Shane Allwood Photography

The Striated Heron is probably the least obtrusive of Australia’s herons. It lives quietly among the mangrove forests, mudflats and oyster-beds of eastern, northern and north-western Australia, where it creeps about in the soft mud among the mangrove roots in search of prey such as fish, crabs and other marine invertebrates. When foraging, these herons usually adopt a hunched posture, with the head and neck drawn back into the bird’s body, while keeping the bill held horizontally, parallel to the surface of the mud. Description The Striated Heron is a small, squat water bird with short legs, a black crown and a small, drooping crest. There are two colour morphs (forms). The grey morph has a grey face, throat and neck streaked centrally with black, dark brown and white. The dark grey upperparts have a metallic green sheen and pink-brown to grey underparts. The wings are also green grey, with each feather outlined yellow. The eye is yellow outlined with dark grey, the bill is blac...

The Spotted-tailed Quoll is the second largest carnivorous marsupial in Australia after the Tasmanian Devil. Identification There are four species of quolls in Australia and all have the characteristic pointed snout, well-developed canines and hairy tail. As their name suggests, the Spotted-tailed Quoll is the only species where the pattern of white spots on the body continues to the tail. Distribution The Spotted-tailed Quoll is found in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. Habitat Spotted-tailed Quolls live in forests and woodlands and heath. Feeding and Diet At night, this solitary animal hunts and feeds on a variety of prey including birds, medium-sized mammals and reptiles, which it attacks by biting the back of the skull or neck. Other behaviours and adaptations During the day, the Spotted-tailed Quoll shelters in caves, rock crevices or hollow logs. Conservation Status The Spotted-tailed Quoll population is seriously threatened througho...

The Dingo is Australia's wild dog. It was probably introduced to Australia by Asian seafarers about 4,000 years ago. Its origins have been traced back to a south Asian variety of Grey Wolf . Recent DNA studies suggest that Dingoes may have been in Australia even longer (between 4,640-18,1000 years; Oskarsson et al 2011), however, the earliest undisputed archaeological finding of the Dingo in Australia has been dated to 3,500 years ago. Identification The Dingo, is a placental mammal which means it gives birth to live young, feeds its young via mammary glands that produce milk and has fur or hair of some form. The colour of a Dingo's coat is largely determined by where it lives. The 'standard' coat colour is ginger with white feet. However in the desert areas, the fur is more golden yellow while in forested areas the fur can be a darker tan to black. The body fur is short while the tail is quite bushy. Its dog-like appearance with a relatively broad head and erec...

The Apostlebird is a medium-sized dark grey bird with a short strong bill, brown wings and black tail. It is normally seen in groups of six to ten birds, and is usually seen on the ground. It belongs to the group of birds known as 'mud-nesters', the Family Corcoracidae, noted for their communal life style and their bowl nests constructed of mud and plant fibres. Distribution: The Apostlebird is found in eastern Australia in inland areas from lower Cape York Peninsula, Queensland to northern Victoria and from Naracoorte to Mount Lofty Ranges, South Australia. There is also an isolated population in the Elliott and Katherine areas, Northern Territory. Feeding: The Apostlebird usually eats seeds and vegetable matter, insects and other invertebrates and, sometimes, small vertebrates. In autumn and winter, it will move to more open country, where seeds become the more important part of its diet. The Apostlebird forages on the ground in groups, often in association with...

Despite being predominantly brown, the Pacific Black Duck has always been known as the ‘black duck’. Its only black plumage is a bold stripe that runs across the bird’s face, from its bill to behind its eye, giving it a distinctively striking pattern. It has been claimed that the duck appears as though it is black when seen at a distance. The species is known as the ‘Grey Duck’ in New Zealand, but as it has barely any grey plumage, this is hardly a more appropriate name! Description The Pacific Black Duck is mostly mid-brown in colour, with each feather edged buff. The head pattern is characteristic, with a dark brown line through the eye, bordered with cream above and below and a dark brown crown. The upper wing colour is the same as the back, with a bright glossy green patch in the secondary flight feathers. The white underwing is conspicuous in flight. Young Pacific Black Ducks are similar to the adults in plumage. Distribution The Pacific Black Duck is found in all but ...

The Australian White Ibis is identified by its almost entirely white body plumage and black head and neck. The head is featherless and its black bill is long and down-curved. During the breeding season the small patch of skin on the under-surface of the wing changes from dull pink to dark scarlet. Adult birds have a tuft of cream plumes on the base of the neck. Females differ from males by being slightly smaller, with shorter bills. Young birds are similar to adults, but have the neck covered with black feathers. In flight, flocks of Australian White Ibis form distinctive V-shaped flight patterns. Another common name for this bird is Sacred Ibis, but this more appropriately refers to a closely related African species. Distribution: The Australian White Ibis is common and widespread in northern and eastern Australia, and both its range and abundance in western Australia is expanding, despite its absence from Western Australia prior to the 1950s. The species is absent from Tasmani...

The Southern Boobook is the smallest and most common owl in Australia. It is identified by its plumage, which is dark chocolate-brown above and rufous-brown below, heavily streaked and spotted with white. The bill is grey with a darker tip, and the feet are grey or yellow. The facial disc is chocolate brown and the eyes are large and yellowish. Tasmanian birds are smaller and more heavily spotted with white, while birds of the Cape York rainforests are slightly larger and darker. Young Southern Boobooks are almost entirely buff-white below, with conspicuous dark brown facial discs. Like other owl species, the Southern Boobook is nocturnal. Birds are often observed perched on an open branch or tree-top. It is also known as the 'Mopoke'. Distribution: Southern Boobooks are found throughout mainland Australia and Tasmania, and on some coastal islands. Closely related species are found in New Zealand, New Guinea and Indonesia. Feeding: The Southern Boobook feeds...

Despite its name, the cotton pygmy goose is actually a small, surface-feeding duck. This bird has a goose-like bill and a white head, neck and underbelly. It is dark glossy green on top and has a narrow breast band. Females have a duller plumage, a dark eye-line stripe and white eyebrows. During the breeding season, males have a black band around the neck base. The cotton pygmy goose uses large hollows in trees close to the water for nesting. Nests can be lined with grass, rubbish and feathers and clutch sizes range from 6 to 12 eggs. Nesting occurs between November and April. The female incubates and rears the ducklings with some support from the male. Males stay with the female and ducklings for a fortnight, while the female will stay for six months. This species has limited territorial displays, often co-existing peacefully with other nesting pairs in the same area. Where are they found? In Australia, the cotton pygmy goose ranges along the eastern coast from NSW to QLD, wit...

Unlike other terns which have sharp, dagger-like beaks, the Gull-billed Tern, as its name suggests, has a shorter, stouter bill. Its bill is not its only gull-like feature: its stiff-winged flight also resembles that of a gull. This large tern inhabits shallow wetlands, including coastal or inland lakes, swamps and lagoons, as well as sheltered bays and estuaries, where they hawk for flying insects, dip into the water to take insects or small fish from the surface of the water or mud, or plunge into the water for fish.

The Straw-necked Ibis is widespread across much of the Australian mainland except the harshest deserts, and they often fly hundreds or thousands of kilometres between temperate locations in the south and tropical areas, and between inland sites and the coasts, possibly as regular seasonal movements, and sometimes in response to local environmental conditions. The longest recorded movement of a Straw-necked Ibis was from Muchea in south-western WA to Beaudesert in south-eastern Queensland, a distance of well over 3500 kilometres.

The Australian Pelican is often seen around the coasts, where it can be seen roosting on sandbanks, rock platforms and reefs, or swimming in lagoons, bays and estuarine waters, dipping their over-sized bills into the water to catch fish. However, on the rare occasions that monsoonal rains flood the salt lakes in the arid inland of Australia, many pelicans take advantage of the conditions and flock there in their thousands to breed. When it dries out, they leave and head for other less-ephemeral terrestrial wetlands or the coast.

(prev known as the Black-winged Stilt) The White-headed Stilt is a large black and white wader with long orange-red legs and a straight black bill. It has black on the back of the neck, a white collar and a red iris. Both sexes are similar, and the plumage does not change during the year. White-headed Stilts give a repeated high-pitched barking call. Young White-headed Stilts lack black on the back of the neck and have grey-brown wings and back, speckled with white. They have a smudged grey crown, which extends down the back of the neck as the birds get older.