About Kingfisher Birding
The Wet Tropics. Our Backyard.
Two specialists, twenty years in the rainforest, small private groups.
Our team
The team
Clayton Smith leads our birding. Twenty years in these rainforests, he reads the country and finds the birds. David Lyons runs the operation and is on every tour as driver and host.
Two of us in the field, every tour.
For multi-day expeditions and specialist itineraries, we also work with Les Anwyl, a Kuranda-based botanist whose knowledge of bush food, traditional plant uses, and rainforest ecology adds a dimension nothing else in the region matches.
Clayton Smith and David Lyons, Cattana Wetlands.
Pickup matters.
Pickup is part of the experience. Air-conditioned comfort, plenty of room for optics and tripods, and a covered trailer for multi-day expeditions when we're carrying scopes, hides, and field gear.
Our vehicle and equipment trailer, parked at Kuranda.
Our Guides
The Guides
Clayton Smith - Lead Guide
Our lead guide has spent over twenty years in these rainforests. He reads the conditions on any given morning and puts birders in front of species they've travelled halfway around the world to find.
Whether you want encyclopaedic depth on every species or simply want to stand quietly while the dawn chorus settles over you, Clayton works with both.
David Lyons - Guide & Host
My role is two-part: I run everything around the field, the permits, logistics, vehicles, and the email that lands at 11pm asking whether the Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfishers are back yet. And I'm on tour with Clayton, driving and looking after guests through the day.
Clayton leads on species ID; I handle the field operations, guest welfare, and everything that keeps the day running.
Les Anwyl - Specialist Botanist
Les has lived in Kuranda for decades. His background in botany and science education, combined with years learning from Indigenous elders across northern Australia, makes a walk with him unlike anything else available in the region.
As Les puts it: this forest has been feeding and healing people for thousands of years. Most visitors walk straight past the evidence.
How We Operate
Three Things We Don't Compromise On
Timing Over Convenience
Wildlife doesn't work around check-in times. Dawn departures, flexible scheduling, and real-time routing based on conditions and recent sightings. If something exceptional is happening in a particular location that morning, we go there.
Permits & Access
The Wet Tropics is one of the most biodiverse regions on Earth and much of it requires the right permits to access properly. We hold the permits and approvals needed to operate across national parks and World Heritage areas throughout the region. That access, combined with knowing where to go and when, is what makes the difference.
Small, Private Groups
Not a marketing number. A small private group is the threshold for quiet forest movement, genuine wildlife encounters, and the kind of flexibility that makes the difference between a good tour and an exceptional one.
Ready to plan your visit?
Every tour is private. Every itinerary is flexible. Every guest gets the version of the Wet Tropics the locals know.