Canberra Bird Notes
Most recent issue
(All other issues can be found in the archive below).
NOTE: The Annual Bird Report (normally the first CBN each year) has not been published in recent years (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025) pending the replacement of COG’s bird database.
Search all issues of Canberra Bird Notes
About CBN
COG members have been publishing details of their bird-related observations and investigations in the publication Canberra Bird Notes (CBN) for more than 50 years. CBN was established in 1968:
“…as a news letter for members of the Canberra Branch of the R.A.O.U. [now COG] and other interested persons. It is intended purely as an informal medium of communication and does not constitute a recognised journal.” (Quoted from the first issue).
Despite the disclaimer, much of the content is good citizen science mixed with a diverse range of personal insights into many aspects of bird biology, ecology and behaviour.
Early ACT Branch RAOU Annual Bird Reports
Before CBN started, COG (as ACT Branch of the RAOU) produced three Annual Bird Reports covering the 1965, 1966, 1967 June-June years. These are accessible at the very bottom of the archive.
If you have any difficulties using on-line CBN, please contact the COG Webmaster.
How to use this resource
CBN is produced two or three times a year, grouped into annual volumes. The first issue every year is devoted to the Annual Bird Report, an extensive summary of the status of all bird species found in COG’s area of interest over the previous (July-June) year.
Issues are published in printed form and also electronically. Printed issues are mailed out to members while the electronic version is available here, on this page. Members are notified when a new issue is available.
All CBN volumes are available as full-text, searchable PDFs. It should be noted that earlier CBN volumes were scanned from printed originals using OCR (optical character recognition) software, which is by no means perfect. Scanning and formatting errors occur in the text and layout as a result. IT IS IMPORTANT therefore that if you are using data from old Canberra Bird Notes, please refer to the original PRINTED edition as there is no guarantee that data has scanned correctly.
The scanning process has taken COG member Alastair Smith 10 months, and comprises 150 volumes and some 5,100 pages – a mammoth task indeed! Thank you very much Alastair for all of your hard work – it is much appreciated.
Archive
Vol. 50: 2025
Vol. 49: 2024
Vol. 48: 2023
Vol. 47: 2022
Vol. 46: 2021
Vol. 43: 2018
Vol. 42: 2017
Vol. 41: 2016
Vol. 40: 2015
Vol. 38: 2013
Vol. 36: 2011
Vol. 4: 1978-79
Vol. 3: 1975-77
Vol. 2: 1972-74
Vol. 1: 1968-71
ACT Branch RAOU Annual Bird Reports
Missing Pages
There are a few missing pages and perhaps typos resulting from the arduous process of scanning thousands of pages. Known missing pages are:
- Vol 24:2 page 50
- Vol 24:4 page 212