Wake up with the birds

Our popular event Wake up with the Birds is a series of guided early morning walks held in Spring. These walks were temporarily cancelled in 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Spring is a great time to observe the feeding and nesting behaviour of our birds and their young, including our most common black birds - magpies, currawongs, ravens, choughs and magpie larks. You are also likely to see a variety of honeyeaters as well as cockatoos, parrots, and if you are lucky you may see the tawny frogmouths high up in the trees around the Eucalypt lawn. 

Early visitors to the Gardens (the gates open at 8.30am) are always welcome to bring their own binoculars for an early walk with the birds. After the walk you can stay on for coffee or breakfast at Pollen, the Gardens Café (book a table at www.pollencafe.com.au), or pick up a takeaway and continue wandering.

A useful pamphlet, Birds of the Australian National Botanic Gardens, is available at the Visitor Centre for a gold coin donation in the Visitor Centre (which opens at 9.30am).  The Friends have also developed a Birds Checklist available in Word format or as a PDF.