Boatbills

The genus Machaerirhynchus, commonly known as boatbills, is a small group of passerine birds related to woodswallows and butcherbirds, consisting of two species. These include the Black-breasted boatbill (M. nigripectus), which resides in New Guinea, and the Yellow-breasted boatbill (M. flaviventer), found in northeast Australia. Both species share a distribution range that spans from New Guinea to northern Queensland, showcasing similar ecological preferences within their respective habitats.

Species Categories

Albatrosses Anhingas, Darters Asian Barbets Austral Storm Petrels Australasian Babblers Australasian Robins Australasian Treecreepers Australasian Warblers Australasian Wrens Australian Mudnesters Australo-Papuan Bellbirds Barn Owls Bee-eaters Berrypeckers, Longbills Birds-of-paradise Boatbills Bowerbirds Bristlebirds Bulbuls Buntings Bustards Buttonquail Caracaras, Falcons Cassowaries, Emu Cettia Bush Warblers & Allies Chats, Old World Flycatchers Cisticolas & Allies Cockatoos Cormorants, Shags Coursers, Pratincoles Cranes Crows, Jays Cuckoos Cuckooshrikes Drongos Ducks, Geese, Swans Fairy Flycatchers Fairy-bluebirds Fantails Figbirds, Orioles, Turnagra Finches, Euphonias Flamingos Flowerpeckers Flufftails Frigatebirds Frogmouths Gannets, Boobies Grassbirds & Allies Grebes Guineafowl Gulls, Terns, Skimmers Herons, Bitterns Honeyeaters Hoopoes Hornbills Ibises, Spoonbills Ifrit Jacanas Jewel-babblers, Quail-thrushes Kingfishers Kites, Hawks, Eagles Larks Leaf Warblers & Allies Logrunners Lyrebirds Magpie Goose Megapodes Melampittas Monarchs Mottled Berryhunter New World Quail Nightjars Northern Storm Petrels Old World Parrots Old World Sparrows, Snowfinches Ospreys Ostriches Owlet-nightjars Owls Oystercatchers Painted Berrypeckers Painted-snipes Pardalotes Pelicans Penguins Petrels, Shearwaters, Diving Petrels Pheasants & Allies Pigeons, Doves Pittas Plains-wanderer Ploughbill Plovers Rails, Crakes & Coots Reed Warblers & Allies Rollers Sandpipers, Snipes Satinbirds Scrubbirds Shrikes Shriketit Sittellas Skuas Starlings, Rhabdornis Stilts, Avocets Stone-curlews, Thick-knees Storks Sunbirds Swallows, Martins Swifts Thrushes Tits, Chickadees Treeswifts Tropicbirds Typical Broadbills Vangas & Allies Vireos, Greenlets, Shrike-babblers Wagtails, Pipits Waxbills, Munias & Allies Whipbirds Whistlers & Allies White-eyes Woodpeckers Woodswallows, Butcherbirds & Allies

Birda Blog

A passionate photographer is outdoors, equipped with a top-notch camera for bird photography.

14 best cameras for bird photography

August 9, 2022

John White

A woman in a jacket birdwatching out in nature, looking at her phone and considering the best birding app.

11 of the best birdwatching apps in the UK

August 8, 2022

John White

A large flock of Red-necked Stints, a great bird to look for when learning how to start birdwatching.

How to start birdwatching – a helpful guide for beginners

January 18, 2022

John White

People looking at a sunset in a Top 10 Birdwatching Park in the US

The top 10 birdwatching parks in the USA

December 7, 2022

Sarah Cunningham

The Best US States For Birdwatching - map of USA with state names

The best US states for bird watching, a helpful illustrated guide

January 17, 2022

John White

Three people walking in nature in a highland, birdwatching and using one of the best free birdwatching apps

What are the best free birdwatching apps?

March 28, 2023

Will Hall

Children are outdoors, enthusiastically observing and admiring birds in their natural habitat.

12 of the best birdwatching apps in the USA

February 9, 2023

Sarah Cunningham

8x vs 10 x binoculars - person holding their pair in hand

Binoculars for birdwatching 8x vs 10x magnification

What Our Birders Say

Foxgirl100

Great app for beginner twitchers

I’ve had a passion of photographing birds for a long time now but have only just gotten into proper birdwatching, and this app is brilliant for those just getting started. There is a great sense of community among users and the app is very easy to use and professional. Awesome app altogether

Marlster24

Recommend for any bird watcher

Very wholesome app: I joined this app with a new interest in watching birds to help me find out what I was spotting. The community is very active in helping identify birds which is great and everyone is very kind so it’s just a nice wholesome community. I would definitely recommend this for any bird spotter 😃

Dan R

Great app for bird fanatics

Great app for bird fanatics - very user friendly and a perfect place to share sightings.

Jane N

A great app

Enjoying it immensely and finding it useful too. Recording the different birds and counting them is showing me how the present climate is affecting them all. I've trebled the numbers by planting native hedging. A great app.

Madstherangers

A mordern game changer

Birda is an awesome app, its updated the world of birding to the modern day with a fun and easy to use app. It’s engaging and allows positive interaction with fellow bird lovers!

David C

Very knowledgeable group

Nice friendly birding community. Very knowledgeable group with a willingness to help.

778

Great bird recording

For a while I’ve been trying to find an app to easily record bird lists and day out and struggled to find one that I like. Birda is great for this, straightforward and a great community!

Nicole

Gets me outdoors more

I'm still loving this app. I use it most days & gets me outdoors more. Enjoying watching others progress and photo's, it's improved my wellbeing.... I love this app! I can keep a record of sightings and see what others have seen too.

Stewart W

Fantastic to be involved

Fantastic to be involved, great for mental health and gets you responding with the Challenges that are to takd part in.

Robred 2

Fun way to add to your birdwatching experience

I enjoy watching birds in my backyard, but this app helped me really pay attention while on vacation this summer. It was fun to add new birds to my bird watching app.

As featured in