- Duration:
- 10 days
- Group Size:
- 6 – 8
- Tour Start:
- Darwin, Northern Territory
- Tour End:
- Darwin, Northern Territory
Birding Tour Australia: Northern Territory - Top End Birding Tour
Details
Itinerary
Download ItineraryBirding Tour Australia: Northern Territory – Top End Birding Tour
September 2027
Our updated Northern Territory – Top End Birding tour travels along a well-trodden path around the Top End of the Northern Territory in a loop starting and ending in the coastal city of Darwin, then moving across to Kakadu National Park (via the excellent Adelaide River, Mary River, and Point Stuart areas), as well as visiting Katherine, Victoria River, and Timber Creek, before returning north to Darwin. The tour focuses on the special and endemic birds of the region and is ideal for anyone who has never birded Australia before, or anyone who has only birded the east or west of the country as lots of exciting new birds will be on offer in this fantastically bird-rich area in the north of Australia.

Darwin is one of the top birding cities in the world with numerous key species on offer right within the city and we will venture into botanic gardens, mangroves, beaches, and monsoon forest for a wide range of quality and specialist birds. Highlights possible around the city include Rainbow Pitta, Chestnut Rail, Beach Stone-curlew, White-breasted Whistler, Red-headed Myzomela, Arafura Fantail, Arafura Shrikethrush, Northern Rosella, Red-collared Lorikeet, Varied Lorikeet, Paperbark Flycatcher, Canary White-eye, Green-backed Gerygone, Mangrove Robin, Mangrove Fantail, Torresian Kingfisher, Rufous Owl, and Barking Owl.

Kakadu is famous for its ancient rock art, but this area also has some of the most incredible wetlands in the whole country and vast mixed flocks of waterfowl can be seen – it really is an impressive sight watching flocks of hundreds of Australasian Swamphens, Magpie Geese, Comb-crested Jacanas, and Pied Herons, with Sarus Crane, Brolga, and Black-necked Stork dotted around among them. Raptors are abundant in the area with top targets including Wedge-tailed Eagle, Red Goshawk, Pacific Baza, and Black-breasted Buzzard. A great deal of localized species can be found here too such as Black-banded Fruit Dove, Chestnut-quilled Rock Pigeon, Partridge Pigeon, Mangrove Golden Whistler, Black-tailed Treecreeper, Sandstone Shrikethrush, Great Bowerbird, Cockatiel, and White-lined Honeyeater to name a few.
The final section of this tour will be the furthest south and west we venture as we cover the Katherine, Victoria River, and Timber Creek areas, where we will look for the spectacular Gouldian Finch, as well as a range of other equally impressive finches, likely to include Masked Finch, Long-tailed Finch, Star Finch, Yellow-rumped Mannikin, Pictorella Mannikin, Additional targets from this area include Hooded Parrot, Red-winged Parrot, Budgerigar, White-quilled Rock Pigeon, Red-backed Kingfisher, Purple-crowned Fairywren, Northern Shriketit, and Varied Sittella.

For a complete desert adventure, consider combining this tour with our Birding Tour Australia: Northern Territory – Alice Springs and Uluru Birding Tour in the south of the territory, for a range of local desert specials such as Spinifexbird, Spinifex Pigeon, Banded Whiteface, Rufous-crowned Emu-wren, and much more!
For those wishing to explore Australia even further, this tour (and the aforementioned Northern Territory – Alice Springs and Uluru Birding Tour) can be combined with our Birding Western Australia: Southwest Australian Endemic Birds tour that targets all of the endemics and specialties out of Perth.
Itinerary (10 days/9 nights)
Day 1. Arrival in Darwin
After your late-morning arrival in Darwin you will make the short transfer to our city hotel. We will meet at the hotel for lunch prior to a late-afternoon birding session in the city. We are sure to get our lists off to a great start with a selection of common local birds and likely some of the regional specials such as Orange-footed Scrubfowl, Red-headed Myzomela, Paperbark Flycatcher, Red-collared Lorikeet, White-gaped Honeyeater, Blue-faced (“White-quilled”) Honeyeater, Rufous-banded Honeyeater, and Rose-crowned Fruit Dove. After our evening meal we will go through our checklist from the afternoon’s birding session (as we will do on every evening – as we do on all of our tours) and go through our plans for the next week or so of exciting birding, starting off with the plans for the following day’s city birding.
Overnight: Darwin
Day 2. Birding the Darwin environs
We will spend the full day birding around Darwin. Coastal habitats including tidal mudflats, mangroves, and coastal monsoon forest will be searched for the secretive Chestnut Rail. Further targets here will include Mangrove Gerygone, Canary White-eye, Shining Flycatcher, Broad-billed Flycatcher, Mangrove Fantail, Mangrove Robin, and White-breasted Whistler. Shorebirds here can include Beach Stone-curlew and Grey-tailed Tattler.

Monsoon forest around the city offers a great many species, including one of the many standout targets of the trip, Rainbow Pitta. It is a magical sight to see this avian jewel hopping around on the forest floor. Here plenty of other birds are possible, such as Canary White-eye, Arafura Shrikethrush, and Arafura Fantail. We may even get lucky and find a roosting Large-tailed Nightjar. The Orange-footed Scrubfowl nest mounds here are breathtaking and certainly are impressive engineering feats to witness! We will look out for Varied and Red-collared Lorikeets, and Northern Rosellas here too, as well as an assortment of honeyeaters, and so much more.
Our lunch will be taken at one of the many delightful locally owned coffeeshops where we are sure of some great food and excellent service. Once we have finished our lunch, we will be sure to head out birding again to make the most of our time in the city. One site that we will fit into our day’s birding is the George Brown Darwin Botanic Gardens. Here we can find some great birds and marvel at the incredible plants growing here – it’s hard to not dream of birding in Madagascar when walking through the baobab garden! Some of the species we hope to encounter during our time here include Rose-crowned Fruit Dove, Australian Figbird, Bush Stone-curlew, Rufous Owl, Barking Owl, Tawny Frogmouth, Azure Kingfisher, Double-barred Finch, Blue-winged Kookaburra, Northern Fantail, Red-headed Myzomela, and Brahminy Kite.
Overnight: Darwin

Day 3. Darwin to Mary River/Point Stuart Area
After a final early morning birding session around Darwin, we will commence our drive into the more remote areas in the east of our circuit. Along the way to the famed Kakadu National Park, there are several great birding areas and we will call in at some of these. One such spot is Fogg Dam Conservation Reserve.
The wetland landscape of the Adelaide River floodplain is stunning and usually packed full with an assortment of wetland birds such as Comb-crested Jacana, Wandering Whistling Duck, Green Pygmy Goose, Pied Heron, Black-necked Stork, Brolga, Australasian Darter, White-necked Heron, Straw-necked Ibis, Royal Spoonbill, and Nankeen Night Heron (along with many more widespread species). Smaller passerines around the floodplain include the globally widespread, but in Australia very localized (and potentially warranting specific species status with a couple of other subspecies) Zitting Cisticola, along with Golden-headed Cisticola, Double-barred Finch, and Crimson Finch.
The monsoon forest and forest edge along the floodplain here is also great for plenty of species as well, including Blue-winged Kookaburra, Forest Kingfisher, Pheasant Coucal, Arafura Fantail, Rainbow Pitta, Paperbark Flycatcher, Leaden Flycatcher, Lemon-bellied Flyrobin, Hooded Robin, Jacky Winter, Green-backed Gerygone, and Mangrove Golden Whistler.

We will spend the night at Mary River. Here we will look for the regional special Black-tailed Treecreeper, but other targets will include Bush Stone-curlew, Red-tailed Black Cockatoo, Mistletoebird, Rufous Whistler, White-throated Honeyeater, White-winged Triller, Torresian Crow, Red-collared Lorikeet, Helmeted Friarbird, Green Oriole, and we might even find Channel-billed Cuckoo – this is one of the most impressive cuckoos in the world!
Overnight: Mary River/Point Stuart Area
Day 4. Mary River/Point Stuart to Kakadu National Park
We will spend the early morning enjoying birds around the Mary River area where we will also likely take a boat ride on one of the billabongs (known as waterholes here). This gets us close to some spectacular wildlife such as Saltwater Crocodile, Freshwater Crocodile, White-bellied Sea Eagle, and a whole host of waterbirds. There are several excellent billabongs here and we could find Magpie Goose, Wandering Whistling Duck, Radjah Shelduck, Hardhead, Australasian Swamphen, Brolga, Comb-crested Jacana, Australian Tern, Whiskered Tern, Australasian Darter, Australian Pelican, Pied Heron, and Black-necked Stork. Some of the above are often present in flocks of several hundred and offer a spectacular sight (and sound).
Our accommodation is set in grounds that attract a range of birds (such as Rainbow Pitta) and we will likely explore areas from the previous afternoon for more of our targets such as Black-tailed Treecreeper, Mangrove Golden Whistler, Rufous-banded Honeyeater, and Varied Lorikeet.
Our route into Kakadu National Park takes us through great habitat and we will keep our eyes peeled for roadside Silver-backed Butcherbird, Northern Rosella, Black-breasted Buzzard, and Wedge-tailed Eagle. The afternoon will be spent birding within Kakadu National Park, making a start on the birds mentioned for Days 5 as we check-in for our two-night stay in the area.
Overnight: Kakadu National Park area

Day 5. Birding in Kakadu National Park
We will have the full day to explore this excellent, wildlife rich area, as well as the afternoon of Day 4 and morning of Day 6. There are several target birds on our radar here, many can be found among the impressive sandstone hills, either in the monsoon forest surrounding them in the case of Northern Rosella, Black-banded Fruit Dove, Rainbow Pitta, Forest Kingfisher, Northern Fantail, White-lined Honeyeater, Helmeted (Sandstone) Friarbird, Green Oriole, and Olive-backed Oriole, or actually in the hills themselves, such as Chestnut-quilled Rock Pigeon, Sandstone Shrikethrush, and Little Woodswallow. These areas are often very busy with birds and we will likely see many other species as we explore our way around it.

Dry woodland areas in the vicinity are also home to Partridge Pigeon, Red-winged Parrot, Cockatiel, Galah, Great Bowerbird, Red-backed Fairywren, Buff-sided Robin, White-bellied Cuckooshrike, Pied Butcherbird, and Blue-winged Kookaburra among others.
While in the area we will also check out several waterholes and riverine systems that may offer us further chances of some of the waterbirds previously mentioned, or maybe something rare or different like a Great-billed Heron, Little Kingfisher, or Azure Kingfisher.
We will also make sure to visit some of the spectacular rock art, etched thousands of years ago by the indigenous people which offers a fantastic window into the human history of the region.
Overnights (two nights): Kakadu National Park area
Day 6. Kakadu National Park to Katherine
We will bid farewell to the Kakadu area after our final morning birding session. We will slowly drive southwest to the township of Pine Creek. Along the way we will look for Black-breasted Buzzard and other raptors, along with Buff-sided Robin, Red-backed Kingfisher, Northern Rosella, Red-winged Parrot, and Silver-backed Butcherbird.
On the way to our accommodation in Katherine, we will stop in the township of Pine Creek to find one of the area’s special birds, Hooded Parrot, and we will also look out for the gorgeous Gouldian Finch along with Masked Finch, Long-tailed Finch, Crimson Finch, Double-barred Finch, and Australian Zebra Finch.
Overnight: Katherine

Day 7. Birding the Katherine area and travel to, and birding at Victoria River
We will spend some time in the morning birding in the bush in the vicinity of Katherine, looking for several tough species, including Northern Shriketit, Northern Rosella, and Chestnut-backed Buttonquail. We may also find Apostlebird and Cockatiel here. After our early morning birding we will leave town and head west to Victoria River. We will have several key targets over the next couple of days so will start looking for those as soon as it cools down in the late afternoon.
Overnight: Victoria River


Day 8. Birding Victoria River and Timber Creek
We will have numerous important targets during the day (as well as opportunities to look for them during the afternoon of Day 7 and the morning of Day 9). We will check rocky escarpments for the habitat-reliant White-quilled Rock Pigeon and keep our eyes peeled along riparian corridors for the spectacular Purple-crowned Fairywren (see cover image) This is Australia’s largest fairywren and arguably the best-looking of them all…! Plenty of other quality birds will no doubt feature here, such as Spinifex Pigeon, Diamond Dove, Red-winged Parrot, Cockatiel, Budgerigar, Red-backed Kingfisher, Great Bowerbird, and Buff-sided Robin.
As we change locations, we will focus on some finches, and we will hope to find Star Finch, Gouldian Finch, Australian Zebra Finch, Long-tailed Finch, Masked Finch, Double-barred Finch, Crimson Finch, Yellow-rumped Mannikin, Pictorella Mannikin, and Chestnut-breasted Mannikin. There are lots of exciting possibilities in this remote part of the Northern Territory and there could be some great surprises in store.
Overnight: Timber Creek
Star Finch is another difficult species to connect with. This, along with the highly sought-after Gouldian Finch and the Purple-crowned Fairywren make the journey to Victoria River and Timber Creek well worth it.
Day 9. Timber Creek to Katherine
We will have a final morning birding the Timber Creek area looking for the birds mentioned above, and more, before we retrace our steps to Katherine where we will spend the night. We will of course be looking out for any good birds along the way!
Overnight: Katherine
Day 10. Katherine to Darwin, where the tour concludes
We will spend a final morning birding in the Katherine vicinity where we will have the flexibility to target anything we may still be “needing” from the area, such as the three difficult species of the area: Northern Shriketit, Northern Rosella, and Chestnut-backed Buttonquail. In the mid-morning we will commence our journey north back to Darwin, possibly stopping off along the way for a final look for the gorgeous Hooded Parrot if time permits. The tour will conclude in the late afternoon in time for your evening flight home or onto one of our other Australian tours (our exciting Birding Tour Australia: Northern Territory – Alice Springs and Uluru Birding Tour starts tomorrow and combines excellently with this tour to give you an extremely comprehensive birding trip in the Northern Territory).
Overnight: Not included
Please note that the itinerary cannot be guaranteed as it is only a rough guide and can be changed (usually slightly) due to factors such as availability of accommodation, updated information on the state of accommodation, roads, or birding sites, the discretion of the guides and other factors. In addition, we sometimes have to use a different international guide from the one advertised due to tour scheduling.
Testimonials
Gallery
General Information
Birding Tour Australia: Northern Territory – Top End Birding
Tour-Specific Information
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT AUSTRALIA CAN BE READ HERE
TOUR OUTLINE
This exciting Northern Territory, Top End birding tour starts and ends in Darwin city. Darwin itself offers some excellent birding right within and around the city – such as at Lee Point, George Brown Darwin Botanic Gardens, and Holmes Jungle Nature Reserve. After birding in Darwin, this Top End bird tour makes a circuit of this part of the Northern Territory and takes in Adelaide River, Mary River, Kakadu National Park, Pine Creek, Katherine, Victoria River, and Timber Creek.
There are so many high-quality birds on this Top End birdwatching tour, and it is difficult to summarize them, so please take a look at the detailed itinerary here. A few of the highlights include Red Goshawk, Rainbow Pitta, White-breasted Whistler, Mangrove Golden Whistler, Hooded Parrot, Northern Rosella, Mangrove Fantail, Northern Shriketit, Chestnut-quilled Rock Pigeon, White-quilled Rock Pigeon, Partridge Pigeon, Sandstone Shrikethrush, Black-tailed Treecreeper, and one of the stars of the show – Gouldian Finch. In addition to the special birds mentioned, we will also likely be impressed by huge numbers of waterfowl at desert billabongs (wetlands). The sight of wetlands here teeming with birds is seriously impressive.
This Top End birding tour combines perfectly with our other Northern Territory birding tour, which takes us birding around Alice Springs.
While the birds on our Top End birding tour are the main reason for our trip, we will also pass through some beautiful and unique landscapes that have been home to native people for thousands of years, and we will be sure to soak in these sights, too.
DAILY ACTIVITIES, PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS, AND TOUR PACE
This Top End birding tour moves at a relaxed pace yet still targets all of the readily accessible regional specials, of which there are many.
The city of Darwin offers wonderful birds, with numerous great birdwatching sites within and very close to the city. We will start our tour by visiting some of these places, such as Lee Point, George Brown Darwin Botanic Gardens, and Holmes Jungle Nature Reserve. Our accommodation in Darwin is situated an easy short walk from one of these sites, so if you arrive ahead of the tour (always recommended), you can get your Australia birding trip off to a good start as you get acclimatized to the time zone, the weather, and the birds!
After a stint of birding in Darwin, we will start our loop of the Northern Territory’s Top End. We will visit Adelaide River, Mary River, Kakadu National Park, Pine Creek, Katherine, Victoria River, and Timber Creek and each of these areas will give us different target birds. We will situate ourselves in accommodation that offers a great base to explore the surrounding areas. As we don’t spend every night of this tour in a different hotel, the tour shouldn’t feel as rushed as other tours where we cover further distances and require different hotels most nights. Most drives between different accommodations/bases will take 1 – 2.5 hours; however, we will often break up drives for birding stops or bathroom breaks, so the journey times are likely to take longer than this. The longest drives are from Jabiru to Katherine and Katherine to Darwin; both are around 3 – 4 hours of driving time. We may make trips of around one hour from our accommodation to get to certain birding areas (potentially more as we explore around the remote Timber Creek and Victoria Falls area for key target birds.
The tour is generally considered easy in terms of physical exertion. However, the temperatures during the day could get high (see the “Weather” section below), so dehydration needs to always be considered a possibility, as does heat stroke and sunburn.
We will make quite a few short and productive walks from our vehicle at different sites in a loop of up to 0.6 – 1.2 miles (1 – 2 kilometers/km), and we may make several of these a day. We are also likely to make some slightly longer walks of 2.5 miles (4 km), and we may make a couple of these a day. Walking is mainly on flat or occasionally undulating ground. In some areas, we will be walking on maintained trails, but at other times, we will be walking on sandy or rough ground, which may have loose rocks or holes, so care should always be taken.
At some waterhole locations, we might make use of viewing blinds (bird hides) to observe the site and attending birds.
TRANSPORTATION
We will use a 12-seater minibus on this Top End birding tour. There will be limited baggage space, so please pack as lightly as possible for the tour (including within the seating area).
DOMESTIC FLIGHTS
There are no domestic flights on this Top End birdwatching tour.
LUGGAGE
Please pack as lightly as possible for this Top End bird tour due to the limited space inside vehicles. A medium, soft-sided, and robust duffle bag is likely to work best for packing in the tour vehicles. You will be expected to load and unload your own bags into and out of vehicles.
We recommend that a daypack is used to keep items that you wish to use daily when in the vehicle or when birding in the field (such as binoculars, camera, notebook, field guide, personal supply of water, snacks, umbrella, rain jacket, extra layers of clothing, etc.).
ACCOMMODATION
This birding tour of the Top End of the Northern Territory stays in comfortable accommodation throughout (possibly with the exception of when we are in the more remote Timber Creek and Victoria River areas). All accommodation has private bathrooms. Once we leave Darwin, we will be staying in remote areas and we will eat most of our meals (particularly breakfasts and dinners) at our accommodations, which have restaurants.
In Darwin, we will stay at a comfortable resort on the edge of the city in the northern suburbs, just a short drive from Darwin International Airport and close to some great birding areas and beaches. The resort has stylish accommodations with air conditioning, a private bathroom, free Wi-Fi, two saltwater swimming pools, and an on-site restaurant and bar. We will stay here for the first two nights of the tour, and if you plan to arrive ahead of the tour (or need to stay after your tour has finished due to flight schedules, etc.), we recommend staying here and can help make bookings subject to availability.
As we commence our loop around the Top End birdwatching circuit, we will first stop in the Adelaide River and Mary River areas. We will spend one night in a wilderness lodge with great birdwatching on our doorstep. Our rooms here will be typical Australian motel-style rooms with air conditioning and private bathrooms, set in a wonderfully birdy area. There is a restaurant on site where we will eat our meals. There is no Wi-Fi available here.
Our base in Kakadu National Park will be on the edge of the town called Jabiru (the local name for Black-necked Stork, rather than the similarly named bird of South America!). Our accommodation is nestled amongst tropical landscaped gardens in the heart of Kakadu National Park, and we will spend two nights here. The lodge has a lagoon-style swimming pool, a spa pool, and an on-site bar and restaurant. We will stay in bungalows, each with air conditioning and a private bathroom. There is laundry facilities but there is no Wi-Fi available here.
In Katherine, we will stay at a resort (with motel-style rooms) just out of town either side of our trip into more remote areas. Our rooms will have air conditioning and private bathrooms. The resort has an outdoor swimming pool, restaurant, and bar. The hotel has laundry facilities, and Wi-Fi is available.
Our accommodations at Timber Creek and Victoria River consists of a more basic motel-style rooms in remote areas. At Timber Creek, rooms have air conditioning, there are laundry facilities, and there is Wi-Fi. The accommodation at Victoria River is more basic with no phone signal or Wi-Fi (though Wi-Fi might be coming soon), the rooms have air conditioning.
WEATHER
Darwin has a similar temperature range year-round, and we can expect lows of around 70 degrees Fahrenheit (oF) (21 degrees Centigrade/oC) at night and highs of around 95 oF (35 oC) during the day. It is often humid in Darwin, but at this time of year, it should be less humid than other times, 45 – 50% humidity in September/October versus 70%+ in the November-March period. Rain is considered unlikely during the time our Top End bird tour visits the area, as we are traveling outside of the rainy season. Still, rain is always possible in tropical regions.
SAFETY
We do not recommend walking around Darwin or Katherine at night for personal safety reasons. Please do not leave valuables (or anything at any time) inside the vehicle when it is parked to help reduce the risk of anyone breaking into the vehicle. Please keep a close watch on your possessions (e.g., bags, wallet, optics, etc.) when we are out and about in the city, such as during lunch and city birding stops. Keep a careful watch on your possessions in busy areas for pickpockets. Make sure the doors and windows are always closed and locked in your hotel rooms (when you are in the room and when you are out of it).
We need to take extreme care on this Top End birding tour due to the presence of Saltwater Crocodiles that can occur in or near the smallest waterbodies; they can also be found up to 0.6 miles (1 km) from water. We will be birding and staying overnight within habitats that crocodiles inhabit, such as rivers (including inland rivers – “salties” can occur over 124 miles (200 km) from the coast), coastal mangroves, and wetlands. Please do not stand close to the water’s edge or go anywhere near water at night. Crocodile warning signs are often in place and should always be adhered to. Do not swim in any rivers, creeks, or anywhere else that is not a swimming pool in a hotel (and check the pool first before jumping in!). Please refer to the Be Crocwise website for more information. As referred to in the Australia general information document, other general safety information should be considered, e.g., regarding snakes, etc.
WHAT TO BRING: CLOTHING AND OTHER ITEMS
The following is a list of useful items to bring on this Northern Territory birding tour and should be read in conjunction with the Australia general information document.
- A field guide to the birds of the region. See the general information for our recommendations for this tour.
- Hiking pole or walking stick to help on the tracks and trails. While probably not necessary for everyone, a walking stick is compulsory for anyone who is unsteady walking, as we feel this is a safety issue. We do not want anyone slipping while walking around. Please discuss with us if you are unsure whether you will need one or not.
- Torch (flashlight) and/or headlamp (headtorch), and spare batteries.
- High-concentration DEET insect repellant or similar.
- A flynet for your face is very useful in some years.
- A small personal first aid kit. See the suggested items from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) here.
- Lightweight hiking boots are likely the best footwear for this tour. A set of sandals (flip-flops) and/or trainers would be useful for walking around some of the accommodations but are not suitable for birding time (consider snake bites, mud, slips, trips, falls, etc.).
- Quick-drying birding clothes (in suitable colors) are the best for this tour.
- All of the accommodations we stay at have swimming pools.
- A small hand towel or washcloth can be handy for cleaning sand and dust off cameras and yourself. Not essential, but people do find these useful.
- A dry bag to keep valuable documents in, such as passports, cell phones, wallets, etc., as well as cameras, if it rains or is particularly dusty.
Download Top End tour Information

