Queensland is the second-largest State in Australia but has the greatest biodiversity, with over 630 species of bird recorded (far more than closest-rivals New South Wales or West Australia with both around 550) The sum total for continental Australia (including Tasmania) is approximately 815 species. The high avian biodiversity is probably a reflection of the wide variety of habitats, from deserts to rainforests, mangroves to mulga, Queensland is a birders paradise.
This list is based on the classification by Sibley and Monroe 1996 (though there has been a recent (2008) extensive revision of Australian birds by Christidis & Boles ) which has resulted in some 'lumping' and 'splitting').
Those species labelled "Endemic" are endemic to mainland Australia, there are 22 species that are only found in Queensland, these are annotated with an asterisk.
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