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Australian Habitat
Australian Pelican |
Australian Pelicans are medium-sized by pelican standards:
1.6 to 1.8 metres long with a wingspan of 2.3 to 2.5 metres and weighing
between 4 and almost 7 kilograms. They are predominantly white, with
black and white wings and a pale, pinkish bill which, like that of all
pelicans, is enormous — particularly in the male.
Australian Pelicans prefer large expanses of open water without too
much aquatic vegetation. The surrounding environment is unimportant:
it can be forest, grassland, desert, estuarine mudflats, an ornamental
city park, or industrial wasteland, provided only that there is open
water able to support a sufficient supply of fish . |
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Black Swan |
Black swans are found in all
states of Australia. The adult bird weighs up to 20 lb (9 kg). Unlike
many other waterbirds, black swans are not migratory; they spend their
entire life in the area where they were clutched.
Black Swans nest on large mounds that they build in the middle of a
shallow lake. They reuse the same nest each year, restoring or rebuilding
it as needed. Male and female swans share the care of the nest, and once
the cygnets are fledged, it is not uncommon to see whole families looking
for food. |
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Eurasian Coot |
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Black Duck |
A medium-sized duck to 600mm. The body is dark-brown. The
top of the head is dark and there is a blackish stripe through the eye,
with pale stripes above and below it. The wing has green secondaries (the
speculum), but unlike most other duck species no white is visible on the
upper wing. The underside of the wings is whitish. |
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Magpie |
A moderately large bird, to 420mm. The male is black on the
face and underparts, but white from the back of the head to the tail. There
is aband of black at the end of the tail. The wings are black, with a band
of white on the shoulder. The large pointed beak is bluish-white, with
a black tip. The female is similar, except that the back is mottled grey
instead of white. |
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Wattlebird |
The red wattlebird is one of the largest of the honeyeaters,
to 370mm. It has a grey-brown plumage, streaked with white. There is a
white triangular patch on the face at the base of which is a tear-drop
shaped small red wattle. There is a large pale yellow patch on the belly.
The long tail, wedge-shaped when spread, is grey-brown, with the tail feathers
tipped with white. |
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Plover |
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Mynah |
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Starling |
A medium sized bird to 210mm, with sharp straight bill. In
summer glossy black, with a purple and green sheen. Wing feathers are edged
with brown, giving a scalloped appearance. The bill is yellow. In winter
the plumage is duller, with white spots on the under parts and head. The
bill becomes greyish-brown. |
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Cockatoo |
A large parrot, to 450mm, with broad wings and short tail.
It is all white, except for pale yellow under the wings and under the tail,
and a conspicuous sulphur yellow crest. The crest feathers, at rest, protrude
from the back of the head, but when raised, fan out to form a large conspicuous
crest. The bill is near to black. |
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Galah |
A medium sized parrot, to 350mm. A plump, short-winged bird,
with soft grey back, wings and tail and a bright rose-pink head, neck and
breast. Above the eye, the head is near white, and the crown feathers can
be raised to form a small crest. |
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Rosella |
Predominately crimson red, with the back mottled with black.
The throat wings and tail are blue. Immature birds are green. |
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Fox |
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Wallaby |
A medium sized kangaroo, with a head and body length to 850mm,
with a 650mm tail. The fur on the back is dark blackish-grey, while the
underneath is light reddish-brown. Ears are upright, but shortish. There
is a dark patch from the muzzle to the eye and a pale to white stripe below
this along the cheek. and also across the muzzle. The tail is dark grey
becoming black towards the tip. It has the typical short front legs and
well-developed hind legs, adapted for hopping, of all kangaroos. It is
a solitary animal and it is unusual to see two adults together. |
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Kangaroo |
A large kangaroo, head and body to 1500mm, with the tail
a further 900mm. The soft woolly fur, is grey-brown above and light grey
to almost white below. It has long upright ears and the tail is thick towards
the base, tapering to a blackish tip. The front legs are short, while the
rear legs are very large, adapted to its largely hopping gait. Usually
feed in groups of 6 to 12 animals. |
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Possum |
A nocturnal, arboreal mammal, about 500 mm long, with long
dense fur, and with a 400 mm tail. Upper parts are generally silvery grey,
with underparts paler, to almost white. The tail is prehensile, long, blackish
and covered with dense fur. It has a pointed nose, with black fur on the
muzzle. The ears are upright conspicuous, long and somewhat pointed, pink
on the inside. |
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Koala |
A bear-like arboreal mammal to 800 mm. Mainly active at night,
but roosts in the open in the day, usually in a eucalypt tree. Fur is grey,
with whitish underparts. It has a flattened face, with a large blackish
nose and large hairy ears. |
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Wombat |
A large, nocturnal, ground-living animal, up to 900 mm long.
It looks like a small bear, with dense brown fur and a very short tail
hidden by the body fur. Ears are short and rounded and the muzzle is short.
Spends the day in underground burrows. Its presence is indicated by distinctive
square shaped droppings. |
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Rabbit |
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Platypus |
One of the most unusual of all mammals, the platypus grows
to about 500mm. The body is coated with thick velvety brown fur on the
upper parts, greyish on the undersurface. The tail is broad and flattened
(somewhat like a beaver's). The jaws extend in a leathery beak, shaped
like a duck's bill, with the nostrils towars the outer end. The eye is
in a deep furrow in the head and there is no visible ear. The feet are
strongly adapted for swimming, with webbing between the toes on all 4 feet.
The adult male has a poison spur on the ankle of the hind feet. The female
lays 1 to 3 eggs in a deep burrow, which hatch after about 10 days. |
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Echidna |
An unusual animal, superficially like the hedgehogs and
porcupines of the northern hemisphere, but sharing with the Platypus Ornithorhynchus
anatinus the distinction of being the only egg-laying mammals,
the echidna grows to about 450mm.The back is densely covered with long
spines and when disturbed the echidna digs into the surface so that only
its spines are visible. It has a long pointed muzzle, with the nostrils
and tiny mouth near the tip. It feeds by catching ants and termites on
its long, slender, sticky tongue. Its feet are strongly adapted for digging
into termite mounds. The male has a spur on the rear ankles, but unlike
the platypus, this is not poisonous. |
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Eel |
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Black snake |
POISONOUS. A medium-sized snake, of up to 1.5m.
Glossy black above, with a series of bright red scales along the lower
flanks. This snake is poisonous and dangerous. |
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Skink
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A medium sized skink, up to 220mm. Upper surface
is a glossy bronze, with numerous scattered blackish scales. The pattern
is reversed on the flanks, with a broad band of black with scattered golden-bronze
scales. Frequently basks on dead logs and branches. |
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Blue Tongue Lizard |
A large slow-moving and short-tailed skink,
of up to 480mm. The colour is a dark chocolatee-brown, with large cream
blotches all over it. These may be irregular or are sometimes arranged
in diagonal rows across the body. The blotches continue as three broad
stripes across the tail. The head is paler than the body, matching the
colour of the blotches. |
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