DIGITAL FIELD GUIDE: RARE AND VAGRANT BIRDS OF THE MOGGILL CREEK CATCHMENT
The birds in this list are seen infrequently within the Moggill Creek Catchment. Most photos here were taken outside the catchment. We are grateful to the photographers for sharing their images. 
 
Supporting information is supplied by James Butler.
 
Tim Siggs has kindly permitted the inclusion of links to videos in his YouTube Bird Australian Bird Video Collection, taken outside of the catchment. To view all videos in Tim’s collection, please click here.

 

 

BIRD SPECIES

  

WHERE THE BIRD FEEDS
 
  

FOOD TYPE

 

  

RELATED REFERENCES

 

  

NOTES

 

Photo courtesy of Clare Richards – taken outside Moggill Catchment		 Australian Masked-Owl ⚥ Ground level Small mammals: Rodents
Rabbits
Possums
Reptiles
Birds
Insects		 55cm. Residents with large territories. Inhabits forests, woodlands, timbered waterways and open country on the fringe of these areas. The main requirements are tall trees with suitable hollows for nesting and roosting and adjacent areas for foraging.

Photo courtesy of Tom Tarrant – taken outside Moggill Catchment		 Black-breasted Button-quail ⚥ Leaf-littered ground level Beetles
Ants
Spiders
Centipedes
Millipedes
Land snails		 19cm. Rare visitor, very hard to detect. Vulnerable species, ranked as a critical priority. Prefers to feed amongst leaf litter, dry forests with dense understory, lantana. Feeds by pivoting around a stationary foot and scratching with the other foot which results in distinctive cleared circles in leaf litter called platelets which are diagnostic.

Photo courtesy of Tom Tarrant – taken outside Moggill Catchment		 Black-chinned Honeyeater ⚥ Canopy layer Nectar
Honeydew
Invertebrates		 17cm. Rare visitor. Prefers dried habitats with sparse understory. May come to the Catchment because of climate events.

Photo taken outside Moggill Catchment		 Brown Gerygone ⚥
Brown Warbler		 Canopy layer Insects 11cm. Rare resident. Only found in rainforest and wetter eucalypt forest. Often found in small parties.

Photo courtesy of Tom Tarrant – taken outside Moggill Catchment		 Buff-rumped Thornbill ⚥
Bark Tit, Varied Thornbill		 Open ground among trees Insects 11cm. Uncommon resident, nomadic. Prefers open forests with plenty of tree debris on the ground and some rocks.

Photo courtesy of Chris Read- taken outside Moggill Catchment		 Chestnut Teal ⚥ Freshwater surface Water plants
Snails
Beetles
Spiders
Seeds		 48cm. Nomadic and affected by climate events, may turn up anywhere on fresh water, reservoir and large dams. Small dabbling duck.

Photo courtesy of
Jill and Ian Brown-taken outside Moggill Catchment		 Comb-crested Jacana ⚥
Lotusbird, Lily-trotter		 Floating leaves of fresh-water plants Insects
Other invertebrates		 YouTube video by Tim Siggs 26cm. Common resident. Walks on floating vegetation on large bodies of water: reservoir and big dams. Best chance is at the reservoir. Female is larger than the male who raises young whom he carries on his back.

Photo courtesy of
Jill and Ian Brown-taken outside Moggill Catchment		 Cotton Pygmy-Goose ⚥
(Male on left in photo)		 Freshwater surface Seeds from water-plants
Some insects		 38cm. Uncommon, locally nomadic, seasonal. Deeper freshwater swamps, dams, lagoons with waterlilies and other emergent water plants. Small perching duck.

Photo courtesy of
Tom Tarrant – taken outside Moggill Catchment		 Crimson Rosella ⚥
Red Lowry		 All levels Seeds
Insects- eg: galls		 37cm. Uncommon resident. The Catchment is at the extreme northern end of it distribution which extends south along the coast to SA. Its preferred habitat is the wetter forests, rainforests and riparian zones.

Photo courtesy of Tom Tarrant – taken outside Moggill Catchment		 Dusky Woodswallow ⚥
Skimmer, Woodmartin		 Aerial
canopy		 Flying insects
Some nectar		 YouTube video by Tim Siggs 18cm. Nomadic. Found in open forests and woodlands, and may be seen along roadsides and on golf courses.

Photo courtesy of
Jill and Ian Brown-taken outside Moggill Catchment
 Great Crested Grebe ⚥ Water surface and diving underwater Fish
Insects		 55cm. Resident. Less common and larger than Australasian Grebe. Only found on reservoir as it prefers large areas of open water. Much photographed for its spectacular mating dances on the surface of the water and its striking head plumage.

Photo courtesy of
Jill and Ian Brown-taken outside Moggill Catchment
 Hooded Robin ⚥
Male on right in photo		 On or near ground Insects YouTube video by Tim Siggs 18cm. Known vagrant in the Moggill Creek Catchment. Rarely seen. Found in lightly timbered woodland, mainly dominated by acacia and/or eucalypts.

Photo courtesy of
Jill and Ian Brown-taken outside Moggill Catchment		 Little Egret ⚥ Shallow water Invertebrates
Fish
Amphibians		 65cm. Highly nomadic to find available wetlands.

Photo courtesy of
Alison Stanes		 Little Wattlebird ⚥ Shrub layer and canopy Nectar
Insects
Flowers
Berries
Some seeds		 Feather Fascination June 2016 31cm. Rare visitor. Smallest of the wattlebirds. Prefers the drier and often scrubby habitats such as banksia heaths, forests, woodlands, urban parks and gardens.

Photo courtesy of
Tom Tarrant – taken outside Moggill Catchment		 Pale-Yellow Robin ⚥ Mainly ground, up to mid-storey Pouncing on insects YouTube video by Tim Siggs 13cm. Sedentary. Found in moist eucalypt forests, subtropical and tropical rainforests with dense vegetation, such as vine thickets

Photo courtesy of Tom Tarrant – taken outside Moggill Catchment		 Pallid Cuckoo ⚥ Ground level Hairy caterpillars
Insects
Larvae		 YouTube video by Tim Siggs 33cm. Uncommon visitor. Prefers open woodlands and grasslands; grazing land. Perches on low branches, power lines, posts. Lays its eggs in the nests of honeyeaters, whistlers and flycatchers. Found recently near Reservoir.

Photo courtesy of Ed Frazer-  taken within Moggill Catchment		  Red-rumped Parrot  ♂ Ground feeding Seeds
Grain
Green tips of grassses		 26cm. Known vagrant in the catchment, main distribution to the west. Sexes strongly dimorphic: male vibrant colours; female drab colours. Most often seen on the ground in open habitats: farmland, sports fields, beside roads, parklands.

Photo courtesy of
Tom Tarrant – taken outside Moggill Catchment		 Satin Flycatcher  ⚥ Canopy layer in Eucalypt forests Flying insects in the Eucalypt canopy

Photo courtesy of
Tom Tarrant – taken outside Moggill Catchment		 Spotted Harrier ⚥
Smoke Hawk		 Ground level Mainly ground birds: quail, pipits 61cm. Nomadic, responds to local conditions. Generally uncommon. Large territories.

Photo courtesy of
Paul Campbell		 Striated Heron ⚥ Ground level – tidal flats and mangroves Crabs and other crustaceans as well as molluscs and small fish 45cm. Vagrant in the Moggill Creek catchment. The Striated Heron is a solitary bird, roosting alone. Its habitat is mangroves, coastal tidal waterways and nearby mudflats, as well as exposed reefs and piles.

First photographed in 2018, the Striated Heron can occasionally be found at the tidal parts of Moggill Creek as it enters the Brisbane River at Rafting Ground Reserve.

Photo courtesy of
Tom Tarrant – taken outside Moggill Catchment		 White-cheeked Honeyeater ⚥ Canopy level Nectar in flower, in foliage, on bark but also insects 18cm. Uncommon Residents. Moist heath lands, wetlands and in forests or woodlands with a heath under storey.

Photo courtesy of Tom Tarrant – taken outside Moggill Catchment		 Yellow-rumped Thornbill ⚥ Ground level Insects 13cm. Found on the ground in open habitats, such as woodlands, forests, shrublands and grasslands with some trees.