Victoria is a state in Australia, with 527 species of bird recorded.
This list is based on the 1996 classification by Sibley and Monroe (though there has been a recent (2008) extensive revision of Australian birds by Christidis and Boles[1]), which has resulted in some lumping and splitting.[2] Their system has been developed over nearly two decades[3] and has strong local support, but deviates in important ways from more generally accepted schemes. Supplemental updates follow The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, 2022 edition.
The following tags have been used to highlight several categories. The commonly occurring native species do not fall into any of these categories.
Victoria is Australia's second-smallest state but has high biodiversity, with 516 bird species recorded — around 54% of Australia's total of 959 bird species[4] in just 3% of Australia's land area.[5]
Birds are present in high concentrations in some areas, including the Western Treatment Plant at Werribee in Melbourne's suburbs, which is a haven for tens of thousands of birds, due to a combination of permanent water, varied landforms and plant species.[6]
Victoria contains a wider variety of natural habitats than any area of similar size in Australia.[7] Habitats range from warm temperate rainforest in the far east of the state (East Gippsland), cool temperate rainforest,[8] heathlands,[9] mallee (stunted eucalypt) scrubland,[10] grasslands,[11] open woodland,[12] montane forest,[13] permanent lakes, estuaries, large permanent rivers,[14] ocean and bay coastline.[15] 4 million hectares of the state's 23.7 million hectare total land and marine area is protected in National Parks and conservation reserves.[16]