Discover the spectacular Birdlife of the Sydney Region
Sydney is home to around 365 species of birds, from the iconic bowerbirds and lyrebirds to raptors, shorebirds the fairy-wrens and thornbills. Many are “bucket list” birds but all have a fascinating story and all are part of a bigger story too. You can meet them all on my tours.
My Services
Birding Tours
I offer a range of seasonally themed tours or Private, bespoke tours in the Sydney region.
Birding Workshops
In 2022 I am running two kinds of courses: “Bird Watching” and Little Brown Birds.
Posters & Signs
Bring the beauty and fascination of nature into your home, reserve or visitor centre.
Bird Watching – Start your birding journey
Created for beginners, occasional birders and nature lovers, Bird Watching is a six part course which runs over six months. The course is comprised of six zoom conferences, six comprehensive ebooks, five engaging field assignments and six field trips which target building knowledge about birds and the environments they live in, field craft, bird calls, observation skills and bird identification.
This course will help you become a seasoned, confident birder, well equipped to walk into any bush or heath environment and find whole new dimensions of joy and wonder.
Starts September 5, 2022
Boat Harbour Shorebird Study Group
Boat Harbour, on the south side of the Kurnell Peninsula, is a significant rocky headland for shorebirds in the Sydney region. One of the few locations of its kind on the temperate east coast of Australia, Boat Harbour has historically hosted an excellent diversity and abundance of migratory shorebirds.
Unfortunately, over several decades we have witnessed a gradual decline of these birds in this locality. This has largely been due to human disturbance factors as the local population has grown and patterns of recreation has changed, as well as a lack of integration from relevant statutory bodies. Aussie Wild formed Boat Harbour Study Group as a citizen science project to engage the local community in shorebird conservation, learn more about the patterns of shorebird use on the local reef and help to spread the message of the importance of good stewardship for this location. To find out more or join our team of citizen scientists or get free educational resources on the shorebirds of Boat Harbour, press the button below.
Ricki’s Story
Ricki Coughlan is a highly regarded birder, bird guide, educator and presenter. In the course of almost two decades of leading tours in the Sydney region, north Western Australia and Central Australia she has built a reputation for the ability to not just find birds but share their stories in a way which enhances each encounter with passion, excitement and a greater understanding of the bird within its environment.
Ricki has also worked as an Avian Consultant, producing studies and reports for local government and enhancing opportunities for their preservation on local and broader scales. She has brought birds and people closer together helping a great many to share in the excitement of discovery with her highly regarded knowledge of birds, ecology, biogeography and behaviour. In addition to running many educational programs for local governments, NGOs and community groups, she established a number of citizen science projects including the long running monitoring of shorebirds on Sydney’s Long Reef.
Ricki holds a Grad Cert in Ornithology, is a past Warden of Broome Bird Observatory and worked as a guide and keeper for Earth Sanctuaries. She has also brought her love of nature and conservation to a wide audience with her appearances as an occasional presenter on the popular TV program “Totally Wild”. Ricki looks forward to welcoming you as a guest on your next birding adventure in the Sydney region and beyond.
Featured Poster: “Global Migration Champions!”
The Bar-tailed Godwit is one of the more recognisable and charismatic of migratory shorebirds. This poster celebrates the prodigious migration of the Bar-tailed Godwits which occur on the coastal wetlands of eastern Australian and New Zealand. They belong to a sub-species called “Baueri”.
Like all my posters and interpretive signs, this one is created in Adobe Illustrator and can be scaled to any size and retain its crispness. The goal is to create graphic content which is enticing and engaging, explaining concepts simply. I take a similar approach to the text, presuming no prior knowledge of any kind. This approach invites everyone to engage, appreciate and value the birds and wildlife with whom we share this land.
Aussie Wild acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land which we visit, the Dharawal and Darug people. We pay our respect to their elders past, present and emerging.