Identifying baby birds

Many birds look very different when they are nestlings to their parents. It can often be quick difficult to identify.

Here are some commons species that we get calls for, particularly around Spring.

Red wattlebird young has a dark grey wing feathers with lighter flecks. Legs are pink.

A young Common blackbird has a brown and white speckled belly, and pink to grey legs

European starlings have light edges on their wing feathers and dark pink legs

Noisy miners are native. They are light grey with hints of yellow on their wings. Their legs are grey to yellow.

A common myna is not native and is brown. They have white on the ends of their wings and yellow legs.

Ravens can look big when they are still dependant on their parents. Adults have white eyes with blue rings around the pupils, whereas a young one will have grey or brown eyes.

Compare the magpies. The adult had the light beak with the black tip, whereas the young one’s beak is all grey.

Notice how the Pied Currawong has quite a lot of white feathers on the underside compared to the ravens and magpies.

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