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Visited: Spring and Autumn
Recommendation: This is one of my favourite places to visit in New South Wales with water, grassed areas, bush and trails throughout. There are parrots and cockatoo on the grass and feeding in the trees, small birds like pardalote and fairywren in the scrub and waterbirds in the lake. A must do at any time of the year.
Randwick Environment Park is a 13-hectare park located in Randwick, a suburb of Sydney. It's a great spot to escape the urban environment and enjoy a bit of nature. The park offers a mix of parkland, bushland, and wetland areas. This variety provides habitat for a range of native plants and animals. The park includes critically endangered Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub and is home to the endangered Sunshine Wattle. So it's playing an important role in conservation. The central wetland is a major feature, attracting birds and providing a scenic spot for visitors, with a boardwalk for easy access.
With over 90 species of native plants and a variety of habitats, the park is a great place to go birdwatching. You might also see lizards, frogs, and mammals. When I am in Sydney, I always make a point to visit the park and it never disappoints.
Australian Raven (Corvus coronoides)
Pied Currawong (Strepera graculina)
The park is home to the similar and equally noisy Australian Raven and Pied Currawong. They might look similar at first glance, but there are some key differences:
Colouration: Australian Ravens are all black, with a glossy sheen that can sometimes appear blue or purple in certain lighting. Pied Currawongs are also mostly black, but with a few white markings to break it up. They have white patches on their wings and tail, and sometimes even a white patch on their belly.
Eyes: This is a giveaway! Australian Ravens have bright white eyes, while Pied Currawongs have striking yellow eyes.
Size: Australian Ravens are the bigger bird of the two. They can grow up to 53 centimetres long, while Pied Currawongs are typically around 48 centimetres.
Call: Their calls are quite distinct. Australian Ravens are known for their loud croaking sounds and occasional "wuk wuk" calls. Pied Currawongs have a more varied call, including their namesake "currawong" call, as well as whistles and screeches.
There is a small patch of open grass in the park which is used for recreation purposes but the birds like the bush lined area too. In the surrounding trees Laughing Kookaburra like to sit and survey the area. They are real scavengers and I might think twice before having a picnic here!
Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae)
There are plenty of cockatoo feeding on the grass and bushes in this area as well, as long as there are no football games going on. It is a great place to photograph these birds as they are obviously used to human presence.
Galah (Eolophus roseicapilla)
Little Corella (Cacatua sanguinea)
There is plenty of variation in the flora here in the park and with that, a variety of birds. Red Wattlebirds squawk away in the taller trees, while the Red-whiskered Bulbul dart in and out of bushy areas close to the picnic area.
Red Wattlebird (Anthochaera carunculata)
The spread of Red-whiskered Bulbuls across Sydney is a story of human intervention and avian adaptability. The culprit behind the bulbul boom is us! In 1880, Red-whiskered Bulbuls, not native to Australia, were released in Sydney, most likely with the intention of adding some exotic beauty.
These bulbuls are also good breeders, raising multiple broods per year. Their nests are often hidden in dense foliage, making them difficult for predators to find.
Red-whiskered Bulbuls are opportunistic feeders, happy with a diet of fruits, insects, and flower buds. This flexibility allows them to thrive in urban environments with gardens and parks offering a reliable food source. Thus they favour areas close to human habitation, with parks, gardens, and waterways providing ideal nesting and feeding grounds. This preference puts them right in the heart of Sydney's urban sprawl.
Red-whiskered Bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus)
There are also smaller bush birds here with the Red-browed Finch easiest to spot on the open grass but if you are lucky, you can find Spotted Pardalote in the denser foliage. This male is returning to its nest with food for chicks.
Red-browed Finch (Neochmia temporalis)
Spotted Pardalote (Pardalotus punctatus)
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo (Cacatua galerita)
My favourite finds in the park are always the bigger cockatoo. Sulphur-crested Cockatoo are common everywhere, even in the city but being able to watch them more closely is great here. The Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo feed here regularly and are a real class act. From their wailing call, slow wingbeats and social interaction when feeding, they are a wonderful bird to be around.
Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo (Zanda funerea)
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