Alice Springs Birds •

Alice Springs Birds > Alice Springs Birds Index

One of the popular and interesting birds seen around Alice Springs is the Western Bowerbird (Chlamydera guttata). Named Karrke, in the Central Australia Arrente language, this bird is often heard before being seen. With their great gift of mimicry they are known to make a range of sounds from mechanical churrs, churring, crackles, whistles, rasps, chain-saw, cat cries, and they even mimic other bird species.

Western Bowerbird, Olive Pink Botanic Garden
Western Bowerbird (Chlamydera guttata), Olive Pink Botanic Garden

Endemic to Central Australia and semi-arid Western Australia, they are often sighted in native fig trees, people’s backyards and drinking at bird baths. The male bird can be seen gathering green and white objects to decorate their bower.

Treasures of our Western Bowerbird
Treasures of the Western Bowerbird in the backyard of a home garden in Alice Springs NT

The Western Bowerbird has beautiful scalloped plumage, the colours ranging from dark brown to a near black, with patterns of spots that range from light fawn to orange brown. The underside plumage is also a light fawn to buff colour.

Western Bowerbird, Olive Pink Botanic Garden
Western Bowerbird, Olive Pink Botanic Garden

It is the erectile iridescent lilac/pink nape crest (known as the nuchal crest) that attracts the eye, especially in the mature male when they perform in front of the female birds. The female has the same lilac/pink crest, but it is less prominent, whilst it is absent in the immature bird.

Western Bowerbird, Olive Pink Botanic Garden
Western Bowerbird, Olive Pink Botanic Garden

The bower of the male Western Bowerbird can often be seen at the Olive Pink Botanic Garden.

Western Bowerbird, Olive Pink Botanic Garden
Western Bowerbird, Olive Pink Botanic Garden

More information about the Western Bowerbird can be found in

Western Bowerbird (Chlamydera guttata)
Western Bowerbird (Chlamydera guttata), Alice Springs NT
  • Scientific Classification
  • Kingdom: Animalia
  • Phylum: Chordata
  • Class: Aves
  • Order: Passeriformes
  • Family: Ptilonorhynchidae
  • Genus: Chlamydera
  • Species: Chlamydera guttata

Alice Springs BirdsAlice Springs Birds — Index Babblers Black-faced Cuckooshrike Brown Falcon Channel-billed Cuckoo Crested Pigeon Galah Magpie-lark Musk Duck Port Lincoln Ringneck Rainbow Bee-eater Sacred Kingfisher Sanderling Singing Honeyeater Southern Boobook Spinifex Pigeon Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater Splendid Fairy-wren Spotted Dove Wedge-tailed Eagle Western Bowerbird Whistling Kite White-plumed Honeyeater Willie Wagtail Yellow-throated Miner

Alice Springs FaunaAlice Springs Native Bees Alice Springs Beetles Alice Springs Birds Alice Springs Gastropods (Gastropoda) Alice Springs Insects Alice Springs Marsupials Alice Springs Reptiles Alice Springs Spiders

Alice Springs FloraAlice Springs Flora Index Acacia ligulata Annual Yellowtop Bougainvillea Apple Bush Burdekin Plum Carob Tree (Ceratonia siliqa) Cattle Bush Desert Cotton (Aerva javanica) Desert Oak Eremophila Wildberry Feijoa sellowiana Flannel Cudweed Fork-leaf Corkwood Ghost Gum Golden Everlasting Kurrajong Lemon-flowered Gum MacDonnell’s Desert Fuchsia Native Bluebell Native Tomato Needlewood Olive Tree Perennial Yellow Top Rat’s Tail River Red Gum Inland River Red Gum Rosy Dock Round-leaved Mallee Scurvy Grass Silky Eremophila Stemodia viscosa Striped Mintbush Sturt’s Desert Pea Sturt’s Desert Rose Tangled Leschenaultia Tar Vine Weeping Bottlebrush White Cedar Yellow Billybutton Yellow-keeled Swainsona Yellow Oleander