Poll Results

Total votes: 573

0 (I really don't pay attention): 57 (9.9%)
0 (I don't know the names of any of them): 34 (5.9%)
1: 24 (4.2%)
2: 37 (6.5%)
3: 42 (7.3%)
4-5: 111 (19.4%)
6-7: 72 (12.6%)
8-10: 73 (12.7%)
11-15: 62 (10.8%)
16-20: 38 (6.6%)
21-30: 11 (1.9%)
30+: 12 (2.1%)

I asked this question because I've become more interested in spotting and identifying birds in the past few years. I've taken up the hobby of trying to photograph birds, so it's made me a lot more aware of the species around me. I've photographed well over 200 different species at the moment, although most of them were taken while travelling, either on vacation or for business. So I tried counting up the birds that I see more or less in everyday life - by which I mean "not travelling or visiting the zoo".

Here are the birds I see more or less regularly just walking around my neighbourhood or on short drives (< 30 minutes) around the city. They are all native to where I live, unless otherwise noted as introduced.

• Australasian swamphen (Porphyrio melanotus)
• Australian brushturkey (Alectura lathami)
• Australian king parrot (Alisterus scapularis)
• Australian magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen)
• Australian pelican (Pelecanus conspicillatus)
• Australian raven (Corvus coronoides)
• Australian white ibis (Threskiornis molucca)
• Australian wood duck (Chenonetta jubata)
• Black swan (Cygnus atratus)
• Channel-billed cuckoo (Scythrops novaehollandiae)
• Common starling (Sturnus vulgaris) (introduced)
• Crested pigeon (Ocyphaps lophotes)
• Feral pigeon (Columba livia domestica) (introduced)
• Galah (Eolophus roseicapilla)
• Grey butcherbird (Cracticus torquatus)
• Indian myna (Acridotheres tristis) (introduced)
• Laughing kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae)
• Little black cormorant (Phalacrocorax sulcirostris)
• Little pied cormorant (Microcarbo melanoleucos)
• Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) (introduced)
• Masked lapwing (Vanellus miles)
• Noisy miner (Manorina melanocephala)
• Pacific black duck (Anas superciliosa)
• Pied currawong (Strepera graculina)
• Rainbow lorikeet (Trichoglossus moluccanus)
• Silver gull (Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae)
• Sooty oystercatcher (Haematopus fuliginosus)
• Sulphur-crested cockatoo (Cacatua galerita)
• Welcome swallow (Hirundo neoxena)
• White-faced heron (Egretta novaehollandiae)
• Willie wagtail (Rhipidura leucophrys)

There are several other species that I have seen occasionally in Sydney, but they are more difficult to spot or live in areas I don't visit much, including:

• Chestnut teal (Anas castanea)
• Grey teal (Anas gracilis)
• Little penguin (Eudyptula minor) - yes, there is a wild penguin colony not very far from where I live!
• Powerful owl (Ninox strenua) - only seen one of these a couple of times, but I got a great photo of one, just 2 minutes walk from home
• Satin bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus)
• Superb lyrebird (Menura novaehollandiae)
• Tawny frogmouth (Podargus strigoides)
• Wedge-tailed eagle (Aquila audax)