

Where to spot on Lady Elliot Island:
This species is often seen perched on the roofs of our boats on the western side of the island. They are also seen around sunset on the eastern corner of the island.

Does this species nest on Lady Elliot Island?
This species does not breed at Lady Elliot but is seen roosting and feeding here

White breasted sea eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster)

Photographer: Jessica Buckman

 Life span: 20 – 30 years

Fun Facts:

  • Birds form permanent pairs that inhabit territories throughout the year
  • The White-bellied Sea-Eagle feeds mainly off aquatic animals, such as fish, turtles and sea snakes, but can takes birds and mammals as well. It is a skilled hunter and will attack prey up to the size of a swan. Here on Lady Elliot, they feed mainly on sea snakes and parrotfish
  • White-bellied Sea-Eagles build a large stick nest, which is used for many seasons in succession. At the start of the breeding season, the nest is lined with fresh green leaves and twigs

Where to spot on Lady Elliot Island:
This species can be sighted soaring over the resort from time to time or perched in tall casuarina trees around the island, occasionally they will land on the new lighthouse.

Does this species nest on Lady Elliot Island?
Individuals nest on neighbouring Lady Musgrave Island

Mutton-bird or Wedge tailed shearwater (Ardenna pacifica)

Photographer: andrewdougs_

 Life span: 10-11 years

Fun Facts:

  • These tropical marine birds are strictly pelagic in nature. They are rarely seen on land unless they are staying in colonies during the breeding season
  • Some courtship behaviours can be seen among the two sexes, at night, the pair sit opposite each other and call duet songs, and in the day, the pair can be seen rubbing each other’s neck and head
  • Wedge-tailed shearwaters feed pelagically on fish, squid, and crustaceans

Where to spot on Lady Elliot Island:
This species is seen and heard only at night once the birds have arrived for their breeding season during summer. Look for them amongst the Pisonia trees behind the volleyball courts

Does this species nest on Lady Elliot Island?
Yes

Crested Tern (Thalasseus bergii)

Photographer: Mark Simpson

 Life span: 15-22 years

Fun Facts:

  • The Crested Tern feeds mainly on small surface fish that are between 5 to 8 cm long. They sight prey from the air then plunge downwards into the water and grab the fish behind the head
  • The greater crested tern breeds in colonies, often in association with other seabirds
  • This species is monogamous and the pair bond is maintained through the year and sometimes in consecutive breeding seasons
  • This species has a widespread distribution range, estimated at 1–10 million square kilometres

Where to spot on Lady Elliot Island:
During summer this species can be seen and heard on the eastern side of the airstrip. The breeding colony is situated in a large paddock maintained for their breeding season. They can also be sighted on the airstrip, restaurant roof and on the beach encouraging their juveniles to take flight

Does this species nest on Lady Elliot Island?
Yes

Silver gull (Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae)

Photographer: kerryanna borgula

 Life span: 20 – 30 years

Fun Facts:

  • The seagull is a successful scavenger bird species native to Australia
  • The silver gull has a sharp voice consisting of a variety of calls. The most common call is a harsh, high pitched ‘kwarwh’
  • Silver Gulls nest in large colonies on offshore islands. Often two broods will be raised in a year, and both adults share nest-building, incubation and feeding duties. Eggs are laid in a shallow nest scrape, lined with vegetation

Where to spot on Lady Elliot Island:
This species can be seen anywhere around the island.

Does this species nest on Lady Elliot Island?
Yes

Red tailed tropic bird (Phaethon rubricauda)

Photographer: Mat and Cathy Gilfedder

 Life span: 20-35 years

Fun Facts:

  • The Red-tailed tropic bird is suited to life at sea, struggling to walk or stand during its breeding season on land
  • The red-tailed tropicbird indulges in an aerial courtship ritual before nesting. Such displays are performed by one to six birds, but usually in pairs. The birds remain almost stationary and swing their tail streamers from side to side as they cackle to one another.
  • One egg is laid and incubated for around 43 days. Chicks will remain at the nest site for up to four months before fledging
  • The red-tailed tropicbird eats fish—mainly flying fish and squid—after catching them by plunge-diving into the ocean.

Where to spot on Lady Elliot Island:
Our breeding colony comprises up to 7 pairs located in front of our beach front units and glamping tents

Does this species nest on Lady Elliot Island?
Yes

Common noddy (Anous stolidus)

Photographer: Barry Deacon

 Life span: 25-30 years

Fun Facts:

  • The Common Noddy is the largest and brownest of three noddies (dark-plumaged terns) found in Australian waters
  • The Common Noddy is found on off-shore tropical islands, often in large colonies of more than 100,000 nests
  • The Common Noddy breeds on islands. It lays one egg in an untidy shallow nest of coral, grass and twigs, either on the ground or in low bushes and trees

Where to spot on Lady Elliot Island:
This species can be seen around the airstrip, lighthouse quayway, coral gardens and frequently nests on the ground or in pandanus palms

Does this species nest on Lady Elliot Island?
Yes

White capped noddy (Anous minutus)

Photographer: Mark Simpson

 Life span: 20-30 years

Fun Facts:

  • Black noddies form monogamous pair bonds that are long-lasting. In one study 86% of mated pairs remained together through mating seasons. Pairs tend to be made up of birds of similar ages
  • Courtship behaviours include flying together in a high-flight display in which birds ascend together and then glide at a steep angle back to sea level. You can see this on Lady Elliot Island throughout summer but particularly in September/October
  • Nest sites seem to be selected mainly for their proximity to the breeding colony and even unsuitable nest sites are occupied if they are near other nesting pairs. Nests in trees may be mainly built on the leeward side of the tree for protection against wind

Where to spot on Lady Elliot Island:
This species can be seen anywhere on Lady Elliot Island with nests built in octopus bushes, pisonia trees, casuarinas, and sandpaper figs

Does this species nest on Lady Elliot Island?
Yes

Roseate terns (Sterna dougallii)

Photographer: Mat and Cathy Gilfedder

 Life span: 10-20 years

Fun Facts:

  • Eggs are incubated for an average of 23 days with a pair only having one clutch per year
  • The roseate tern shows some kleptoparasitic behaviour, stealing ⦁ fish from other seabirds
  • Male and female (or pairs or trios of females) investigate potential nest sites together, selecting a site on the ground near vegetation or a prominence in the landscape

Where to spot on Lady Elliot Island:
Each year, the nesting colony moves locations around the island. In 2021 the nesting colonies were located between the lighthouse and coral garden quayways and another colony at the northern end of the airstrip.

Does this species nest on Lady Elliot Island?
Yes

Bridled tern (Onychoprion anaethetus)

Photographer: Jodi Carlton

 Life span: 12-18 years

Fun Facts:

  • This species forages in offshore, continental shelf waters and is rarely recorded along mainland coasts, even those adjacent or close to breeding colonies
  • At night, this species will minimise any vocalisations, instead tapping its feet for communication up to 112 times per minute!
  • Courtship involves the pair dancing around each other with their heads and wings lowered and can also involve items being gifted to one another

Where to spot on Lady Elliot Island:
This species is seen during summer for the breeding season. Individuals can be seen throughout the resort and across the remainder of the island nesting on the ground.

Does this species nest on Lady Elliot Island?
Yes

Sooty tern (Onychoprion fuscatus)

Photographer: David Spelt

 Life span: 20-30 years

Fun Facts:

  • The Sooty tern feeds by picking fish from the surface in marine environments, often in large flocks, and rarely comes to land except to breed. The species can stay out to sea for 3 to 10 years
  • Breeds in large colonies in sand or coral scrapes on offshore islands and cays including Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands
  • This species looks very similar to the bridled tern but can be distinguished buy vocalisations

Where to spot on Lady Elliot Island:
Sooty terns often nest beneath Dwarf poinsettia along the sides of the airstrip and on the pathway to Coral gardens

Does this species nest on Lady Elliot Island?
Yes

Black naped tern (Sterna sumatrana)

Photographer: Mat and Cathy Gilfedder

 Life span: 15 – 20 years

Fun Facts:

  • Black-naped Terns are often gregarious, especially when they are breeding and roosting, although less so when they are foraging
  • The estimated area of occupancy of Black-naped Terns in Australia is 8500 km².
  • The Black Naped Tern feeds on small fish (4-8cm long) of various species usually alone but occasionally with the white capped noddy (Anous minutus)

Where to spot on Lady Elliot Island:
Each year, a small nesting colony of around 10-15 pairs will occupy an area on the north-eastern side of the island at the top of the beach near a fallen tree.

Does this species nest on Lady Elliot Island?
Yes

Shore birds

Ruddy turnstone (Arenaria interpres)

Photographer: Barry Deacon

 Life span: 8-15 years

Fun Facts:

  • Ruddy turnstones are one of the northernmost breeding shorebirds. They breed in arctic tundra from Alaska, across Canada, Greenland, Scandinavia, the Baltic Islands, and across northern Siberia to the Bering Sea
  • Ruddy turnstones are small, robust sandpipers with stout, black, slightly upturned bills
  • Pairs are monogamous and form on the breeding territory, meeting again in the same territory used the previous year

Where to spot on Lady Elliot Island:
Often sighted walking along the shore at low tide or in a large group on the airstrip in the early morning

Does this species nest on Lady Elliot Island?
No

Eastern reef egret (Egretta sacra)

Photographer: Jessica Buckman

 Life span: 15-20 years

Fun Facts:

  • Eastern Reef Egrets usually inhabit rocky shorelines and coral islands and reefs, where they forage for fish, crustaceans, and molluscs by using a mixture of stealth and surprise
  • The Eastern Reef Egret breeds throughout the year. The nests can be in trees in island woodlands, or on the ground under shrubs or rock ledges
  • Both sexes incubate the eggs, and the young remain in the nest for up to 6 weeks

Where to spot on Lady Elliot Island:
The Eastern Reef Egret can be seen feeding at low tide in the lagoon and is often sighted wandering through its respective territory. There is a large, frequently used nest in the Octopus bushed beside the glamping tents

Does this species nest on Lady Elliot Island?
Yes

Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus)

Photographer: Derek Ward

 Life span: 10-15 years

Fun Facts:

  • Whimbrels are common across northern Australia but uncommon further south. They breed in central Siberia to Iceland
  • The migratory Whimbrels breed widely in the Arctic Circle, on drier and higher ground than the Eastern Curlew. The males display over their territory, rising high in the air with rapidly vibrating wingbeats, then spiralling down again
  • “Hope” was the name given to a female Whimbrel captured on the coast of Virginia in 2009 and fitted with a satellite transmitter. Over the next three years, researchers tracked Hope for more than 80,000 km back and forth between her breeding area on the Mackenzie River in western Canada and her wintering site, at Great Pond on St. Croix, British Virgin Islands

Where to spot on Lady Elliot Island:
Whimbrels are often seen on grass areas of Lady Elliot Island

Does this species nest on Lady Elliot Island?
No

Pacific golden Plover (Pluvialis fulva)

Photographer: Mat and Cathy Gilfedder

 Life span: 10-15 years

Fun Facts:

  • The Pacific golden plover (Pluvialis fulva) is a migratory shorebird that breeds during Alaskan and Siberian summers
  • In breeding plumage, the male is spotted gold and black on the crown, back, and wings. In nonbreeding plumage, sexes look identical
  • Although a shorebird, the Pacific Golden-Plover feeds mostly inland, preferring open spaces with short vegetation

Where to spot on Lady Elliot Island:
This species is seen on the airstrip, shore, and occasionally in the resort grounds

Does this species nest on Lady Elliot Island?
No

Bartailed godwit (Limosa lapponica)

Photographer: Mat and Cathy Gilfedder

 Life span: 25-30 years

Fun Facts:

  • Bar-tailed godwits breed on Arctic coasts and tundra from Scandinavia to Alaska, and overwinter on coasts in temperate and tropical regions of the Old World, Australia, and New Zealand
  • The migration of the subspecies Limosa lapponica baueri across the Pacific Ocean from Alaska to New Zealand is the longest known non-stop flight of any bird, and also the longest journey without pausing to feed by any animal
  • The round-trip migration for this subspecies is over 29,000 km

Where to spot on Lady Elliot Island:
This species is often seen walking amongst grass areas of Lady Elliot Island

Does this species nest on Lady Elliot Island?
No

Sooty oyster catcher (Haematopus fuliginosus)

Photographer: Mat and Cathy Gilfedder

 Life span: 15-20 years

Fun Facts:

  • The Sooty Oystercatcher is endemic to Australia and is widespread in coastal eastern, southern and western Australia.
  • The Sooty Oystercatcher feeds on molluscs, crabs and other crustaceans, marine worms, starfish and sea urchins, and small fish. It uses its long bill to stab at prey or to lever, prise or hammer open food items. It drinks seawater.
  • This species breeds in colonies, with both members of a breeding pair incubating eggs and caring for the young (although we only see one or two pairs breeding on Lady Elliot)

Where to spot on Lady Elliot Island:
This species is frequently sighted around the north-eastern corner of the island where it will occasionally nest on the rocks.

Does this species nest on Lady Elliot Island?
Yes

Pied oyster catcher (Haematopus longirostris)

Photographer: Rob Mclean

 Life span: 15 – 20 years

Fun Facts:

  • Pied oystercatchers frequent sandy coastlines, where they feed mainly on bivalve molluscs, which are prised apart with their specially adapted bill
  • The techniques they use to break open the shells of the molluscs vary greatly and are thought to be learned behaviour

Where to spot on Lady Elliot Island:
Pied oyster catchers are occasionally sighted wandering along the shore on the Eastern side of the island

Does this species nest on Lady Elliot Island?
Possibly

Land birds

Buffbanded rail (Gallirallus philippensis)

Photographer: Mark Simpson

 Life span: 5 – 10 years

Fun Facts:

  • The buff-banded rail is an omnivorous scavenger which feeds on a range of terrestrial invertebrates and small vertebrates, seeds, fallen fruit and other vegetable matter, as well as carrion and refuse
  • Both parents incubate the eggs and the young will leave the nest within 24 hours. Both parents remain with the young, which usually feed themselves, though the female may feed them as well. Two broods may be raised in some seasons.

Where to spot on Lady Elliot Island:
This species can be seen anywhere on Lady Elliot Island

Does this species nest on Lady Elliot Island?
Yes

Capricorn silvereye (Zosterops lateralis chlorocephalus)

Photographer: Mark Simpson

 Life span: 10 – 12 years

Fun Facts:

  • The Capricorn silvereye is the only bird endemic to the Great Barrier Reef
  • The sexes of the Capricorn silvereye are visually indistinguishable
  • The Capricorn silvereye is restricted to wooded coral cays of the Capricorn and Bunker Group at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland
  • Studies on Heron Island have shown that Capricorn silvereyes mate for life with the same partner

Where to spot on Lady Elliot Island:
Capricorn silvereyes are frequently sighted around the restaurant, in octopus bushes, palm trees and sandpaper fig trees.

Does this species nest on Lady Elliot Island?
Yes

Brown quail (Coturnix ypsilophora)

Photographer: Indra Bone

 Life span: 3 – 6 years

Fun Facts:

  • This species can be difficult to see due to its small size and habitat preference
  • The Brown Quail prefers dense grasslands, often on the edges of open forests, and bracken
  • The Brown Quail feeds in the early morning or evening, on the ground, mainly on seeds and green shoots, but also on insects

Where to spot on Lady Elliot Island:
On Lady Elliot, only one family of around 4-5 individuals has been sighted at the northern end of the airstrip.

Does this species nest on Lady Elliot Island?
Not confirmed but believed to nest here

House sparrow (Passer domesticus)

Photographer: Robert schellie

 Life span: 2-3 years

Fun Facts:

  • House Sparrows are actually large finches. They are usually seen in small to medium-sized groups but may occur in huge numbers
  • When breeding, the black of the throat extends to the chest and upper belly. The bill also changes from brown to black
  • The House Sparrow was introduced from Britain between 1863 and 1870. Firstly in Victoria, but later into other areas including Sydney, Brisbane and Hobart
  • The nest is a large, untidy ball of grass, wool and feathers, lined with feathers and finer plant material. It is usually located in suitable areas in buildings, such as roof voids and crevices in walls

Where to spot on Lady Elliot Island:
This species can be sighted anywhere on the island but mainly around the resort.

Does this species nest on Lady Elliot Island?
Yes

For more information we have a factsheet available HERE and a list of all species HERE