The height of importance – why going birdwatching in the Daintree is critical for conservation.
Victoria’s Riflebird displaying © Martin Stringer
Your wildlife sightings matter more than you may realise. In fact, they could save a species from extinction.
Citizen science is an invaluable way to gather data on species distribution and population. By documenting your sightings and sharing them with research and conservation organisations, we can get a better understanding of our native flora and fauna’s current state. Then appropriate actions can happen to safeguard its future.
Birdlife Northern Queensland’s ‘Birds with Altitude’ project aims to identify trends in Wet Tropics bird species. Climate change may be having an impact on bird movements, food sources and distribution. Some species may be moving to higher elevation to find more suitable habitat, or vanishing altogether from the rainforest. To find out what’s happening, we need people out looking and listening for particular birds in Key Biodiversity Areas, like the Daintree.
Saving our local specialties
The Queensland Wet Tropics is notable for its endemic species and subspecies of birds. Several are now classified as Vulnerable or Endangered, with many more listed as Near Threatened, so its vital we discover how things really stand.
Male Golden Bowerbird © Dominic Sherony
There are noticeable population declines in endemics like Fernwren and Victoria’s Riflebird. The latter is usually heard in Rainforest Rescue’s protected rainforest sites like Kurranji Bubu, while the former may be disappearing from the lowest altitudes in its already restricted range. Other endemics, like Tooth-billed Bowerbird and Grey-Headed Robin may be on the cusp of being classified as a Threatened Species. To know for certain, conservationists need your help.
One of the important sites for finding birds in the Wet Tropics is the Daintree itself. Here there is a mix of lowland rainforest rising into misty highlands where Riflebirds, Chowchilla and the stunning Golden Bowerbird can be found, at least for now. Boardwalks, bush tracks and lookout points can be a good place to find birds, with breaks in the canopy providing useful places to perch and feed.
Get involved before 30 November
You can contribute to bird data monitoring before 30 November 2025 to support Birdlife Northern Queensland’s valuable work. To get more details on where to go, what to look and listen for and how to record what you find, visit their Birds with Altitude project page.
Just 20 minutes birdwatching in the rainforest may make a lifetime of difference!
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