Challenge Bird Count 2023 Copy

Castlemaine Field Naturalists Club members have been involved in the Annual Challenge Bird Count for more than 20 years, and 2023 was no exception. 

This event is overseen by BirdLife Australia, but relies on local coordination.  In essence, this fun event – and supposedly non-competitive – involves people from across Australia attempting to detect as many birds as possible during a single day from within their local area, in or around the first weekend in December.  For the Castlemaine area, the sightings must be made within a 25km radius of the central township.  And for a bird to be a legitimate record, it must be either seen by 2 or more people, or heard by 3 or more people. 

There were three groups representing Castlemaine in 2023.  Kerrie Jennings and I covered areas around Baringhup and to the west of Tarrengower.  Geraldine Harris led a team of three through a range of locations around Barkers Creek, Harcourt and eastern Muckleford.  Sue Boekel – a member of BirdLife Castlemaine – led a team of three across a range of sites from Malmsbury to Maldon.

In summary, 1575 individual birds were recorded from 108 different species.  Some of the highlights included a single Sharp-tailed Sandpiper on a farm dam in Baringhup, a Black-tailed Native-hen in Muckleford, two Intermediate Egrets in the Harcourt area, 43 White-browed Woodswallows around Barkers Ck and Muckleford, and a Square-tailed Kite in Muckleford area.

By comparison, the numbers detected in recent years are shown in the first table below while the second table shows what was seen this year.

YearNo. of individual birdsNo. of species
2016121284
20171723107
20181840107
20192377113
2020, 2021Cancelled due to COVID 
202228761
20231575108
Common Name2023 Number detected2024 Number detected
Australasian Darter1
Australasian Grebe11
Australasian Pipit2
Australian Magpie63
Australian Raven1
Australian Reed-Warbler4
Australian White Ibis3
Australian Wood Duck107
Black Kite1
Black Swan5
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike7
Black-fronted Dotterel4
Black-shouldered Kite2
Black-tailed Native-hen1
Brown Falcon2
Brown Goshawk1
Brown Thornbill8
Brown Treecreeper9
Brown-headed Honeyeater3
Chestnut Teal5
Collared Sparrowhawk1
Common Blackbird7
Common Bronzewing6
Common Myna11
Common Starling51
Crested Pigeon7
Crested Shrike-tit1
Crimson Rosella20
Dusky Moorhen19
Dusky Woodswallow17
Eastern Rosella24
Eastern Spinebill2
Eastern Yellow Robin1
Eurasian Coot37
European Goldfinch1
Fairy Martin13
Fuscous Honeyeater27
Galah72
Great Cormorant19
Great Egret1
Grey Currawong2
Grey Fantail3
Grey Shrike-thrush19
Grey Teal12
Hardhead4
Hoary-headed Grebe30
Horsfield’s Bronze-cuckoo2
House Sparrow7
Intermediate Egret2
Jacky Winter2
Laughing Kookaburra5
Little Black Cormorant6
Little Corella8
Little Eagle1
Little Pied Cormorant6
Little Raven51
Long-billed Corella178
Magpie-lark28
Masked Lapwing22
Mistletoebird2
Musk Duck1
Musk Lorikeet44
New Holland Honeyeater16
Noisy Miner12
Olive-backed Oriole3
Pacific Black Duck20
Peaceful Dove4
Pied Cormorant9
Pied Currawong1
Purple Swamphen2
Rainbow Bee-eater4
Rainbow Lorikeet1
Red Wattlebird31
Red-browed Finch17
Red-rumped Parrot45
Rufous Songlark2
Rufous Whistler5
Sacred Kingfisher1
Scarlet Robin1
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper1
Silvereye4
Spotted Pardalote4
Square-tailed Kite1
Straw-necked Ibis6
Striated Pardalote7
Striated Thornbill3
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo21
Superb Fairy-wren38
Tree Martin5
Wedge-tailed Eagle2
Weebill6
Welcome Swallow20
Whistling Kite4
White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike2
White-browed Babbler17
White-browed Scrubwren2
White-browed Woodswallow43
White-faced Heron9
White-naped Honeyeater26
White-necked Heron4
White-plumed Honeyeater18
White-throated Treecreeper7
White-winged Chough91
White-winged Triller2
Willie Wagtail27
Yellow-faced Honeyeater2
Yellow-rumped Thornbill14
Yellow-tufted Honeyeater2

Keep this event in your diary for the weekend of 30 November-1 December 2024.  Surely we can beat the high-water mark of 2019.