The quality and variety of habitat at Sydney Olympic Park supports a diverse array of birds including large raptors, tiny insectivores, long-legged waders, long-distance migrants and high-speed hunters.
Amongst the diverse array of birds, the Park is home to some record-breaking avian athletes and oddities, and we’d like to highlight some of these species for you.
Records in size
Powerful Owl
The Powerful Owl reigns as Australia’s largest owl and the Park’s undisputed heavyweight of the night.
With a wingspan stretching 140 cm, it’s a bird roughly the width of a double bed!
Yellow Thornbill
The Yellow Thornbill is Australia’s smallest thornbill and the Park’s undisputed featherweight amongst the casuarinas.
It reaches 9-10cm in height and weighs about 6-8 grams which is less than a 20 cent Australian coin!
Records in length
Australian Pelican
The Australian Pelican holds the Guinness World Record for the longest bill of any bird on Earth.
Their massive bills measure up to 50 cm in length and feature a stretchy throat pouch capable of holding up to 13 litres of water.
Pied Stilt
The Pied Stilt holds the Guinness World Record for the longest legs relative to body size.
Its long pink legs measure 17-24 cm, which is up to 60 % of its total body length.
Records in movement
Bar-tailed Godwit
The Bar-tailed Godwit holds the world record for the longest continuous flight of any land bird.
A young godwit (tagged "234684" or "B6") flew a staggering 13,560 km non-stop from Alaska to Tasmania in just 11 days!
Peregrine Falcon
The Peregrine Falcon is officially the fastest animal on the planet. During hunting dives, it can reach blistering speeds exceeding 300 km/h.
This speed is triple that of a Cheetah’s maximum speed and rivals a Formula One car at full throttle!
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