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Behind Darwin's sweeping Lee Point beach is a patch of diverse bushland where Ian Redmond has his binoculars out, scanning the long native grasses for Gouldian finches.
Key points:
- Birdwatchers are calling on the federal government not to approve Gouldian finch habitat destruction
- The federal Environment Department says it will provide a recommendation based on a bird habitat survey
- Birders want more surveys carried out during peak Gouldian finch breeding time
"They've got all these yellows, greens, purples and blues, it's hard to believe you can put all that colour into one bird, and they're quite friendly, they come up quite close," the organiser of the Save Lee Point community group said.
James Lambert is another birdwatcher who frequents Lee Point.
"The first time I came here, I thought it looks a bit scrappy and there weren't many birds, but in fact it's very very rich in birds, practically any day you come you can see long-tailed finch, masked finch, chestnut breasted manikan, we've even had yellow rumped manikans here," he said.
Today there aren't any Gouldians, but flocks of masked and double barred finches busily collect grass seed a few metres from where we stand.
It's the absence of Gouldians at this late time of the year that has Mr Redmond worried.
The federal government is currently deciding whether to bulldoze 130 hectares of this Defence land for a housing development.
Its Defence Housing Australia company has started clearing the land for 778 houses for Defence personnel and to sell to the public.
Commonwealth 'considering all available information'
Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek halted the work in September after being alerted by the birdwatchers that they had spotted endangered Gouldians at Lee Point, and thousands of visitors had come from all over Australia and the world to see them.
There is now a stand-off between the birders and the government housing company, as they wait to see if the minister will allow the development to continue.
"Our wildlife is going to decrease if we don't look after our large trees and their nesting hollows, and that's why it's really important to look after habitat like this," Mr Redmond said.
"The only park that has more habitats in the Top End would be Kakadu National Park which is about 4,000 times as large as Lee Point.
"Lee Point has most of the bird species of Kakadu so it is a rich biodiverse area that we should look after for future generations."
Asked what she intends to do, the minister referred the question to her environment department.
In a statement the department told the ABC: "In late October 2022 Defence Housing Australia provided the department with a report on the outcomes of a Gouldian finch habitat survey at the Lee Point housing development site undertaken by its consultants.
It said it is "considering all available information, including survey results" before making "recommendations to the minister on whether to vary, suspend or revoke the approval".
Bird watchers such as David Percival claim the bird survey was carried out outside the peak breeding period for the Gouldian finches, adding they want more surveys carried out.
"The government needs to wait and stop the development going ahead until they check out the tree hollows next year for potential breeding of Gouldian finches," he said.
"That means looking for the Gouldian finches around their breeding period which is April, May, June," Mr Redmond said.
There are estimated to be just 2,500 Gouldian finches left in the wild in northern Australia.
In its environmental impact statement for the project in 2017, Defence Housing said it was "unlikely" Lee Point was Gouldian finch habitat.
The Northern Territory Environment Protection Authority's recommendation that the development should be approved didn't mention Gouldian finches at all.
Fears for habitat of 'iconic bird'
Asked whether the Northern Territory Government is going to review any of its approvals, Chief Minister Natasha Fyles said she was leaving it to the Commonwealth to decide.
"Of course we need to have natural environmental areas so we can enjoy the great lifestyle, but we do need new homes," she said.
There are precedents where the existence of endangered animals stopped has developments going ahead, including in Victoria where orange bellied parrot habitat was identified around a proposed wind farm.
The Lee Point housing development opponents are arguing the federal government's commitment at the international COP15 biodiversity summit to protect 30 % of the Australian landscape for wildlife should include this area.
"Between the two creeks here, Sandy and Buffalo, you've got a quarter of all the birds ever recorded in Australia, you've got 6,000 migratory shorebirds, you've got ten species of finches," Mr Percival said.
"I saw a flock of about 130 Gouldian finches fly across this path that you're on last dry season.
"Tell me how many other places in Australia get that?
"Gouldians are protected, they're an iconic bird, why aren't they using brown field site, one that's already been degraded, for this development?"
Ian Redmond said the finches and their watchers are in the minister's hands.
"It's not possible to preserve all the habitats, we do need land for housing, but we should be aiming preserving the high-quality habitat like this that you just can't replace and you can't generate back in a lifetime," he said.