We have chosen to highlight only some of the rather strange (and unique to Australia) birds and mammals. There is obviously a vast selection of animals beyond the scope of this list. If you came here looking for domestic animals, try these sites: www.ozpets.com.au and www.petlink.com.au. 
 

Australian brush turkey
This fascinating bird belongs to the family of megapodes. Like the malleefowl, it incubates its eggs in large mounds of rotting vegetation. See more.

Australian magpie
Ever been swooped by a magpie in spring? It's only defending its family during the nesting season. See more.

Bandicoots
These small marsupials were once common in suburban gardens, but unfortunately have become quite a rare sight. 

Bowerbirds
These are thought of as the most advanced of all birds, because of the intricate display areas they weave out of twigs and other materials.

Brush-tailed possum
These marsupials are common backyard visitors. See more.

Dingo
Dingos have only lived in Australia for approximately 4000-5000 years (this figure varies widely) according to fossil evidence. See more.

Echidnas
These spiny termite eaters are monotremes, or egg-laying mammals. They might look a bit scary, but they're actually quite shy. See more.

Emu
Australia's largest birds come from an ancient family, seen in their primitive feathers. They thrive in rugged, remote environments. See more.

Frogs
Australia's diverse frog populations are in decline.

Gliding possums
Gliders can cover distances of more than 100 m in a single leap, gliding on a thin sheet of skin between their forepaws and ankles. See more. 

Kangaroos & wallabies
Did you know there are 45 species of kangaroos and wallabies? They range from huge western red kangaroos to tiny rat-kangaroos. See more on kangaroos (or specifically, the Western Grey kangaroo) and wallabies.

Koala
Koalas are fussy eaters, eating the leaves of a few varieties of eucalypt trees. See more.

Laughing kookaburra
A kookaburra's call lets other birds know of its territory. Groups of the birds gather at the boundaries of their area, 'laughing' at other groups. See more.

Little penguin
These flightless seabirds might seem a bit clumsy on land, but they're graceful swimmers, 'flying' through the water on their stumpy wings. See more.

Lord Howe Island woodhen
These flightless birds are only found on Lord Howe Island. They were brought back from the brink of extinction in the 1980s.

Lyrebirds
These fascinating birds can mimic almost any sound - including other birds and animals, whistles, car alarms and even chainsaws.

Malleefowl
Malleefowl build nest mounds to incubate their eggs in, using a complicated system to keep the mound at the right temperature.

Parrots
Australia has 56 species of these colourful birds, from tiny budgerigars to large cockatoos.

Platypus
When the first platypus was sent to England for identification, scientists thought it was a hoax. It's a member of the strange and exclusive monotreme family. See more.

Purple copper butterfly
This beautiful insect is one of Australia's rarest butterflies. Found only in the Central West of NSW, it depends on a particular species of ant and special kind of blackthorn plant.

Shearwaters
These seabirds dive for their food, 'shearing' the water with their wings. Large numbers are sometimes washed up on our beaches, dead from the exhaustion of their travels.

Snakes
Some 100 Australian snakes are venomous. However, they are not naturally aggressive, and will only attack humans if hurt or provoked.

Wedge-tailed eagle
With a massive 2.5-m wingspan, this is Australia's largest bird of prey. See more. 

Whales
Humpback and southern right whales travel up the Eastern coast of Australia between May and September each year. 

Wombats
Full-grown wombats can weigh up to a whopping 36 kg! They are territorial animals, but will share their burrows with visitors. See more.
 

Dromaius novaehollandiae

They live in a wide range of habitats including deserts, dense coastal shrub lands, eucalypt woodlands and forests. Emus dine on native fruits, vegetation and ground-dwelling insects. Adult birds are usually found in pairs or small parties. They are highly nomadic and in the breeding season they move into areas of recent good rains. The father does all the parenting. He broods between five and 11 dark green eggs. The male also escorts the chicks, which have attractive black and yellow stripes. 

More on Emus

   

Ninox novaeseelandiae

They hunt small birds, nocturnal lizards such as geckos, house mice and other small mammals, as well as night-flying beetles and moths. These nocturnal birds are most active just after dusk and before sunrise. They sleep by day. Boobooks have a two-syllable hoot, with the second note pitched lower than the first, that sounds like "boobook" or "mopoke". 

More on Boobook

   

Dacelo novaeguineae

The laughing kookaburra is common. It occurs naturally in eastern and south-eastern parts of Australia and now ranges throughout south-western WA. The bird inhabits woodlands, open forests and suburban areas which have adequate shelter and food. 

The laughing kookaburra hunts snakes, lizards, small birds and rodents but consumes mainly insects. The bird forms permanent pairs, which nest from September to January in a flat-floored cavity within a tree trunk or branch. The two or three eggs hatch 24 hours apart. The young fledge in 36 days, and are then cared for and fed for a further eight to 13 weeks. The young are not forced to leave their parents' territory on reaching maturity, but stay on in the subordinate role of non-breeders (only the senior pair breeds). These "auxiliaries", as they are known, defend territorial boundaries, rear and protect offspring, and occupy areas that would otherwise be taken over by breeders. This form of social system is widespread among Australian birds and contributes to their high breeding success. 

[Back to NSW section] [for a complete list of Australian birds]

   

 
Trichosurus vulpecula

Moving at night, brushtails will spend some time on the ground moving from tree to tree in search of the fresh growth on young trees. Leaves form the main part of the diet, supplemented with fruits and blossoms. They can climb rapidly and will make daring leaps between branches of adjacent trees. Brushtails carry their young in a pouch for four to five months, and then on mum's back. Brushtails only have one young. They are quite territorial - the males scent-marking and actively defending their home range. They are quite vocal and may hiss, cough and scream.
 
More on possums

   

Macrotis lagotis

Other names for the Bilby include Dalgyte, rabbit-eared bandicoot, ninu, and walpajirri. 

Once distributed throughout arid and semi-arid Australia, the bilby is now confined to northern deserts, including parts of the Pilbara. It is a threatened species. This species inhibits open arid country with spinifex grasslands and acacia shrub lands. 

Bilbies are largely solitary, widely dispersed and found in low numbers. They are comparatively slow moving but have superb hearing. They also have strong claws and are very efficient burrowers. In sandy soil they can disappear from sight within three minutes. Their burrows go down in a steep spiral to a depth of around two metres. The steep descent makes it very difficult for predators such as foxes and cats to unearth a bilby. However, they were a favourite food of Aboriginal people. 

Bilbies dig burrows wherever they go and may use as many as two dozen at any one time. These nocturnal animals always feed close to a burrow, mostly within 100 metres or so, and may visit several burrows each night before choosing one in which to spend the daylight hours. The main food items are bulbs and insects such as termites, witchetty grubs and honeypot ants. Bilbies have a high breeding rate in good times and can breed throughout the year, an adaptation which allows them to quickly take advantage of good seasons in the harsh desert environment.

   

Tachyglossus aculeatus

Echidnas are widely distributed throughout the Australian continent and Tasmania. Although not commonly seen, they are not considered threatened. They may be found in any place with a good supply of ants and termites. They live in a wide variety of habitats, from cold mountainous peaks to deserts. They deal with very cold weather by hibernating and avoid extreme heat by sheltering in burrows or other refuges. 

Echidnas are usually solitary. However, during the breeding season between July and August they give off a strong smell that may help advertise their presence to the opposite sex. During this time, several males may follow a single female in a "train" until she is ready to mate. About two weeks after mating occurs, a single soft-shelled egg is deposited directly into the pouch and hatches after 10 days. Because the echidna does not have teats, the baby clings to specialised hairs within the pouch, where it suckles milk oozing from the mother's mammary glands. 

The initially tiny young has an incredible growth rate, increasing its body weight up to 500-fold in the first 45 days of life. Completely hairless when born, the young is covered with short spines by the time it leaves the pouch. When it becomes too big and spiky to be carried about, the youngster will be placed in a burrow to which the mother returns every five or six days for suckling. Here it remains until about six months old. 

Dingoes and goannas will occasionally eat echidnas. Their relative abundance on large, fox-free islands such as Kangaroo Island in South Australia suggests that the fox may be a significant predator.

 

Phasclarctos cinereus

Koalas live in societies, just like humans, so they need to be able to come into contact with other koalas. It is because of this they need to have areas of suitable eucalypt forest which are large enough to support a healthy koala population and to allow for expansion by maturing young koalas. Koalas are highly territorial and in stable breeding groups, individual members of koala society maintain their own "home range" areas. 

A ‘home range’ consists of a number of ‘home range trees’ and ‘food trees’ which comprise the long-term territory of the individual koala. These trees provide the koala with food, shelter and places for social contact which will support it for the term of its natural life (assuming there is no habitat clearing). A home range varies in size depending on the habitat quality of bushland. Habitat quality can be measured in terms of the density of key food trees. "Home range trees" define the boundaries of the individual koala’s home range and can be likened to surveyors pegs marking the extent of a property. They are not always apparent to the human eye, but koalas can tell whether a tree ‘belongs’ to another koala or not. Within a socially stable group, the home ranges of individual koalas overlap with those of their neighbours. It is in the shared, overlapping trees that the majority of social interaction takes place. These are very important trees. 

Koala populations only occur if suitable habitat is available and because Koala's are very fussy eaters and have strong preferences for different types of gum leaves, then the most important factor which make habitats suitable are the presence of tree species preferred by koalas (usually eucalypts, but also some non-eucalypts) growing in particular associations on suitable soils with adequate rainfall. Research has shown that socially stable koala populations occur only when there are favourite tree species present. Even if a selection of tree species known to be used by koalas occurs within an area, the koala population will not use it unless one or two favourite species are available. 

In Australia there are over 600 types of eucalypts, but koalas will not eat a large proportion of these. Within a particular area, as few as one, and generally no more than two or three species of eucalypt will be regularly browsed while a variety of other species, including some non-eucalypts, appear to be browsed occasionally or used for just sitting or sleeping in. The koala is the only mammal, other than the Greater Glider and Ringtail Possum, which can survive on a diet of eucalyptus leaves. Different species of eucalypts grow in different parts of Australia, so a koala in Victoria would have a very different diet from one in Queensland. Koalas like a change, too, and sometimes they will eat from other trees such as wattle or tea tree. 

Eucalyptus leaves are very fibrous and low in nutrition, and to most animals are extremely poisonous. To cope with such a diet, nature has equipped koalas with specialised adaptations. A very slow metabolic rate allows koalas to retain food within their digestive system for a relatively long period of time, maximising the amount of energy able to be extracted. At the same time, this slow metabolic rate minimises energy requirements and they will sleep for up to 18 hours per day in order to conserve energy. 

Each koala eats approximately 200 to 500 grams of leaves per day. The teeth are adapted to deal with for this. The sharp front incisors nip the leaves from the branches and the molars (back teeth) are shaped to allow the koala to cut and shear the leaves rather than just crush them. A gap between the incisors and the molars, called a 'diastema', allows the tongue to move the mass of leaves around the mouth efficiently.

The Koala is well suited to life in the trees. The koala has an excellent sense of balance and its body is lean and muscular and its quite long, strong limbs support its weight when climbing. The arms and legs are nearly equal in length and the koala's climbing strength comes from the thigh muscle joining the shin much lower than in other animals. Its paws are especially adapted for gripping and climbing with rough pads on the palms and soles helping it to grip tree trunks and branches. Both front and hind paws have long sharp claws and each paw has five digits. On the front paw, two fingers are opposed to the other three, rather like a human's thumb, so they are able to be moved in opposition to the fingers. This allows the koala to grip more securely. On the hind paw, there is no claw on the big toe, and the second and third toes are fused together to form a 'grooming claw'. 

Koalas have a thick woolly fur which protects them from both high and low temperatures. It also acts like a 'raincoat' to repel moisture when it rains. The fur varies in colour from light grey to brown, with patches of white on the chest and neck, inside arms and legs and inside the ears. Mature males are recognisable by the brown 'scent gland' in the centre of their white chest. The fur on the koala's bottom is densely packed to provide a 'cushion' for the hard branches it sits on, and has a 'speckled' appearance which makes koalas hard to spot from the ground. 

Koalas are mostly nocturnal animals and they are most active during the night and at dawn and dusk. This is because in the cooler hours they are less likely to lose precious moisture and energy than they would during the hotter daylight hours. An average of eighteen to twenty hours each day are spent resting and sleeping, and the remainder for feeding, moving around, grooming and social interaction. 

The Koala's nose is one of its most important features, and it has a very highly developed sense of smell. This is necessary to differentiate between types of gum leaves and to detect whether the leaves are poisonous or not. The Koala's digestive system is especially adapted to detoxify the poisonous chemicals in the leaves. The toxins are thought to be produced by the gum trees as a protection against leaf-eating animals like insects. Trees which grow on less fertile soils seem to have more toxins than those growing on good soils. This could be one reason why koalas will eat only certain types of eucalypts, and why they will sometimes even avoid them when they are growing on certain soils.

When approaching a tree to climb, koalas spring from the ground and catch their front claws in the bark, then bound upwards. Claw marks are usually visible on the trunks of trees regularly used as home trees by koalas. In the safety of their home trees, koalas assume a wide variety of sitting and sleeping postures, and they will move around the tree during the day and night to catch the sun or the breezes. On hot days it is common to see them with limbs dangling in an effort to keep cool, and during colder times, curled up in a ball to conserve body heat. When descending a tree, koalas come down bottom first. They regularly descend to the ground to change trees, and it is there that they are most vulnerable to predators such as dogs, foxes and dingoes, and also to the risk of injury or death from cars. They walk with an awkward-looking gait and can also run. Koalas have sometimes been observed swimming, but this is not a regular occurrence. 

Koalas use a range of sounds to communicate with one another over relatively large distances. There is a deep grunting bellow which the male uses to signify its social and physical position. Males save fighting energy by bellowing their dominance and they also bellow to allow other animals to accurately locate the position of the caller. Females do not bellow as often as males, but their calls too are used to express aggression as well as being part of sexual behaviour, often giving the impression of fighting. 

Mothers and babies make soft clicking, squeaking sounds and gentle humming or murmuring sounds to one another, as well as gentle grunts to signal displeasure or annoyance. All koalas share one common call which is elicited by fear. It is a sickening cry like a baby screaming and is made by animals under stress. It is often accompanied by shaking. Koalas also communicate by marking their trees with their scent. 

   

Myrmecobius fasciatus

Wandoo woodland is prime habitat. It has the highest concentrations of termites in the south-west and the trees drop many hollow branches, used by numbats as nest sites and refuges. They are also found in nearby powderbark woodland. At Perup, near Manjimup, they live in the jarrah forest, adapting well to areas that have been regenerated after timber harvesting. 

These marsupials dig up the insects' galleries in the soil of the forest floor and lick up the occupants with their long, thin tongues. They shelter in hollow logs that are too narrow for most of their predators to enter. If an enemy invades, numbats can use their rumps, which have extremely thick skin, to plug the hollow.  

More on Numbat

   

Ornithorhynchus anatinus

The webbed fore-paw is used for swimming, and on land, the skin, which extends beyond the long claws, is folded back to enable the animal to walk or burrow. The webbing on the hind foot does not extend beyond the bases of the claws and this foot is used mainly for steering and to tread water. The tail acts as a powerful rudder when swimming and also aids the animal when diving. 

The male has a spur on the inner side of each hind limb, which is connected by means of a hollow groove to a poison gland. This spur is used to inflict wounds on natural enemies and other males, and may possibly play some part in mating. The poison is capable of inflicting a very painful injury to humans. 

Surprisingly, platypus are capable of many vocalisations including a soft growling sound when disturbed. Have a listen this rarely heard growl! 

The platypus is widespread in eastern Australia, ranging from tropical lowlands to sub-alpine areas. In Tasmania the platypus is common in the lakes of the Central Highlands (even in lakes over 914 m above sea level), and in rivers and streams of the south, southwest and northwest coasts. However, closer settlement is reducing the numbers in certain coastal rivers. 

Click here to view a short video.

Although platypus are strong swimmers they are not fast and prefer slow flowing streams. Platypus live in burrows that they dig on the banks of fresh water rivers, lakes or streams. Burrows are usually 4.5 to 9 m in length, oval shaped and are constructed just above the water line, often obscured by vegetation. 

Platypus are solitary animals that only come together to mate, however, several individuals may be found living in close proximity. They are shy and wary, usually venturing out only in the early morning and evening, although there is considerable variability in the time that individuals are active. Platypus forage for food for about 12-13 hours every day and can consume up to half their own body weight a day. They dive for between 20-40 seconds during foraging, resting on the surface for only 10 seconds between dives. They perform about 80 dives per hour. 

An interesting behaviour that has been observed in platypus is "wedging", where the animal wedges itself underwater beneath a rock or tree stump. It is possible that the animal is resting, as its metabolic rate while wedging is less than that of resting at the surface. 

Grooming of the fur is very important and is carried out in the water or on land. In some areas platypus spend a surprising amount of time out of water, crossing land between tarns or dams and even foraging for worms in waterlogged paddocks. 

Breeding occurs during spring but is generally earlier in the north of Australia than in the south. Mating takes place in the water and after 12 to 14 days, between 1 and 3 eggs are laid in a nesting burrow constructed by the female. This burrow is up to 20 m long and has a nesting chamber at the end which is lined with damp plant material. The eggs are incubated between the belly and the tail of the female and hatch after 10 to 12 days. Like the echidna, the platypus lacks nipples and milk from the mammary glands oozes out through ducts at two areas on the abdomen. It is believed that the hair around these areas acts as teats that allows the young to suck the milk. By six weeks the young are furred, have their eyes open and may leave the burrow for short intervals and even enter the water. When four to five months old the young are weaned. 

When foraging on the bottom, platypus swim with their eyes, ears and nostrils closed, using their electro-sensitive bill to locate and probe for food. This finely tuned electro-perception and sense of touch allows platypus to find and capture a range of prey including worms, insects, crustaceans, molluscs and small vertebrates such as tadpoles. Typical prey are the larvae of caddisflies, mayflies, two-winged flies and shrimps. Once caught, prey are carried to the surface in cheek-pouches where they are eaten. Adults have no teeth -- instead small, horny pads are used to hold and crush prey.

Main source for info: www.calm.wa.gov.au 

   

Setonix brachyurus

Once very common in areas such as the Swan Coastal Plain near Perth and Gingin, quokkas are now uncommon on the mainland and confined to isolated pockets within the south-west corner of WA. On the mainland, densely vegetated areas around swamps or streams are preferred. On Rottnest Island, however, they inhabit low and scrubby coastal vegetation where water is not always available year round. 

Quokkas on Rottnest have a well-developed pecking order. The males defend individual spaces and the older a male is, the more authority he has. Defined groups of 25 to 150 adults occupy shared territories, which they rarely leave. They breed once a year, and produce a single joey. Their low numbers on the mainland, compared with relatively large numbers in less than optimum habitat on fox-free Rottnest Island, suggest that mainland populations are heavily predated by foxes. 

   

Sarcophilus harrisii

Devils once occurred on mainland Australia, with fossils having been found widely. Today, however the devil is only found in Tasmania from the coast to the mountains. It is believed the devil became extinct on the mainland some 600 years ago - before European settlement of the continent. The dingo, which was brought into Australia by Aboriginal people, is believed to have ousted the devil from the mainland. 

They live almost anywhere where they can hide and find shelter by day and food at night. Today, devils are particularly common in some north, east and central districts where some farming practices (e.g. rangeland sheep grazing) provide much carrion. Tasmanian devils can be seen in many rural and wilderness areas by slowly driving at night along secondary roads. 

Click here to view a short video.

Devils usually mate in March, and the young are born in April. More young are born than can be accommodated in the mother's backward-opening pouch, which has 4 teats. Although 4 pouch young sometimes survive, the average number is 2 or 3. Each young, firmly attached to a teat, is carried in the pouch for about 4 months. After this time the young start venturing out of the pouch and are then left in a simple den - often a hollow log. Young are weaned at 5 or 6 months of age, and are thought to have left the mother and be living alone in the bush by late December. They probably start breeding at the end of their second year. Longevity is up to 7-8 years. 

The devil is mainly a scavenger and feeds on whatever is available. Powerful jaws and teeth enable it to completely devour its prey - bones, fur and all. Wallabies, and various small mammals and birds, are eaten - either as carrion or prey. Reptiles, amphibians, insects and even sea squirts have been found in the stomachs of wild devils. Carcasses of sheep and cattle provide food in farming areas. Devils maintain bush and farm hygiene by cleaning up carcasses. Devils are famous for their rowdy communal feeding at carcasses - the noise and displays being used to establish dominance amongst the pack. 

The devil is nocturnal (active after dark). During the day it usually hides in a den, or dense bush. It roams considerable distances - up to 16 km - along well-defined trails in search of food. It usually ambles slowly with a characteristic gait but can gallop quickly with both hind feet together. Young devils are more agile however and can climb trees. Although not territorial, devils have a home range. 

The famous gape or yawn of the devil that looks so threatening, can be misleading. This display is performed more from fear and uncertainty than from aggression. Devils produce a strong odour when under stress, but when calm and relaxed they are not smelly. The devil makes a variety of fierce noises, from harsh coughs and snarls to high pitched screeches. A sharp sneeze is used as a challenge to other devils, and frequently comes before a fight. Many of these spectacular behaviours are bluff and part of a ritual to minimise harmful fighting when feeding communally at a large carcass. 

   

Macropus fuliginosus

Western grey kangaroos are widespread and abundant across southern Australia. In fact, they are now probably found in greater numbers than before European settlement because of the provision of pasture and additional water points. As a result, they are often culled under licence in some areas by farmers concerned about damage to fences and crops. These 'roos' prefer open grasslands, such as paddocks, near water and with nearby forest or woodland. 

Western greys are mainly grass eaters. The males may fight for the attention of a fertile female. They breed throughout the year, although most young are born in summer. They usually produce one joey. Newborns resemble a jelly bean and take only a few minutes to climb to the pouch and attach themselves to a teat. They leave the pouch at around nine months but continue to suckle for a further nine months, often while another young is occupying the pouch. The mothers and their young use a series of clucking sounds to communicate. 
 
   

Petrogale brachyotis

The nabarlek is a dull reddish-colour with light grey and black marbling and greyish-white beneath. The tail is tipped with a black brush, and a dark but indistinct shoulder stripe can sometimes be seen. Rothschild's rock-wallabies have dark brown ears and upper faces, while the neck, throat and cheeks are a very light grey. The rest of the body is greyish-brown above and light brown below, with a darker tail. However, the back of the neck and shoulders can sometimes be a purplish colour. Black-footed rock-wallabies are generally greyish-brown, with some grey on their head and shoulders. The brownish-grey tail ends in a black brush. They have a whitish and dark brown side stripe. They have a light stripe on the cheek and a dark stripe from the forehead to the mid-back. 

Wallabies are generally found in rocky hills, cliffs and gorges. Short-eared rock-wallabies are found across most of the Kimberley (other than the deserts) and northern parts of the Northern Territory. Relatively little is known about the status of the monjon, as it is confined to rugged parts of the far north Kimberley. The nabarlek is found over a wider area of the northern Kimberley and far north Northern Territory. Rothschild's rock-wallabies are reasonably common and found in the Hamersley Range, Chichester Range and the Dampier Archipelago, and at Cape Range National Park. Black-footed rock-wallabies are regarded as threatened and those in the Kimberley are confined to a very small area in the south of the region. 

Rock-wallabies mostly eat grass but they may also browse on herbs, leaves and fruit. They are most active at night but may feed in the late afternoon and bask during the early morning. Breeding is fairly continuous after the female reaches sexual maturity. After they have left the pouch, the young are usually deposited in a sheltered position while the mother goes foraging. She regularly returns to suckle them until they are weaned.

   

Vombatus ursinus

Often their true colour is obscured by the colour of the dirt or clay in which they have been digging. On the mainland they average 1 m in length and 27 kg in weight yet can reach up to 1.2 m in length and weights of up to 35 kg. The Tasmanian Wombat is not as large or bulky, averaging 85 cm in length and 20 kg in weight, while the Flinders Island wombat is smaller still at only 75 cm in length. 

They have short legs, large paws and long, strong claws which are used in the excavation of burrows. The forepaws are used for digging and after pushing the dirt to one side the wombat will back out, moving the loose dirt with both the front and back paws. It differs from all other marsupials by having a single pair of upper and lower incisors (front teeth). These teeth are never ground away as they are both rootless and never stop growing; which is just as well as the wombat often uses them for cutting through obstructions, much like a beaver! Being marsupials, female wombats have a pouch that in their case opens backward to prevent dirt and debris entering while burrowing. 

In Tasmania the wombat is widespread and found from sea level to alpine areas but shows a preference for heath land, coastal scrub and open forest, where soils favour their burrowing habits. Wombats often dig their burrows in the areas above creeks and gullies. Burrows can be up to 20 m long and more than 2 m below the ground, and have numerous connecting tunnels and entrances. There may also be more than one nest in the burrow, which they make from sticks, leaves and grasses. Wombats are mostly nocturnal, usually coming out at night to graze when temperatures are lower. However, in cold periods they may sometimes be seen about during the day either grazing or basking in the sun. They graze for between 3 and 8 hours a night, during which time they may travel many kilometres and visit up to four burrows within their home range to rest or tidy up the burrow. Although they are solitary animals, with only one wombat inhabiting any one burrow, the overlap of home ranges does occasionally result in a number of wombats using the same burrow. To avoid the overlap of feeding areas they use scent-marking, vocalisations and aggressive displays. Wombats not only leave their burrow to graze but will also spend time rubbing themselves against logs or branches. If used often enough, these rubbing posts may be recognised by their worn or polished appearance. 

The distinctive cube shaped dung of the wombat is a useful indication of its comings and goings. Any new object within a home range is a prime target for marking with dung, particularly if it is elevated. Fallen trees, fresh mushrooms, rocks and even an upright stick have been found with dung on top! The cube shape means that dung is less likely to roll off such objects. 

The rump of the wombat is covered by a very tough, thick skin. If threatened, a wombat will dive into a nearby burrow or hollow log, using its rump as protection from the teeth and claws of its attacker. The wombat is also capable of crushing attackers against the burrow roof. Their natural enemies are Tasmanian devils and eagles.

Although the wombat may breed at any time of the year, mating most often occurs during winter. The female has 2 teats in her pouch yet despite this, 30 days after mating, only one young is born. The juvenile remains in the pouch for 6 months, after which it stays with the female up until it is 18 months old. From the time the juvenile leaves the pouch it begins to substitute increasing amounts of plant material for milk until, when about 15 months old, it stops suckling altogether. Sexual maturity is reached at 2 years of age and wombats live for in excess of 5 years in the wild. Due to the long period of time that the young is dependent on the mother, it is likely that females only rear one young every two years. However, if the young dies early, or if conditions are good enough for it to leave the pouch early, she may raise another. 

The diet of the wombat is composed entirely of plant material. Its main food is native grasses but shrubs, roots, sedges, bark and herbs are also eaten, while moss seems to be a particular delicacy. At times of food shortages they may dig up sections of dead grass to get at the roots. When feeding, the front feet of wombats are surprisingly dextrous -- they can pick up vegetation with one foot and 'hand' it to the mouth! 

[for a complete list of Australian mammals]

   

Sometimes in the glow of floodlights around sportsgrounds, or around streetlights in a well-treed car park, smaller, more agile bats can be seen dodging and twisting in pursuit of insects. Their dexterity is worth watching, especially when you realise that they are emitting sound pulses well beyond the range of our hearing, and listening for echoes to locate obstacles and food. These little bats include the Gould's wattled bat, chocolate bat, lesser long-eared bat, western long-eared bat, western flase pipistrelle, southern mastiff-bat and King River eptesicus. There will often be several species feeding around the lights. 

While some tropical bat species live solely in caves, most of those from the south-west roost by day in trees. Many of them will live in small colonies in hollow tree limbs. Some, however, live fairly solitary lives under peeling bark, beneath the skirts of blackboys or even in dense clusters of leaves. 

   

Mictis profana

These insects are found throughout the Australian mainland, but are absent from Tasmania. They are also found in Indonesia, Fiji and Papua New Guinea. Crusader bugs feed on a range of native and introduced plants. In the garden they are often seen on citrus plants, but are also particularly common on a variety of native wattles and eucalypts. 

Adults live for about three and a half months, mating regularly throughout their life span. Several eggs are laid every five to six days, with only about a third surviving the various larval stages to reach adulthood.