The Broome region offers some of the best birding in Australia. To find out why, read on. If you want to know what we’ve been seeing recently, check our blog.

A SPECIAL PLACE FOR BIRDS

The Broome region is diverse country, where the desert meets the tropics on the shores of the Indian Ocean. A day spent here can take you across mudflats, ocean, mangroves, beaches, floodplains, saltmarsh, savanna, desert scrub and our characteristic pindan woodlands. This suite of habitats is home to an amazing diversity of bird species. The jewel in the crown is Roebuck Bay, the Shorebird Capital of Australia.

Broome also has an excellent record of turning up species that have rarely or never been seen elsewhere on the continent.

In total, 336 bird species have been recorded in Broome to date - a third of Australia’s total! You can find a full checklist here.

migratory shorebirds

The female Far Eastern Curlew is the world’s largest migratory shorebird

Stunning Red Knots like this one (subspecies piersmai) can be seen in breeding plumage in April and May. They breed the furthest north of all our shorebirds - 11,000 km away on the New Siberian Islands.

Shorebirds form spectacular mixed roosts on Roebuck Bay’s northern beaches

Grey-tailed Tattlers feed actively on the mudflats in front of the observatory

A flock of Bar-tailed Godwits in their breeding plumage (orange males, pale, larger females) head north over the observatory on the first leg of their migration. They may not stop until they reach China’s Yellow Sea coast, 6,400 km away.

Curlew Sandpipers were once one of Australia's most common shorebirds, but their population has declined so rapidly they have been listed as critically endangered in this country. Roebuck Bay still support several hundred of this species.

Roebuck Bay is one of the world’s most important sites for migratory shorebirds. These species feed on the bay’s rich tidal flats, and roost on the beaches around the observatory at high tide.

Between March and May, breeding adults can be seen most evenings leaving the bay on incredible journeys to the northern hemisphere. Many species nest north of the Arctic Circle. They return between August and October, and their young follow shortly after. These young birds then stay in the bay for over a year before making their first migrations, and this means you can see migratory shorebirds in Broome all year round.

local specialties

There are some species that birders visiting Broome just love to get excited about, and we’ve compiled a gallery of our ‘Top 10 most wanted’ here.

These are the birds most likely to get you coughing up into our Twitchers’ Tax - a 50 c donation to the BBO for any new bird you see during your stay!

Hover over the images for information on each species.

Yellow Chat

The species visiting twitchers are most excited about. Common on the saltmarsh behind Roebuck Bay. Regularly encountered on our Bush and Plains tours once conditions are dry enough to access their habitat.

Asian Dowitcher

These rare migratory waders can be found feeding in the soft mud around Crab Creek, and roosting in godwit flocks at high tide. The best time to find them is February-April before northward migration, but a few usually stay here through the winter.

Common Redshank

Common globally perhaps, but this migratory wader is a rarity in Australia, where Roebuck Bay is the only reliable site for them. We often find them feeding on the Crab Creek mudflats on Mangrove tours. One or two usually overwinter in the bay.

White-breasted Whistler

A specialty of northern Australia, with a bill that’s specialised to feed on crabs, a male with stunning plumage, and an explosive whistle that rings through the mangroves. Don’t miss these common residents of Roebuck Bay’s mangrove ecosystems.

Eastern Yellow Wagtail

An uncommon summer migrant (September-April). Most easily seen late in the year before the rain, when they are found around the Roebuck Plains lakes and Broome’s irrigated ovals. To see their stunning breeding colours, seek them out in April!

Broad-billed Sandpiper

A scarce migratory wader, small in size with a distinctive ‘double-eyebrow’ and kinked bill. Some usually overwinter, but they are more easily found September-April, often roosting with other small waders on our Shorebirds tours.

Dusky Gerygone

One of only a handful of species endemic to north Western Australia (meaning found nowhere else). A mangrove specialist, often seen on our tours at Little Crab Creek. You need to be quick to spot them in the canopy, but they’re here all year round.

Oriental Pratincole

Can be elusive, but when they are here, it’s often in spectacular numbers. A strict wet-season migrant to northern Australia. Most common between December and February, but can be spotted on Roebuck Plains from October through April.

Red-headed Honeyeater

Pictures of this stonking honeyeater speak a thousand words. The mangroves around Streeter’s Jetty in Broome are probably the best place in the world to look for it. Resident and can be easily found all year round.

Flock Bronzewing

A boom and bust species: sometimes nowhere to be seen, but in a good year they may take up residence on Roebuck Plains. Look out for them on our Lakes tours.