Welcome to BirdLife Australia!

As of 1 January 2012, BOCA has merged with Birds Australia to become BirdLife Australia. The new BirdLife Australia website will go live in early February, and until then the current BOCA site will continue to be available.

At BirdLife Australia we are dedicated to achieving outstanding conservation results for our native birds and their habitats. With our specialised knowledge and the commitment of an Australia-wide network of members, volunteers and supporters, we are creating a bright future for Australia’s birds. Look out for our new website from February 2012 at birdlife.org.au

Bird Week 2008

Raptor Stories

The following stories were supplied by BOCA members. They help to give us further insights into raptor behavior and human’s fascination with them.

Black Kite Survives a Deadly Dinner

Annette Sutton, Townsville

On the 8th October Ray and I went to Woodstock, a small village on the Flinders Highway on the way from Townsville to Charters Towers. We travelled up a dirt road and came across a wide creek crossing. Up in a dead tree we saw a Black Kite which Ray photographed. When we enlarged the photo on the computer it is clear that the kite has a cane toad in its talons. A couple of our members observed a black kite eating a cane toad at one of the Black Throat Finch counts. We have seen toad remains on the Ross River Dam wall under low posts where Black Kites are known to sit. It appears that the kites are eating the toad from under the body, thus avoiding the main poison glands on the back. We haven't seen any kites staggering about or bodies lying about so perhaps they have devised a way of dealing with this noxious pest. There is quite a bit of information about black kites and cane toads on the internet.

Hobbies of Corinella

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White-bellied Sea-Eagles - a coastal story

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Black Kite (with Cane Toad) Photo: Ray Sutton