Birds (Class Aves) are a popular group of animals, with many avid bird watchers here in Australia, as well as around the world. Check out some of our images provided here for you to enjoy.
- Australasian Gannet (Morus serrator)
- Australasian Robins
- Australian Bustard (Ardeotis australis)
- Australian Pelican (Pelecanus conspicillatus)
- Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica)
- Black-faced Cormorant (Phalacrocorax fuscescens)
- Bowerbirds
- Brolga (Antigone rubicunda)
- Brown Falcon (Falco berigora)
- Channel-billed Cuckoo (Scythrops novaehollandiae)
- European goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)
- Hooded Plover (Thinornis cucullatus)
- Kingfishers
- Lesser Sand Plover (Charadrius mongolus)
- Little Grassbird (Poodytes gramineus)
- Olive Whistler (Pachycephala olivacea)
- Pacific Golden Plover (Pluvialis fulva)
- Rainbow Bee-eater (Merops ornatus)
- Rainbow Lorikeet (Trichoglossus moluccanus)
- Rufous Fantail (Rhipidura rufifrons)
- Rufous Bristlebird (Dasyornis broadbenti)
- Sooty Oystercatcher (Haematopus fuliginosus)
- Spinifex Pigeon (Geophaps plumifera)
- Southern Emu-wren (Stipiturus malachurus)
- Splendid Fairy-wren (Malurus splendens)
- Wedge-tailed Eagle (Aquila audax)
Australian Bustard (Ardeotis australis) Australian Bustard (Ardeotis australis)
Class Aves – birds encompass a group of animals comprising about 9,000 species that are bipedal, feathered and warm blooded. They have fore-limbs that are modified into wings, although not all birds can fly. Of the flightless birds, there are over 60 extant species that include the ostrich, emu, cassowary and penguin.
The upper and lower jaws of birds are modified into a beak, which lacks teeth.
Pelicans at 2 Mile Beach, West Macdonnell Ranges, NT Pelicans on Kangaroo Island, South Australia Closeup of Brolga (Antigone rubicunda) Dancing Brolga (Antigone rubicunda)
The class Aves is divided into two subclasses:
- Archaeornithes
these are an extinct group that have toothed beak, long lizard-like tail. - Neornithes
these include both current modern birds and extinct birds such as the dodo that became extinct in the 17th century.
Satin Bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus) © Dorothy L Satin Bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus) © Dorothy L Western Bowerbird (Chlamydera guttata)
- Scientific classification
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Clade: Sauropsida
- Clade: Avemetatarsalia
- Clade: Ornithurae
- Class: Aves