Keen birdwatcher Tim Collins was surprised and "blown away" to see the rare species in his Dubbo backyard.

"The chance of a lifetime" for the enthusiast, it coincides with the launch of a new project to boost numbers of the regent honeyeater in the wild.

Originally from the coast, Mr Collins has been learning inland birds, but recently he caught a glimpse of something unfamiliar.

"I was sitting in the lounge room and I saw it in a tree and thought hmm that's different," he said.

"I grabbed the binoculars and a camera and managed to snap off a few shots before it flew away.

"While I do a lot of bird watching I have never seen one before.

"It really was the chance of a lifetime."

Mr Collins started hiking through bush looking for birds as a 10-year-old.

"Originally from Wollongong, I have really enjoyed the challenge of learning the whole new range of inland birds," he said.

With the drought and recent bushfires, there were "a whole lot of other out-of-character birds" in the area that wouldn't normally be there.

"Obviously I had never seen the regent honeyeater before but it's a strikingly obvious bird with unique colouring and markings," Mr Collins said.

"It's been on my twitching bucket list for awhile.

"I have spent a lot of time around Mudgee looking for it, and was blown away to spot it out the window from my arm chair."

Dr Sarah Bell from the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) said the find was significant.

"The drought has taken its toll on nectar this year, meaning we have seen fewer Regent Honeyeaters in their usual sites such as the Capertee Valley near Lithgow," the threatened species officer said.

"With estimates suggesting fewer than 400 birds exist in the wild, it's great to receive reports of sightings so we can track where they are.

"Coincidentally DPIE is working with Taronga Western Plains Zoo and the Regent Honeyeater Recovery Team on a zoo-based conservation breeding program and just last week the first birds were released into the zoo's new aviaries in Dubbo.

"This wild sighting came before the arrival of the zoo-bred birds, so it's quite a coincidence but pleasing nevertheless."

The regent honeyeater conservation breeding program is part of the NSW Government's Saving Our Species program that aims to secure threatened species in the wild in NSW over the next 100 years.

"We are always keen to hear about unusual wildlife sightings so they can be entered into the wildlife BioNet Atlas, which provides us with valuable information about the location of native wildlife," Dr Bell said.