Release your inner birdwatcher

Grab the binoculars and head to the mountains, the coast or the canyons to observe beautiful creatures in flight. Here are five top picks for a birdwatching holiday:

GALAPAGOS ISLANDS, ECUADOR:

Perhaps you've heard about the cliff-diving blue-footed boobies? Or the 2.5m wingspan of the waved albatross? The latter is also known for an elaborate courtship dance that can include 20 minutes of bowing, honking, whistling and bill clacking.

Perhaps the most famous and biologically important of the island birds are Darwin's 13 finches. The creatures were central to the scientist's evolutionary theories. Learn more about the volcanic island's winged population via a cruise or a hotel-based tour.

Contact: galapagos.org

FALKLAND ISLANDS:

Surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, this 740-island archipelago is known for its large and accessible rare-bird colonies, home to as many as 1 million penguins. Visitors are eager to see five of the 17 species frolicking in the surf or waddling along the beach.

Be on the lookout for the Cobb's wren, a striated cara-cara and the flightless steamer duck. The islands also serve as the breeding ground for more than 70 per cent of the world's black-browed albatrosses.

Contact: falklandislands.com

FAR NORTH QUEENSLAND:

Queensland's Cape York and Wet Tropics are internationally renowned birdwatching hot-spots. Travelling from Mission Beach to Daintree Village via the Atherton Tablelands in far north Queensland will bring you some of the best birding in Australia. From the coast up onto the Atherton Tableland and back down to the coast will take you through a range of habitats with the possibility of seeing more than 350 species of birds, including the Lesser Sooty Owl, the Atherton Scrubwren and the stately Jabiru.

Contact: birdingqueensland.com.au

HAURAKI GULF, NEW ZEALAND:

A large number of seabirds breed in the Hauraki Gulf, close to Auckland and a good place to start a birdwatching adventure in the Land of the Long White Cloud. Here you'll see various species of petrels and shearwaters as well as the Blue Penguin and the recently rediscovered NZ Storm Petrel. To see more, including the elusive Kiwi and some of the world's rarest endangered species, travel on through the three main islands (North, South and Stewart)

Contact: birdingnz.co.nz

SOUTHERN ARIZONA:

Visit this region to see as many as 250 bird species, including more than 15 kinds of colourful hummingbirds, the elegant trogon and a painted redstart.

Make your way to the Muleshoe Ranch Co-operative Management Area, a 20,000 hectare conservation region, rich with winged wildlife, thanks to careful preservation of the fragile ecosystem.

Each January, the Wings Over Willcox festival (January 14-18) celebrates the migrating sandhill cranes.

Contact: southernarizonaguide.com

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