Tour Highlights
- Rainbow Pitta
- Gouldian Finch
- Hooded Parrot (local endemic)
- 2 privately-guided Aboriginal rock art sites
- Sunrise boat cruises (Yellow Water)
- World Heritage Kakadu National Park
- Category
Start
Darwin
End
Darwin
- Birdwatching focus
- high
- Wildlife focus
- moderate
- Photography focus
- moderate
- Culture focus
- low
- Walks rating
- easy
- Number of boat cruises
- Public1Private
- Sleeping options
- ensuite
Tour Summary
Our 4 day Kakadu Birdwatching tour ‘Djakarna Jaunt’ explores a 1,200 kilometre circuit along the Arnhem, Kakadu and Stuart Highways, in the Top End of the Northern Territory. This is the gate way to biodiverse habitats across the region.
We’ll explore the homes of popular target birds such as Rainbow Pitta, Hooded Parrot, Gouldian Finch, Black Bittern, Little Kingfisher and Black Banded Fruit-dove. There is plenty of other wildlife to see along the way too, including over five species of macropod and two crocodilians, living in and around ancient and modern Aboriginal cultural and rock art sites you’ll visit.
‘Djakarna’ is a traditional Aboriginal language name for the Black-necked Stork. This bird is an iconic part of the Ramsar listed wetlands covering roughly one third of Kakadu National Park and an impressive sight to see any time of the day.
Regions Visited
- Darwin
- Mary River
- Kakadu
- Pine Creek
Tour Route
Tour Gallery
Day by Day Itinerary
Contact Us For Full itineraryDay 1
We start the tour by taking advantage of the early morning and scope out some of the best birding sites in Darwin. We look for species such as Rainbow Pitta, Rufous Owl, Torresian Kingfisher, Mangrove Robin and various shorebirds. After a hearty lunch we travel to Fogg Dam, a renowned wetland on the edge of the Adelaide River Floodplain home to a myriad of waterfowl. We end by making our way to our accommodation in the Mary River Region.
Day 2
The morning rise early to explore the savannah woodlands and head into the World Heritage Kakadu National Park. Along the way we’ll scan the woodlands and floodplains for Silver-backed Butcherbird, Black-breasted Buzzard, Brolga and Radjah Shelduck. After lunch we make our way to ‘stone country’, home to impressive ancient Aboriginal rock art along with Chestnut-quilled Rock Pigeon, Wilkin’s Rock Wallaby and Sandstone Shrike-thrush. Our accommodation for the night is in the Aboriginal-owned township of Jabiru.
Day 3
Today we rise before the sun to join the famous Yellow Water sunrise cruise. Yellow Water has Great-billed Heron, 6 species of kingfisher, Black Bittern, Great-billed Heron, Arafura Fantail, Buff-sided Robin,White-bellied Sea-Eagle, Black-necked Stork and Saltwater Crocodile. After breakfast, we’ll make our way to the Burrungkuy region, to look for endemic and sandstone specialists such as Banded Fruit-Dove and Helmeted Friarbird. We’ll travel south to our accommodation in Pine Creek, home to the endemic and illustrious Hooded Parrot.
Day 4
Another big day beckons as we pack our bags and head for Leliyn/Edith Falls in the iconic Nitmiluk National Park. The region is a hot spot for finch species including the much sought after Gouldian, Masked, Long-tailed, Crimson and Double-barred. We also keep an eye out for Northern Rosella before making our way back to Pine Creek seeking the endemic Hooded Parrot. We say goodbye at your Darwin accommodation after a brief stop at Adelaide River.
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