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The Cassowary is a large, shy, flightless bird that lives in the forests of Australia. The Cassowary has long legs, a massive body, and a featherless, bright colored neck and head. The largest species of Cassowary is about 5 feet tall and about 120 pounds. The Cassowary's feet have three toes with sharp claws on each, and it can run about 40 miles per hour.
The Kookaburra is a bird found in Australia. It is forty-five centimeters (eighteen inches) long and weighs about .5 kilograms (one pound). It has a square head and a large beak. There are two types of Kookaburras: the Laughing Kookaburra, which is found in the bush of Eastern Australia and the Blue-Winged Kookaburra, which is found in the swamps of Northern Australia. These birds have very keen vision and they are great, fierce hunters. Preys to the Kookaburra include rodents, fish, frogs, worms, lizards, and snakes. The Kookaburra has a very interesting way of hunting. Once the prey is caught, they will beat it up against a log or rock of some sort to kill it. Then they pound it with their beak to soften the meat. The prey is then either eaten whole or eaten one half at a time. After eating the prey, it will then regurgitate the food and save it in their nest for later meals.
The Laughing Kookaburra probably got its name from the fact that its voice sounds like someone laughing. The Blue-Winged Kookaburra probably got its name from its color. The Blue-Winged Kookaburra is light brown with a light gray-white head and its wings and rear end are a bright blue. Laughing Kookaburras are also brown, but they have some black on their wings and tail. Their head is again also a gray-white color. Kookaburras live in family groups. Their nest is usually found in the hollow of a tree with a large opening in the front. The female Kookaburra lays between 1-6 blue-green speckled eggs. The eggs are kept warm for twenty-five days before hatching. When they are hatched the mother and father both feed them. Their parents feed them for a month before they are able to fly, and it takes another month until they are ready to feed themselves. They stay with their parents for four years.
back to topThe Tasmanian Devil is a large, carnivorous marsupial that has large, powerful jaws. They have a white band on their chest and the rest of their body is black. The Tasmanian Devil can be found in Rainforests, Eucalyptus forests, and they have even been found in outer city suburbs. The Tasmanian Devil is a nocturnal marsupial that spends the day sleeping in caves or old wombat burrows. Mating season for the Tasmanian Devil is between February and last September. The babies are born about eighteen days later, each of the young is barely larger than a grain of rice. The young are carried in their mother's pouch for about fifteen weeks. The Tasmanian Devil leaves the mother at about 28 weeks and can live up to 8 years.
Most people think the Koala is a bear but it actually has no relation to the bear. The Koala is a nocturnal marsupial that spends most of its life in trees and feeds only on Eucalyptus tree leaves. The Koala is very fuzzy and is usually gray with a white chest but sometimes can be brown with a white chest. The Koala almost never drink water because the Eucalyptus leaves provide them with the needed moisture. The Koala sleeps much of the time because its diet is so poor in energy. The Koala usually only have 1 baby but they can have twins, which are kept inside the mothers pouch. Whenever the baby is 24 weeks old it grows its first teeth. At 30 weeks, the baby stays mainly out of the pouch. At 48 weeks the baby can venture away, and at 1 year they can survive alone.
There are many reptiles, insects, and amphibians in Australia. Many say that Australia has the largest amount of venomous snakes and spiders. I don't know about that, but there are quite a few. One reptile in Australia is the crocodile. There are 2 different types of crocodiles (crocs): the salt water croc and the fresh water croc. There are many differences between the two. Some differences are: the fresh water croc has a long, narrow snout while the salt water croc has a short, stubby snout. The salt water croc lives in both salt and fresh water while the fresh water croc lives in only fresh and slightly salty water. The salt water croc reproduces in the wet season while the fresh water croc reproduces in the dry season. The fresh water croc has teeth like needle while the salt water croc has teeth that are cone shaped.
The salt water croc has a nickname of "salty." Salties live in Australia's northern coast and up to two hundred kilometers inland. They are found in the open sea or inland in fresh water swamps and billabongs. They usually grow up to four meters long although larger crocs up to seven meters long are out there. They are covered in scales along their neck and back. The scales on their sides are brown and yellow while the rest of their scales are grayish brown. They are thought to live anywhere from seventy to hundred years. Their rear feet are webbed and they have clear eyelids for swimming and seeing underwater. Have you ever seen a crocodile with its mouth open? It has its mouth open because it is trying to cool down. The croc has a neat way of catching its prey. It waits close to the water's edge then pounces on the victim in the blink of an eye or it overpowers them and then drowns them. Once dead the croc breaks the prey into small pieces with a flick of the head to break bones or twists and rolls the body of its prey. If hungry enough, it will sometimes eat already dead animals. Young crocs eat small animals like fish, crabs, and insects. Adult crocs eat larger animals like fish, turtles, birds, and dingoes. The female croc lays between forty to sixty eggs which feel leathery. Their nesting mound, made up of plants, mud, and soil, is about two meters long and raises the eggs above water level to help keep the eggs safe. The female croc guards her nest for three months until the baby crocs use a special egg tooth on their snout to break free from their egg. The female then carries her young in her mouth to the water. The temperature that the eggs are kept determines if the croc will be a male or female. If the temperature is around 31.6°C, it will be a male. If the temperature is over or under 31.6°C, it will be a female. Sadly, though, only one percent of baby crocs live to become adults.
back to topOne amphibian found in Australia is the Blue Mountains Tree Frog. The tree frog is found in Eastern Australia. They are found from the coast of New South Wales and Eastern Victoria to the Blue Mountains and the Great Dividing Range. They are found in or around rocks that are in small creeks and small waterways. They are four to six centimeters long. These frogs are medium to light brown in color with dark flecks on top and has a white underside. Some distinctive marks of this tree frog are: a dark stripe and thin lighter stripes along the side, bright green patches found on its head, arms and legs and then red-orange marks around its arms and legs. These tree frogs are very strong jumpers. Despite the fact that the toes are only half webbed, they are strong swimmers.
The breeding of the tree frog has been seen in Spring (September to November) and may go through January. Usually up to 1,000 eggs are laid. The tadpoles are dark brown with metallic gold stripes. Their larvae life extends from two to four months.
An insect found in Australia is the Bogong Moth. The Aboriginal name for moth is Bogong which is probably how it got its name. The main physical difference between the moth and the butterfly are the antennae. The moths antennae are feather shaped and feels like a feather while the butterfly's antennae are thin, long and club tipped. The color of the moth ranges between light brown and black. Their wing span is around five centimeters and it has four wings. Their fore wings have an arrow-marked streak with a comma-shaped spot and a pale, round spot on them. The back wings are light brown with dark edging. During Summer they migrate to the higher country of the Australian Alps. The Australian Alps is the area of the Great Dividing Range, Victoria's snowy mountains, high plains and New South Wales. Large cities like Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra are located between the highlands and Australia's seaboard which is the migrating path of the moth. Since winds are a problem for migrating moths, large cities are sometimes plagued with moths. During the months of November through March, the moths are inactive and live off their own body fat. During this inactive period, the Bogong Moth is hunted as a food source for the Aborigines.
The Bogong Moth lays up to two hundred eggs on a food plant near soil. The larvae (caterpillar) breaks out after four weeks. The color is the same as the adult moth. The larvae lives under soil at the base of the food plant and eats the food plant for its source of food. After the larvae come out of the egg, they go into a cocoon in their underground burrow. They are pests to farmers and are called cutworms. After four weeks, they emerge a moth.
Australia has many unique and interesting plants. Some of these plants are only found here because Australia has been isolated from the other continents for so long. There twenty-two thousand species of plants found here. Of these, ninety percent occur naturally. Luckily only eighty-three of these have become extinct.
Australia has many colorful flowers. Of the many flowers, Australia is covered with the flower called acacia. More than five hundred species are found. One type of this flower is called the golden wattle, is Australia's national flower. Many of the flowers such as salt bush and mulga shrubs provide food for the sheep. There are also lots of wild flowers in Australia.
Have you ever heard of a eucalyptus tree? These trees are only found in Australia and there are over five hundred species. These trees provide habitat for the Koala. Eucalyptus trees also smell like cough drops because eucalyptus leaves are used to make cough drops. Most eucalyptus trees reach three hundred feet in height. The jarrah and karri, a kind of eucalyptus, are valued for their hardness and durability. On the northeastern coast where there is a lot of rainfall and the temperatures are high, the land is densely populated in forests. In these forests, oak, ash, cedar, brush box, and beech trees are found. The trees found in the mountains are ash, blue gums and wooly butts.
Many grasses are found during seasonal floodings. Of the grasses there is a lot of native grass and desert wild flowers. Water lilies are found among the streams and lagoons.
In agriculture, the main crop is wheat. This covers almost half of cultivated land. There is also barley, rye and hay. Sugarcane is also harvested in Australia. Many fruits are also found here. They include, nectarine, apples, peaches, oranges and bananas.
Now you have learned about the many different plants native to Australia. These plants also provide habitat for many different animals. Hopefully the number of plants already endangered will decrease.
Some Australian mammals are the platypus, dingo, rabbit, and the Steller's Sea Cow which is endangered.
The platypus is native to Tasmania, Southern Australia, and Eastern Australia, which is where it lays its eggs. Its bill has soft, moist, and leathery skin. Its webbed feet have pretty much the same type of skin as its bill. In total, its body length is between 30 and 45 centimeters.
The dingo is just another form of the domesticated dog. Its body is about 120 centimeters long and 50 centimeters tall. It is short-haired fur which is usually yellowish, but can sometimes be white, black, brown, or a rust color. It has a bushy tail, erect ears and a sharp muzzle.
There are at least 66 varieties of the domesticated rabbit. They usually have erect ears. To control the rabbit population, a virus called myxomatosis was created. This virus was only deadly to rabbits, however, it made its way to Britain, Belgium, and, and France where it killed many rabbits. Here the rabbit has many useful purposes.
Australian mammals eat more often than cold-blooded animals, because food is one way that they keep warm. Pangolins and anteaters, large insect eaters, usually locate their food by sight or smell. Most carnivores hunt alone, but wolves, lions, and their relatives hunt for their food in organized groups to be able to bring down larger prey. Ruminants, or hoofed animals, have specialized 3 or 4 part stomachs, which help digest from plant cell walls. When ruminants eat their food they throw it back up and then chew it again.
Over the past few hundred years, the number of species of mammals that are becoming extinct is growing rapidly. The Steller's sea cow became extinct in 1768.
Animals from prairie dogs to aquatic species, and many in between, have become seriously affected by water pollution which has led to many preservation and captivity breeding programs.