Cape York Birding 2025

Featured Image: Photo by Andrew Watson, Palm Cockatoo, Chilli Beach, Iron Range National Park, Cape York

  Breadtag Sagas ©: Author Tony, 21 December 2025

Cape York Birding 2025, Lakefield and Iron Range National Parks

Main Points

• Preamble
• Introduction
• Inala Nature Tour
• Day 1 Cairns to Musgrave Roadhouse, Golden-shouldered Parrot
• Day 2 Lakefield National Park, Red Goshawk, Star Finch
• Day 3 Musgrave Roadhouse to Lockhart River, Iron Range National Park, Red-cheeked Parrot
• Day 4-6 Iron Range National Park, Magnificent Riflebird, Yellow-breasted Boatbill, Yellow-billed Kingfisher, Papuan Eclectus Parrot, Palm Cockatoo, Marbled Frogmouth
• Cairns

Preamble

The are many wonderful places for birding in Australia. Denise and I have been to some of them. For many birders north Queensland and particularly Cape York have a strong attraction.

Photo by Betsy Woodwell, Frill-Necked Monarch, Iron Range National Park

Nevertheless, I hope this article will be equally appealing to non-birders. Cape York is a fascinating part of the world that fires the imagination of most Australians, with great camping, fishing and other outdoor adventure. The fishermen, camping and adventure tourists far outnumber the birders.

Photo by Paul Ibbotson, Near Claudie River Bridge, Iron Range National Park

In my article on Sean Dooley’s The Big Twitch 2005, I say:

Sean has a very difficult task in writing this book as he begins with two mutually exclusive audiences who initially are both hostile to the content. He solves this initially [as a comedy writer] with his two Forewords and Glossowary.  Both are amusing and serve the purpose of relaxing you and luring you into the book.

The two Forewords are for birders and non-birders. They are exactly the same with minimal word changes, but a completely different emphasis. Each group is disparaged: as I try and placate those weird birdo/non-birdo readers. Clever but not too clever; amusing rather than insulting.

Green Ant Nest

Introduction

We arrived in Cairns two days before the tour started to familiarise ourselves with the town that we had only visited briefly recently. We were impressed. The restaurants were good and strolling around Cairns was delightful.

We stayed at Cairns Harbourside Hotel on the north esplanade about 20 minutes walk from the centre of Cairns.

The esplanade is an open area of parkland and a walkway which is an unlikely excellent birding site, especially the north end. The northern esplanade runs into thick mangroves, which run all the way to the airport. There is a fine boardwalk through the mangroves adjacent to the airport.

Vehicles Stopped at a Likely Spot, Portland Road, Iron Range National Park

Our two easy morning strolls on the esplanade provided us with a good introduction to the birds around Cairns though we didn’t see as many species as others who were somewhat more competent.

On our first full day in Cairns we did the obligatory skyrail up to Kuranda and railway back. We also visited Birdworld at Kuranda which gave us a close up experience of some of the birds we hoped to see on tour.

Rocks, Portland Roads, Iron Range National Park

The Inala Tour 6 – 12 August

Inala is a company based on Bruny Island in Tasmania. We met our guides Yu Ota and Catherine Young, and the other six birders in our group of eight at the Harbourside Hotel on the evening of 5 August.

Catherine is an environmental scientist from Inala in Tasmania. Yu Ota is a Japanese professional bird guide who arrived in Australia in his early 20s and has lived in north Queensland for over twenty years. Yu Ota has been to Iron Range National Park our prime destination 19 times.

Horned Ghost Crab, sand near mangroves, Portland Roads

Day 1 Cairns, Mount Malloy, Palmer River, Artemis Station, Musgrave Roadhouse

We set off reasonably early winding our way out of Cairns over the Macalister Range past Kuranda onto the Atherton Tableland. There were extensive roadworks on the climb similar to the extensive rail works on the train down from Kuranda. These were remnants of cyclone Jasper 2023 and further damage from the 2024 wet season.

Beyond the town of Mareeba at a brief stop at Lake Mitchell (Quaids Dam), we saw our first Black-necked Stork or Jabiru.

Photo by Andrew Watson, Black-backed Butcherbird, Musgrave Roadhouse

Mount Malloy 40 km north of Mareeba is a small rural village and a historic mining and timber town. It is renowned for its birdlife (over 300 species) and we managed to see some of them. We saw Blue-faced and Yellow Honeyeaters, Australasian Figbird, Bar-shouldered Dove, Double-barred Finch and a very obliging Red-winged Parrot to name a few.

Mount Malloy was the last town we visited (except for the tiny ‘villages’ of Laura and Coen) until we reached Iron Range National Park.

Apostlebird, Palmer River

We also stopped at the Palmer River Roadhouse, which at the time seemed to be our entry into the outback. It is a historic pub, camping ground and fishing spot in a historic gold mining area. On a later tour out of Cairns we realised the Palmer River Roadhouse is not isolated. It is not far from Port Douglas (the upmarket tourist destination north of Cairns) via Julatten. Just a long way around.

Blue-faced honeyeater, Palmer River

At Palmer River over coffee we were entertained by Apostlebirds, Great Bowerbirds and more Blue-faced Honeyeaters.

Farther up the road we passed Mount Lewis National Park, opposite Port Douglas. This was a popular birding destination but the park has been closed since cyclone Jasper in 2023.

Great Bowerbird, Palmer River

For lunch we stopped briefly at Lakeland an unusual agricultural area sheltered from cyclones. Lakeland is at the junction of the Mulligan Highway and the Peninsular Development Road. The latter is the main transport route up the Cape York Peninsula. It is meant to be tarred but is still dirt for 200 km and rough and corrugated. A test of vehicles.

Plumed Whistling Duck, Archer River Roadhouse Lagoon

In mid-afternoon we arrived at Artemis Station not far off the Peninsular Development Road on Dixie Road. We first visited a lagoon where Denise and I saw our first Green Pygmy Geese and perhaps our first Plumed Whistling Duck both common.

Artemis Station Gate

Then, we returned to the Artemis Station Gate and luckily saw after a short wait the prime attraction a flock of Golden-shouldered Parrots, made up of a few adults and a large number of juveniles, at a feeding station set up to monitor the birds.

Photo by Betsy Woodwell, Golden-Shouldered Parrot at Artemis Gate

The Golden-shouldered Parrot is critically endangered. There is a partnership between the cattle station and conservationists, including scientists to study, conserve and improve land management practices to bring the parrot back from the brink of extinction.

We continued up the road a short way to Musgrave Roadhouse (originally an overland telegraph station from 1887) and our accommodation for the next two nights. The rooms were basic but comfortable with air-conditioning and an ensuite. The food was good.

Day 2 Lakefield National Park

From Musgrave we visited the northern section of Rinyirru (Lakefield) National Park for the day. The road initially runs alongside Lilyvale cattle station owned by the Lama Lama people and leased to the Shephard family.

Male Red Goshawk, Lilyvale cattle station

The station contains an important bird conservation area. We stopped at a spot near a Red Goshawk nest used in previous years. Initially it appeared empty but from a different angle we spied the female red goshawk on the nest and after a short wait the male red goshawk appeared perched high in a eucalyptus tree in a perfect viewing position. The Red Goshawk is vulnerable. Although, theoretically wide-spread along the coast of Queensland to the Kimberley, it is rarely seen anywhere. So it was very exciting to see a pair of them here, where there appears to be a relatively stable population.

Termite Mounds Nifold Plain, Lakefield National Park

Further down the road having entered the national park we stopped to see a Square-tailed Kite and disturbed a Wedge-tailed Eagle at the same time. Further on, the track crossed the Nifold Plain, a fantastic landscape with grass and termite mounds as far as the eye can see. A Black-shouldered Kite and a Black-breasted Buzzard gave us our eighth and ninth raptors for the day. This is unusual.

Kennedy Palms Oasis, Nifold Plain, Lakefield National Park

We stopped for morning tea at a little oasis locally known as ‘Kennedy Palms’.

As we approached the waterhole a couple of Sarus Crane wandered calmly off. We’d seen Brolga in a similar situation at a small creek crossing some kilometres back. Sacred Kingfishers remained and darted back and forth across the water.

Fisherman courting Danger at Lagoon

As Yu was telling the story of a large Saltwater Crocodile that lives in the waterhole, a couple of fishermen approached from the other side, seemingly risking their lives for a few casts.

The fishermen’s appearance disturbed a flock of Rajah Shelduck and a number of roosting herons, including four or five Nankeen Night-Herons, giving us great views.

Photo by Betsy Woodwell, Radjah Shelduck flying

The whole point of the visit was to see the elusive star finch. From the moment of our arrival we spent an inordinate amount of time chasing a flock of star finches in the dry grassland and bushes nearby. Hearing them but only seeing glimpses of movement.

Gathering of Sacred Kingfishers at Kennedy Palms Lagoon

Fortunately, at the end of our morning tea  a mixed flock of Star Finches and Black-throated Finches flew in to drink at the edge of the billabong.

We had lunch at another shady billabong where Magpie Geese, Green Pygmy-Geese and Comb-crested Jacana were just a few of the species we saw. Across the billabong was Lotusbird Lodge (used by Outback Spirit), it looked like a magic place.

At small creek crossing, Lakefield National Park

Back on the main road we stopped at a small spillway because honeyeaters were bathing. As is often the case we picked up a mix-flock of species doing similar things. There were Brown-backed and Bar-breasted Honeyeaters, a Lemon-bellied Flyrobin and a very enthusiastic Red-browed Pardalote.

Lemon-bellied Flyrobin at small creek crossing, Lakefield National Park

Back at Musgrave Station we took a short stroll before dinner to the lagoon to see the Freshwater Crocodiles and Krefft’s Turtles.

Photo by Andrew Watson, Red-browed Pardalote

In the parking area was the longest road train I’d ever seen. In the camping area the campers were expressing amazement  at a unit that had just pulled in, which they said must have cost several hundred thousand dollars.

Roadtrain at Musgrave Roadhouse

As is typical of outback Australia we had some interesting conversations. We met the driver of the road train and found where he was going and why. A vet from Cairns had in the past handled the problem Cassowaries at Etty Bay and regaled us with tales about their antics. We chatted with a mining revegetation contractor who was looking for advice on binoculars to help with his studies of eucalypt seed development. Interesting people and reasons for travelling to the Cape.

Freshwater Crocodile, Lagoon Musgrave Roadhouse

Day 3 Musgrave Roadhouse to Lockhart River

Apart from a fuel stop at Coen, famed only for its (S)Exchange Hotel, this was a travel day. We left the main road to Weipa for a narrower and slightly rougher Portland Road to Lockhart River. We stopped at a pleasant creek crossing for lunch. One of our party went across the road to pee. She came back ignorant of the dingo following her. When it yawned it had huge teeth but treated us warily, lurking at a respectable distance with an eye to scavenging after we left.

Photo by Betsy Woodwell, Dingo Yawning, Portland Connection Road

We saw our first Graceful Honeyeater and last Rainbow Lorikeet at Tozers Gap and drove down into the rainforest of Kutini-Payamu (Iron Range) National Park. We arrived at Iron Range Cabins beside the airport in the early afternoon and were greeted by a huge White-lipped Tree Frog outside reception.

Iron Range National Park Sign

After settling in we visited the local supermarket in the Aboriginal community of Lockhart River. We visited Quintell Beach with its dramatic rock formations and ended at the local sewage farm ponds (always a must for birders). A pair of Pied Herons — rare visitors to this part of Australia — were seen on the ponds and outside of the fence our first Iron Range specialties a male Red-cheeked Parrot briefly, but the female obligingly took a nearby perch. The pair then flew off together.

Our Vehicle Heading into Iron Range National Park

A Palm Cockatoo flew over at one stage but barely gave us a glimpse. Some Eclectus Parrots also flew over giving more than a glimpse but they were a long way away.

Meals were provided by the manager of our accommodation and by the cafe at Portland Roads. All were excellent, much better than I expected.

Days 4-6 Lockhart River, Portland Roads, Chilli Beach

The next few days birding formed a pattern: birding from early morning to lunch, a break in the heat of the day, then afternoon and evening birding. There are not many roads here — the road out from Lockhart River (say 10 km), the road to Portland Roads (24 km, but only about 10 km rainforest) with a turnoff to Chilli Beach (5 km). Hence we returned regularly to the same birding sites.

Photo by Paul Ibbotsen, Birdwatchers

Bird watching in rainforest is difficult for obvious reasons. Even though one concentrates on ecotones (edge breaks, such as roads and creeks), one also has to enter the rainforest and to peer through the thick vegetation. A knowledgeable guide and good fellow birdwatchers are essential.

Having to work hard, means that each new bird is interesting. One experienced birdwatcher in our party said surprised that he had eight ticks (or lifers) on the trip. A tick is a new species one hasn’t seen before. Ticks, life lists and the slightly negative term twitcher are a consequence of birding, which can however be taken too far.

Photo by Betsy Woodwell, Magnificent Riflebird

Sean Dooley defines Twitcher as: An extremely dangerous creature with a nasty reputation. However, he goes on to say that it doesn’t have the extremely negative connotation in Australia that it does in the UK.

Although Denise and I don’t really have life lists, as we do more birding overseas we’ll probably succumb at some stage. It is nice to see new birds in the wild, but one mustn’t dismiss commonly seen birds. As a ‘lapsed’ zoologist, I find bird behaviour fascinating and observing a bird doing something you haven’t seen before, or something unexpected is as memorable as just a new bird. But, a new bird is wonderful! I want to have my cake and eat it too.

On our first morning in the rainforest we were overwhelmed by the sheer number of different calls, which Yu expertly helped us interpret — Rufous Shrike-thrush, Grey Whistler, Yellow-spotted, Tawny-breasted and Green-backed Honeyeaters, Black Butcherbird, Wompoo Fruit-Dove.

Photo by Betsy Woodwell, White-Faced Robin

Near one of the rainforest campsites we had our first successful spotting with good views of a White-faced Robin on the nest and off the nest. We were taunted by a calling Northern Scrub-robin in the dense understorey, which we pursued but never saw. Our constant companions at these sites were Australian Brush-turkeys and Orange-footed Scrubfowl. The latter ignored us.

Later on a jungle path with rusting mining machinery, we had excellent close-up views of both male and female Magnificent Riflebirds feeding on Cabbage Palm.

Old Mining Equipment in Jungle

And also finally, a vibrant Yellow-breasted Boatbill and the stunning Yellow-billed Kingfisher perched in dense creekside foliage. These were highlights.

The iconic sounds of the Iron Range rainforest are the whistle of the Magnificent Riflebird and the loud calls of the Papuan Eclectus parrots.

Although we frequently saw mostly male Eclectus parrots flying over, it was only on the last day Yu took us where we saw a female Eclectus at the nest hollow and later at another site in company with her male protectors. Eclectus parrots are amongst the largest of parrots (35-42 cm in length). The females are brilliant red and the males bright green. They were initially thought of as separate species.

Photo by Betsy Woodwell, Yellow-Billed Kingfisher

Yu also briefed us on their behaviour. Eclectus parrots are polyandrous (mate with various males). They are also cooperatively polyandrous, which is highly unusual. A group of males will feed the female and look after the nest hollow and fledglings. The female is often sedentary staying near the nest even outside the breeding season. She may also be walled up in the nest by mud for several months.

Photo Andrew Watson, Female Eclectus Parrot

There is some sensitivity over the location of these parrots as poaching wild parrots is still an issue.

We finally were rewarded with great views of a group of three Palm Cockatoos feeding at Chilli Beach. The real target species. The male Cockatoos at Iron Range National Park have learned to use sticks to drum on hollow logs to attract females to mate. This behaviour is only found at Iron Range. Although not quite at this time of year.

Photo by Betsy Woodwell, Palm Cockatoo at Chilli Beach

The final magic of the day at Chilli Beach was watching a Metallic Starling murmuration of hundreds, even thousands, of starlings over the rocky islands just offshore. An amazing sight.

Over two nights we spotlighted along the road from Portland Roads after an excellent meal at the Blue Café. We saw a number of Papuan Frogmouths and many Large-tailed Nightjars, a Water Python and a few Scrub Pythons. We also spotted Long-nosed Bandicoots foraging on the roadside. The highlight was a single Marbled Frogmouth. Its unusual call reminiscent of a didgeridoo.

Photo by Andrew Watson, Marbled Frogmouth, Iron Range National Park

On our final morning, we returned to a lovely section of rainforest near Claudie River Bridge to listen to the calls and make some final sightings before flying back to Cairns.

I have only listed a few of the birds we saw at Iron Range. It is a mecca for Australian birding in a country full of wonderful birdwatching opportunities.

Cairns and the Atherton Tableland

Back in Cairns we hired a car and continued birdwatching. In the city we continued to look at the northern esplanade and the Botanic Gardens, near where we were staying now. Everywhere in Cairns we tripped over Bush Stone-curlews on the streets after dark. But, finally we saw a Beach Stone-curlew on the mudflats by the esplanade.

Photo by Yu Ota, spotlighting at night, Iron Range National Park

The Cattana Wetlands near Yorkeys Knob were also excellent for nature watching. Further afield, we loved Lake Eacham and Hastie’s Swamp on the Atherton Tableland and added to our list of new birds, including a Chowchilla at the first and a Victoria’s Riflebird at the latter. We even saw a Bassian Thrush at Hastie’s Swamp which was unusual.

Further Information

Inala Nature Tours

Inala Nature Tours have been operating for over thirty years. Inala have a famous nature reserve on Bruny Island and are based there, but run bird and wildlife tours around Australia. We were very happy with the professionalism of our tour to Cape York. The accommodation was good (limited by what is available in outback north Queensland) and the food excellent, well above expectation.

Our Tasmanian guide Catherine Young was knowledgeable and experienced. She was a good back-up to Yu Ota our local north Queensland Guide.

Yu Ota

As well as running tours to the Cape for Inala, Yu Ota runs his own business AAK Nature Watch and conducts private birdwatching tours across Queensland. I would highly recommend him as a bird watching guide. His contact details are: phone 1300 509 553 and email: aaknaturewatch@icloud.com.

Trip Report 5-12 August 2025 by Catherine Young

I have freely plagiarised Catherine’s excellent trip report, but I am happy to provide the evidence below. For the serious birders, the fauna list contains a complete list of the birds and other vertebrates recorded.

Cape York #3 TRIP REPORT 2025

Fauna List Cape York 2025

Video of the Yellow-billed Kingfisher by Yu Ota

Yu Ota Video, Yellow-Billed Kingfisher

Key Words: Australia, far north Queensland, Queensland, Cape York, birding, bird, birds, bird guide, birdwatcher, tour, Cairns, Inala Nature Tours, Inala, north esplanade, cyclone Jasper, Port Douglas, Kuranda, Atherton Tableland, Mareeba, Mount Malloy, Palmer River Roadhouse, Mount Lewis National Park, Lakeland, Mulligan Highway, Peninsular Development Road, Artemis Station, Musgrave Roadhouse, Rinyirru National Park, Lakefield National Park, Lilyvale Station, Nifold Plain, Kennedy Palms Oasis, Saltwater Crocodile, Lotusbird Lodge, Weipa, Portland Roads, Lockhart River, Chilli Beach, Kutini-Payamu National Park, Iron Range National Park, dingo,  Tozers Gap, rainforest, White-lipped Tree Frog, birdwatcher, twitcher, murmuration, Water Python, Scrub Python, Long-nosed Bandicoot, Cairns Botanic Gardens, Cattana Wetlands, Lake Eacham, Hastie’s Swamp, Palm Cockatoo, Frill-Necked Monarch, Black-necked Stork, Jabiru, Black-backed Butcherbird, Mount Malloy, Blue-faced Honeyeater, Yellow Honeyeater, Australasian Figbird, Bar-shouldered Dove, Double-barred Finch, Red-winged Parrot, Apostlebird, Great Bowerbird, Green Pygmy Goose, Plumed Whistling Duck, Golden-shouldered Parrot, Red Goshawk, Square-tailed Kite, Wedge-tailed Eagle, Black-shouldered Kite, Black-breasted Buzzard, Sarus Crane, Brolga, Sacred Kingfisher, Rajah Shelduck, Nankeen Night-Heron, Star Finch, Black-throated Finch, Comb-crested Jacana, Brown-backed Honeyeater, Bar-breasted Honeyeater, Lemon-bellied Flyrobin, Red-browed Pardalote, Graceful Honeyeater, Pied Heron, Red-cheeked Parrot, Papuan Eclectus parrot, Rufous Shrike-thrush, Grey Whistler, Yellow-spotted Honeyeater, Tawny-breasted Honeyeater, Green-backed Honeyeater, Black Butcherbird, Wompoo Fruit-Dove, White-Faced Robin, Northern Scrub-robin, Australian Brush-turkeys, Orange-footed Scrubfowl, Magnificent Riflebird, Yellow-breasted Boatbill, Yellow-billed Kingfisher, Metallic Starling, Papuan Frogmouth, Large-tailed Nightjar, Marbled Frogmouth, Bush Stone-curlew, Beach Stone-curlew, Chowchilla, Victoria’s Riflebird, Bassian Thrush

Published in Canberra