Fun Regent Honeyeater Facts for Kids

• Regent Honeyeaters are a critically endangered bird species in Australia.
• Regent Honeyeaters are a striking bird.  Although they have a shiny black head, neck and upper breast, their back, tail and undercarriage are all flecked with bright yellow feathers.
• Regent Honeyeaters grow to about 20-24cm long and have a wingspan of 30cm.
• The Regent Honeyeater was once known as the ‘‘Warty-faced Honeyeater’ due to the warty bare skin around its eye.
• Female Regent Honeyeaters are a little smaller than males.  They usually only weigh about 39 grams as an adult, while the males can weigh up to 45 grams.
• Regent Honeyeaters are master nest builders!  They create an intricate nest with eucalypt bark strips forming the outside cup shape, cobwebs holding it in tight, and a lining of fine dried grass inside it.
• Regent Honeyeaters lay 2-3 eggs at a time.
• Regent Honeyeaters lay very pretty eggs! They are speckled purple-red, with violet-grey markings.
• Regent Honeyeaters are omnivores.  They are predominantly nectar feeders but also eat small insects, bugs, and spiders.
• Regent Honeyeater fledglings are fed up to 29 times an hour by their parents!
• In winter, some Regent Honeyeaters mimic the call of wattlebirds and friarbirds.  They are the only species of bird that mimic close relative species.
• The Regent Honeyeater song is a quiet, flute-like sound.
• When many Regent Honeyeaters are sharing the same tree they act in a funny way!  They bob and stretch their necks and squabble between themselves.
• Regent Honeyeaters live for about 10 years in the wild.

The Regent Honeyeater’s diet and habitat

Although they were once more widespread, the Regent Honeyeater is now found mainly in Victoria and NSW.  They live in eucalypt forests and woodlands and are often seen in blossoming trees, mistletoe, orchards and urban gardens.  

The Regent Honeyeater is an omnivore and feeds predominantly on the nectar of Eucalypt, but also enjoys fruit, small insects, spiders and Lerp (a small bug that lives on gum leaves).  Although their distribution is sporadic, they can fly long distances to follow the flowering of favoured plant species. 

The Regent Honeyeater’s Song

The Regent Honeyeater has a beautifully melodic, flute-like and relatively quiet song compared to many others. However, there are some regional variations between their songs because many of them move around and also, their declining numbers, many of the young are not learning their unique calls.

For this reason, during the Winter periods, many isolated Regent Honeyeaters have been found to mimic the calls of wattlebirds and friarbirds.  They are actually the only bird species that mimic their close relatives’ calls if needed.

Here is a video of a Regent Honeyeater so you can hear what they sound like 

Life Cycle of a Regent Honeyeater

The Regent Honeyeater has a breeding season from August to January.  This appears to correspond with the flowering of key eucalyptus and mistletoe species. 

Female Regent Honeyeaters lay 2-3 eggs into their cleverly-created cup-shaped nests.  Built from eucalypt bark, spiderwebs and fine, dried grass that they have collected, they are usually created in the fork of a tree anywhere from 1 – 20 metres from the ground. 

After 14 days, the eggs will hatch; interestingly, more males than females are usually born.  Unfortunately, the survival rate of their eggs and nestlings is low due to predators such as sugar gliders (that love to feed on their eggs) and magpies and pied currawong (which feed on the nestlings).

The male is loyal to his mate, staying with them for the entire breeding season, helping feed the chicks when they are born, and always in a nearby tree to keep an eye on them.  Once the chicks hatch, they will be brooded by both parents and fed regularly until they fledge at 16 days old.

The Regent Honeyeater’s Conservation Status

Sadly, the number of Regent Honeyeaters has dramatically declined in recent decades, with their conservation status currently listed as ‘critically endangered’.  This is due to many reasons, including the large levels on land clearing and the fierce competition they face from other more aggressive honeyeater breeds.

What is being done to help the Regent Honeyeater?

The Australian National Recovery Plan for the Regent Honeyeater is the result of close collaboration between the Australian Government and the Regent Honeyeater Recovery Team. Conservation efforts for this species in the wild are primarily focused on habitat protection and regeneration. Since 2008 there have been over 300 captive-bred Regent Honeyeaters released to the wild to help supplement wild populations.

Where can you find Regent Honeyeaters in Brisbane?

Although their declining population is mainly seen in Victoria and NSW, the Regent Honeyeater can be found in Brisbane too.  Due to our high number of Eucalypt trees and depending on the weather conditions, they have been known to fly great distances to find their favoured plants.  In recent years, they have been spotted at the Enoggera Dam, in Springfield and even on Fraser Island!

If you loved learning all about the Regent Honeyeater, you might also be interested in the following animal facts for kids:

Emu Facts for Kids

Wombat Facts for Kids

Here in the land down under we love our unique animals and our bilby is definitely one of them. Only found in Australia, these small rabbit-like marsupials have some very interesting features and behaviours, some of which are super helpful to our ecosystem and other animals too. If like us, you find these little guys super intriguing then you will love all of the fun bilby facts for kids that we have rounded up below. How many did you already know?

Fun Bilby Facts for Kids

• Bilbies are sometimes referred to as rabbit-eared bandicoots
• Bilbies live in deserts, dry forests, dry grasslands, and dry shrubby areas in Australia.
• Bilbies have pointed heads that taper into a long narrow snout.
• Bilbies have small black eyes.
• Bilbies don’t have very good eyesight, and rely on their hearing and sense of smell to find food and to sense danger.
• Bilbies have large ears, allowing them to have better hearing. 
• Bilbies are omnivores with a diet that includes insects such as termites, spiders and other small animals such as lizards and worms, small mammals, fruit, bulbs, and seeds.
• Bilbies typically make several burrows within its home range, up to about a dozen, and moves between them, using them for shelter both from predators and the heat of the day.
• Bilbies don’t need to drink, as they get all of the water they need from their food.
• Bilbies weigh up to 2.5 kg, females weighing proportionally less.
• Bilbies are nocturnal, only emerging from their burrows at night.
• A Bilby’s forelimbs are strong as they are designed for digging.
• Three of the five digits on each forepaw of a Bilby are clawed.
• Bilbies move around with a hare-like movement.
• Female bilbies have pouches, which open from the bottom, in which they carry their young. 
• Bilbies are currently rated ‘Vulnerable’ on the IUCN Red List
• Chocolate ‘Easter Bilbies’ are eaten at Easter as a way of raising awareness of the bilby’s vulnerable status.
• Each year, National Bilby Day is held on the second Sunday in September.

Bilby habitat and food

The Australian bilby prefers to live in the driest areas of Australia. This includes deserts, dry forests, grasslands, and dry shrubby areas in Australia. They are highly adaptive animals, which is why they can live in different habitat areas around Australia.

Bilbies are nocturnal and only come out at nighttime to look for their food. They don’t ha,, so good eyesight and so they rely on their large ears and snout to hear and smell their prey and predators. Using their long snouts, they dig out bulbs, tubers, spiders, termites, witchetty grubs and fungi. They use their tongues to lick up grass seeds.

Bilbies don’t drink any water as they get all the water they need from the foods that they eat – making the dry desert-like habitats they prefer ideal!

Life Cycle of a Bilby

Bilby at David Fleays on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.

Female bilbies usually give birth to 2-3 joeys at a time, and can have up to four litters each year. Usually, after only about 12 days of being pregnant, the joeys are born – now that is a quick pregnancy! In fact, it is one of the shortest pregnancy periods out of all mammals.

Once the joeys are born they crawl into their mother’s pouch, where they will spend about 3 months developing further and feeding off her milk. After a few more weeks outside of the pouch but in the burrow they will become independent. A bilby will then go out to dig their own burrows, mate and have their own babies and usually live for about 7 – 10 years.

Bilby burrows

Bilbies live in burrows that they dig themselves with their very strong forelimbs. They create them to provide both shelter from the heat and also from predators. Each bilby can actually have up to 12 burrows, with each one being up to 3m long and 2m deep!    

Bilby Conservation Status

Once widespread throughout Australia, bilby numbers fell significantly in the early 20th Century. 10% of that decline has occurred in just the past 12 years. The current population is estimated to be fewer than 10,000. The two main threats are competition for food from livestock and introduced species such as rabbits, and predation by foxes and feral cats. 

Unfortunately, the bilby is currently listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List. 

How can you help the bilby population?

Dreamworld Wildlife Foundation

The Save the Bilby Fund breed and release captive bilbies to a sanctuary surrounded by a predator exclusion fence in Currawinya National Park to build a population of 400 free-living bilbies. Save the Bilby Fund is a national charity launched on 28 March 1999 by the late Frank Manthey OAM and the late scientist Peter McRae to raise the money to build the fence in an effort to stop the steady decline of bilby numbers. For more information on how you can help , visit Save the Bilby Fund.

Where can you find Bilbies in Brisbane?

Bilbies can be found at David Fleays, Ipswich Nature Centre and Wildlife HQ on the Sunshine Coast. 

If you loved learning all about the bilby, you may also be interested in the following animal facts for kids:

Emu Facts for Kids

Wombat Facts for Kids

Fun Humpback Whale Facts

• Humpback Whales get their common name from the hump on their back that is visible as they prepare to dive.
• Humpback Whale tail patterns are all unique.
• Humpback Whales have baleen plates instead of teeth.
• Humpback Whales hunt in groups, also known as pods.
• Humpback Whales grow up to 18.3 m long and 36.3 metric tons.
• Humpback Whales can live for 80 to 90 years.
• Humpback Whales are known for singing loud, complex “songs” – lasting up to 30 minutes long!
• Only male Humpback Whales “sing”
• Humpback Whale songs can last for hours!
• Humpback Whales migrate annually from summer feeding grounds near the poles to warmer winter breeding waters closer to the Equator.
• Humpback Whales can be found in the North Pacific, Atlantic, Southern Ocean, and Indian Ocean.
• Humpback Whales have the longest migration on the planet.
• Humpback Whales are powerful swimmers.
• Humpback Whales use their massive tail fin, called a fluke, to propel themselves through the water and sometimes completely out of it.
• Humpback Whales often “breach”.  This is when the whales leap from the water before landing with a massive splash. 
• Humpback Whale babies are called calves.
• Female Humpback Whales nurse their calves for almost a year.
• Calves do not stop growing until they are ten years old.

The Humpback Whale Migration

Did you know that Humpback Whales have the longest migration of any animal on our planet?  Every year in January, around 60,000 Humpback Whales leave the cool, food-rich waters of Antarctica and begin a 5,000km, three-month journey to the much warmer waters found up and down the coast of Queensland.  It is here that they mate and give birth to their offspring.

Every year, we have big celebrations along the eastern coast of Australia when these magnificent animals put on an impressive show and ‘whale watching’ becomes a much-loved event.

Around 25,000 of them diverge around Tasmania and head up the east coast of Australia to Hervey Bay in Queensland. The other 35,000 or so travel up the west coast of Australia as far as Broome and the Kimberley.

The Lifecycle of the Humpback Whale

The reason why Humpback Whales migrate to warmer waters each year is to give birth to their young.  Baby humpback whales have a greater chance of survival if born in warmer waters. 

Although they are babies, they are still extremely large when born.  A baby humpback whale, or calf, can weigh as much as a tonne and are usually around 3-5 metres long!  A baby will stay with their mum for the first year of their life and will feed on her high-fat milk for 5 – 12 months.  By drinking this nutrient-rich milk, the babies grow very fast.  Both mum and bub will stay in the warmer waters until the baby is fully grown (to about 8-9 metres). 

Once they are on their own, adolescent humpbacks will start to travel in pairs or groups, where their primary goal is to eat.  They do this by filter feeding through their baleen plates (they don’t have teeth!).  

At around 6-10 years of age, the humpbacks start breeding. To attract a mate, the males put on a pretty impressive display of breaching, blowing bubbles, singing, and sometimes fighting with other males.  Baby whales are then born a year later, at around the time they have completed their long swim back to the warmer waters.

An adult female humpback does not give birth every single year, but typically every two or three years.

Humpback Whale Diet

Humpback Whales are carnivorous, meaning they eat meat.  Although they are such huge animals, the size of animals they prey on is actually rather small.  They love to feed on krill, small crustaceans and schooling fish.

The Humpback Whale “Song”

One of the things that Humpback Whales are most well-known for is their song.  They are known to sing a haunting tune beneath the waves and tend to sing the same song, specific to their location.  Although the tend to sing the same type of song, it does have variations and changes year-to-year so that it is never exactly the same all the time.

Scientists are actually still not sure what the main reason for their song is.  Performed only by the males, they did at one stage think it might be for mating, but this has not been confirmed.  The ‘songs’ tend to last between 10 – 30 minutes long, but some have been known to go for hours!  They are actually quite complex in their sounds and, as far as we know, humpback whales are the only animals, other than humans to create such complex, hierarchal patterns of sound.

In any given area, in any given period of time, all singers will perform nearly identical versions of the song. Sometimes the song will only change slightly, whereas in other years, the song is almost unrecognisable. Regardless of the scale of change, however, all singers within the same geographical region will adopt the same adjustments.

No wonder whale song fascinates people the world over!

Are Humpback Whales Endangered?

In the 1800s and early 1900s, commercial whaling almost drove the species to extinction. In 1970, the humpback whale was listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Conservation Act.

However since the 1980s, when the practice of commercial whaling largely ended, the population has substantially grown.  In fact, in 2022, Humpback Whales were removed from Australia’s threatened-species list, after the government’s independent scientific panel on threatened species deemed the mammals had made a major recovery.

Australia’s Humpback Whale population has increased from an estimated critically low 200 animals when commercial whaling ceased in the 1960s to around 60,000 – and is increasing at around 10 to 11.5 per cent per year.

Where to see Humpback Whales near Brisbane

Living where we do means we literally have front-row seats to the whales’ spectacular mating and breeding display right at our doorstep.  Seeing as they do this in the warm waters up and down the eastern coast of Queensland, there are many tours you can go on that will guarantee seeing them up close or you may even be able to view them from some shores.

Generally, the best time to see humpback whales on the East Coast is between May and November each year.  This is the best time to see the humpback whale migration as they often have calves and swim close to the shore in order to protect the calves from predators.

The best places to see humpback whales in Queensland are considered to be the Sunshine Coast, The Great Barrier Reef, and Hervey Bay. If you want to see Humpback Whales from the shoreline, then North Stradbroke is the best place to do this.  see humpback whales from the shoreline. 

If you loved reading these facts about the Humpback Whale then you can check out a whole range of other interesting and fun animal facts for kids here.

Find out where to see Whales from the land in Brisbane so you can experience the wonder of the whale migration! 

Fun Crocodile Facts

• Crocodiles are members of the order Crocodilia, which includes caimans, gharials and alligators.
• Australia is home to two species of crocodiles; the saltwater crocodile and the freshwater crocodile (also called Johnstone’s Crocodile).
• The main difference between a saltwater crocodile and a freshwater crocodile is the size. The saltwater crocodile is much bigger than the freshwater crocodile. 
• The saltwater crocodile is the largest species of crocodile.
• The largest one ever found was 6.17 m long.
• Saltwater crocodiles can weigh up to 907 kg.
• Saltwater Crocodiles are carnivores and eat fish, birds, frogs and any mammals smaller than them.
• Saltwater Crocodiles have the strongest bite of any animal in the world.
• Saltwater Crocodiles’ jaws have very high crushing strength (50 times that of a human’s and about 3 times that of a lion’s) but very low opening strength. That means their mouths can be held shut with just a rubber band.
• Saltwater Crocodiles can’t chew. They can only clamp down on their prey with their powerful jaws and swallow it whole.
• Saltwater Crocodiles swallow small stones to help grind up their food in their stomachs.
• Saltwater Crocodiles can go months without food.
• Saltwater Crocodiles are cold-blooded, meaning they can’t generate their own heat. That’s why they live in tropical climates.
• Saltwater Crocodiles dig out burrows on the banks of rivers or lakes to hibernate during colder months.
• Saltwater Crocodiles can live up to 75 years.
• An easy way to tell the difference between alligators and crocodiles is to observe the shape of their jaws. An alligator’s jaw is U-shaped, whereas a crocodile’s jaw is V-shaped.
• When crocodiles lose a tooth, it is quickly replaced. Over the lifespan of a single crocodile, approximately 8,000 teeth are lost and replaced!
• Saltwater Crocodiles don’t sweat. To keep cool, they keep their mouths wide open while sitting statue-still. It’s called ‘mouth gaping’.
• Saltwater Crocodiles have exceptional hearing. They can even hear their babies ‘chirping’ while still in their eggs!
• Saltwater Crocodiles swim very fast, up to speeds of 32 mph.
• Saltwater Crocodiles can hold their breath underwater for up to an hour.
• While the cane toad has been known to kill Saltwater Crocodiles, studies show Saltwater Crocodiles who eat a toad and just fall ill are known to develop taste aversions to this poisonous amphibian. 
• The colloquialism ‘crocodile tears’ comes from the somewhat common occurrence of ‘tears’ flowing from crocodiles’ eyes while devouring their prey. This strange phenomenon happens because crocodiles sometimes swallow too much air while eating, which impacts their lachrymal glands!

Where do Saltwater Crocodiles live?

Saltwater crocodiles don’t just live in Australia. They can also be found in Thailand, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Timor Leste, Malaysia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Singapore, India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Thailand and the Solomon Islands.

A video of a Saltwater Crocodile

Here you can see a saltwater crocodile in action. 

The most interesting fact about Saltwater Crocodiles

Crocodiles’ closest living relatives are birds! Crocodiles share a common ancestor with the bird, which lived around 240 million years ago and gave rise to the dinosaurs. Read more about this interesting scientific finding. 

Crocodile Sanctuaries in Brisbane

• Australia Zoo – Find this Brisbane zoo on the Sunshine Coast, 35 minutes north of Brisbane, and drop in for a choreographed crocodile show. Home of the late crocodile hunter Steve Irwin and loads of other animals today, it stands to reason that Australia Zoo is Queensland’s biggest and most well-known zoo. It’s perfect for a day out with the family. Consider booking a buggy in advance, especially if family members need assistance.
• Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary – Located an hour South of Brisbane, this sanctuary is home to their massive resident croc, Boss Hog. This brute was caught in the wild in the 1980s after killing a stud bull worth a hefty price. He is almost five meters long and 800kg in weight in captivity today. At 12:30 PM every day, one lucky visitor gets the chance to pole feed him chicken

Where to see saltwater crocodiles in the wild in Australia

Below is a map of where you can expect to find saltwater crocodiles in Australia. As you can see, most of Northern Australia is home to these incredible creatures. If you visit the top end of Australia, you should be guided by signs and local tour guides as to where and where you cannot swim or just go “walk about”. 

Other interesting animals in Australia

Australia is home to some of the most interesting animals in the world. You can find a complete list here of unique Australian animals or check out some of our favourites like the Queensland Grouper and fun facts about the platypus. 

Fun Emu Facts

• The Emu can be found only in Australia and is unofficial; it’s the national bird.
• Although they are endemic to Australia, their name, ‘Emu’, is most probably of Arabic origin.
• Emus are the second largest birds in the world after the ostrich.
• Emus can live up to twenty years in the wild and forty years in captivity.
• Emus have two sets of eyelids. One set to blink with and one to keep dust out.
• Emus can grow up to two meters tall. That’s as tall as a door!
• Emus are omnivores. They eat grass and bugs, like grasshoppers.
• Emus can go two whole months without food.
• Emus swallow small stones to help crush and digest the food in their stomachs (gizzards).
• In 1932, the Great Emu war took place in Western Australia. It was an attempt by the Australian government’s military to contain the growing population of emus. The Emus won!
• An emu egg is the equivalent of 12 chicken eggs!! Ouch! 
• Emus live in every state of Australia except Tasmania. 
• Emu eggs are pale green when laid and turn dark green as they incubate.
• The male emus are in charge of making the nest, as well as incubating the eggs for eight whole weeks.
• While the male Emu incubates the eggs, he does not eat, drink or relieve himself. Talk about commitment!
• The male emus are also in charge of guarding the growing chicks for up to seven months.
• Emus have loud, low-frequency voices. Their deep voices sound like hollow drums and can be heard from two kilometres away.
• Emus can’t walk backwards.
• Emus appear on Australia’s 50-cent coin.
• Emus are the only birds with calf muscles – super strong calf muscles!
• Emus have three toes, allowing them to run fast (up to 50km/hour)! They are also excellent jumpers.
• Emus are flightless but can swim quite well.

Emu Sanctuaries in Brisbane

• Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary – Located 12 kilometres from the central city of Brisbane and famously known for being the first koala sanctuary in the world, it is today a safe abode for several other wild animals. The refuge has three friendly emus you can see up close in the Kangaroo Reserve.
• Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary – This sanctuary is just an hour south of Brisbane and is one of the most popular attractions on the Gold Coast. Today, it’s known for the hundreds of native species of wildlife it houses and it’s animal hospital. Back in the day, however, it was famous solely for its birds, so it’s only natural that you would still find emus here today!
• Brisbane kids can also see emus free of cost, just an hour southwest of Brisbane, at Ipswich Nature Centre.

Emu Conservation

Despite being a native animal and on the Australian coat of arms, the Emu is farmed for its meat, oil, skin and feathers. 

Where you can see Emu in the wild

Emu’s exist all over Australia except Tasmania, but they can be elusive to visitors to Australia. Their nomadic nature means you can’t rely on there to be anywhere, even though they are seemingly everywhere. One thing is for sure, just because a place has the word “emu” in it doesn’t mean you will find emus there. They tend not to frequent urban areas, and you are more likely to see them in the outback and less populated areas which is the perfect reason to visit regional places in Australia! 

More animal facts for kids

If you are looking at animal facts for kids, you might enjoy reading about our platypus facts for kids or our vast list of points about Australian animals. 

Fun Queensland Grouper facts for kids

• The Queensland Grouper is also known as the Brown Spotted Cod, Brindlebass, Bumblebee Grouper, and Giant Grouper (not to be confused with Goliath Grouper).
• The Queensland Groper is one of the largest bony fishes and is the largest on coral reefs. 
• The Queensland Groper has a large mouth and a rounded caudal fin and is a type of ray-finned fish.
• Adults are mottled greyish-brown with yellowish or darker fins. Small juveniles are yellow with irregular broad dark bars on the body and uneven dark spots on the fins.
• The giant grouper can grow to a considerable size, with the maximum recorded standard length being 270 centimetres. However, they are more common around 180 centimetres and have a maximum published weight of 400 kilograms.
• It is the most widely distributed species of grouper in the world.
• It occurs in tropical waters throughout the Indo-Pacific and is recorded occasionally in temperate waters.
• You can find this species throughout the Indo-Pacific region (excluding the Persian Gulf), from South Africa to the Hawaiian Islands. Anglers and scientists have recorded Queensland Groper in Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, and China.
• In Australia, it is known from the southern coast of Western Australia, around the tropical north of the country and south to the southern coast of New South Wales.
• These fish have enormous mouths which allow them to swallow prey whole. They open their mouths wide and suck in their prey. 
• Queensland groupers have quite an appetite and are opportunistic ambush predators. Their size means that they are not particularly active and do not actively chase prey down but sit and wait for an unlucky animal to venture a bit too close to where they are lying in wait. 
• Crayfish have been reported as a favourite item of prey.
• They are known to eat anything they can catch, including other large fish and small sharks, as well as other crustaceans and turtles if they swim too close. 
• The Queensland grouper is a species of shallow water found at depths of 1 to 100 metres.
• Juvenile Queensland Gropers inhabit estuary systems and shallow inshore reefs. Once they become adults, they move to deeper water and inhabit reefs in water 5-50m deep. 
• These large fish are pretty curious and bold and will approach divers closely. They are not generally considered dangerous to humans; however, their large size and appetite to match should be considered cautiously. 
• These fish change from male to female throughout their life cycle. 
• What makes this fish an interesting Australian animal is knowing that the Queensland Grouper can live up to 100 years. 
• This species usually is solitary. 
• They are often found either hovering in midwater or resting motionless on the ocean floor.
• Queensland Groupers are also found in estuaries, shipwrecks, caves and lagoons, and their more usual reef habitats. 

Why are they a protected species?

Queensland Gropers have been severely overfished and are now protected in Australian waters. It is illegal to fish or target this species in Australian waters. 

Threats to the Queensland Grouper include overfishing and collectors looking for aquarium fish. 

Habitat loss is also a concern as they require both healthy estuaries and reefs to survive. 

What don’t we know about the Queensland Grouper? 

While the Queensland Grouper is a well-known fish around many parts of the world, scientists still aren’t sure about some details of the Queensland Grouper’s life. For example, no one is quite sure exactly how large these fish can get at maximum size or how old they can get. The reproductive part of their lifecycle is also somewhat of a mystery. 

You can expand your learnings on the Queensland Grouper through further research with the Australian Museum. 

Where can you see a Queensland Grouper in Australia?

You might be lucky to see a Queensland Grouper in the warm waters of tropical Queensland, especially if you head out snorkelling or scuba diving. If you aren’t lucky or swimming in Queensland’s pristine tropical waters isn’t for you then you will be pleased to know that you can see a Queensland Grouper in several of Australia’s aquariums including Sealife Sunshine Coast, Reefworld Aquarium at Hervey Bay, The Cairns Aquarium and Sydney Aquarium. 

Koalas

Ok, so they are well-known and well-loved in Australia, but they are also extremely unique creatures that cannot be matched or found anywhere else in the world.  Koalas are one of Australia’s native, nocturnal animals, marvelled the world over for their adorably fluffy, teddy-bear-like features. 

Be careful not to call them bears, though!  They may resemble the cuter variety of them but they are marsupials, not bears.  Their closest relative is another one of our unique Australian animals – the wombat!

Why koalas are unique:  It is their appearance more than anything.  No other country has such an adorable ‘teddy bear’ that lives in their backyard trees.  These guys also have fingerprints, like humans, and two opposable thumbs!

Platypus

We can’t have a list of unique animals in Australia and not mention one of the most unique animals – in the WORLD!  That’s right.  Our very own platypus is a species that has even scientists scratching their heads with its unique blend of features.

In fact, they are so unusual that it took British Scientists more than eighty years to decide what they are. Scientists first thought the platypus was a hoax!  Is it a duck, a beaver, or an otter?  No, it is a blend of them all we love our Aussie platypus!

Why platypi are unique:  Aside from their unique mix of features, they belong to the monotreme family, a classification of mammals that lay eggs. There are only two monotremes alive today, and they both live in Australia; the echidna and the platypus.

Kangaroos

Another famously unique Aussie animal is of course our high-jumping kangaroos.  Members of the Macropodidae family, meaning ‘big foot’ in Latin, Kangaroos are unique in that they are the biggest marsupial on Earth.

Kangaroos have incredibly long tails to help them balance while jumping and standing and it is the only large animal to use hopping as their primary means of locomotion. A male kangaroo can leap to lengths of close to 30 feet and at a height of up to 10 feet.

Why the kangaroos is unique: Kangaroos come in several different varieties and are only found in Australia and New Guinea. They are also one of only two animals that cannot walk backwards – only forwards.  It is why, with the emu, they are on the Australian National Coat of Arms.

Quokka

Oh my!  These little guys that live mostly on Rottenest Island pack some serious photogenic clout!  Voted ‘the world’s happiest animal’ because of their love of selfies, extreme close up and wide, happy grins, these adorable little marsupials are herbivorous and mainly nocturnal. 

Interestingly enough, these adorable furry friends share similar characteristics to kangaroos, including the fact that they like to hop around and carry their offspring in a front pouch. They are often referenced as the short-tailed wallabies too. 

Why quokkas is unique:  Quokka’s are only found offshore on Rottnest Island near Perth or Bald Island near Albany. What endears them most is their happy-go-lucky, smile-on-cue nature. 

Tasmanian Devil

The Tasmanian devil is the icon of Australia’s most southern state, Tasmania.  Tasmania Devils are hungry little scavengers and like to feed on carcasses (dead animals) even eating the bones and fur! Generally, they like to hide during the day and head out to feed at night. Eating up to 10% of their body weight a day, they are actually the world’s largest carnivorous marsupial.

Why tasmanian devils are unique:  Found only on the coastlines of Tasmania, these crazy little creatures eat like no one else and will even roam for up to 16km in search of food.  Coupled with red ears and disturbingly wide jaws lined with sharp teeth, the settlers decided to call these creatures “devils.”

Wombats

Another animal that can only be found in Australia, wombats are the second-largest of the Australian marsupials, after the red kangaroo. Despite their short and chunky build, wombats run really fast. They can run at a top speed of 40 kmph when threatened and can keep that speed for up to a minute and a half. 

Their bodies are also extremely well built for burrowing and digging, which enables them to excavate extensive systems of tunnels and chambers. A wombat can move up to three feet of dirt daily.

Why wombats are unique:  I just don’t think we can go past the fact that wombats are the only animal who poops are cube-shaped, thanks to opposing tensions in its intestine!

Emu

Australia is the only country in the world where you can see emus in the wild.  They are the second largest bird in the world (behind the ostrich) but cannot fly.  They have two sets of eyelids, one for blinking and the other for keeping the dust-out! 

Emu can also run nearly 50 km per hour and if cornered, they kick with their big, three-toed feet.

Why Emu are unique:  Like kangaroos, emus cannot walk backwards – only forwards.  It is why these two unique Australian animals feature on the Australian Coat of Arms together, symbolising the fact that Australia will only advance forward.

Superb Lyrebird

The Superb Lyrebird (how awesome is that name) is found only in south-eastern Australia and southern Tasmania and is one amazing mimic. It can mimic any sounds it hears, which can be a great defence strategy.  The Superb Lyrebird’s song is somewhat famous. About 80% of the song consists of expert mimicry, with both and joined together in a rousing medley. 

Did you also know, the reverse of the 10 cent coin features an image of a lyrebird?  Designed by Stuart Devlin, it has not changed since 1966. 

The lyrebird gets its name from its tail. The male of the species in particular, boasts a spectacular tail, which was originally thought to resemble – you guessed it – a lyre.

Why Superb Lyrebirds are unique:  Not only are they only found in Australia but they are seriously the best mimics around.  Superb lyrebirds have been known to imitate car alarms, camera shutters, shooting from video games, workmen and chainsaws.

Echidna

Echidna (pronounced i-kid-na) is one of the most interesting and curious creatures in the world.  One of only two living egg-laying mammals in the world (the other being the platypus), the echidna has some very unique features that make it stand out from other animals. 

Echidna’s spines are actually long, tough, hollow hair follicles and these little guys can actually move objects twice their own weight. Echidnas are actually toothless mammals, but they more than makeup for it with their long, sticky tongues. An Echidna’s tongue is about 15 cm long, longer than your pencil!!

Why Echidnas are unique: Being one of only two living egg-laying mammals is pretty unique on its own, but add to the fact their spine-covered bodies, ability to roll up into a ball and their sticky, super long tongues and these guys are definitely on our unique animals in Australia list.

Cassowary

Australia’s most dangerous bird, the cassowary, is a flightless bird that lives in Northern Australia. Heavier than an emu but not quite as tall, they are flightless with massive feet known to kill humans when threatened. Considered a ‘modern dinosaur’, the cassowary can grow to be as heavy as 60kg and can leap up to 1.5 metres off the ground. They actually can jump feet first, so their claws can slash downward in mid-air towards their target. Eeek!

Why cassowaries are unique: Being regarded as the most dangerous ‘modern dinosaur’ bird in Australia is pretty unique.  These birds mean business, with dagger-like claws that can grow up to 5 inches long; Cassowaries are also great jumpers, super fast runners and amazing swimmers!  Talk about overachievers!

Kookaburra

Also known as the laughing kookaburra, this large omnivorous bird’s chorus often comes with the sun’s rising and setting.  An extremely friendly and frequent visitor to the Aussie backyard, the laughing kookaburras are native to eastern mainland Australia. 

Kookaburras are an attractive “floofy” bird with a white belly and brown / blue wings, their most distinguishing feature (aside from their call) is their very large beak – which can get as long as 10cm!

Why kookaburras are unique:  Kookaburras are unique not only for their long, addictive laughing call but also because of their complex social structure. A pair may remain in a semi-monogamous relationship with helpers to assist with the care of the young for their entire life.

Dingos

The dingo not only holds the title of Australia’s top predator, but it is the oldest breed of dog in the world.  A wild dog with some pretty impressive features, the dingo can rotate their wrists, run extremely fast, jump up to two metres in height, climb trees, and squeeze into the narrowest of gaps. 

The longest wall in the world was built in Australia to keep the dingos away from livestock and fertile land.  It stretches over 5500km and is even longer than the Great Wall of China!

Why dingoes are unique:  The earliest dingo was thought to live around 3,500 years ago.  They are the only wild canids we have in Australia with the purest bloodlines calling beautiful Fraser Island beaches homes.

Crocodile

Yep, we can’t have this list without adding this terrifyingly unique Australian animal.  The saltwater crocodile is the largest reptile in the world. They are night hunters, spending the daytime hours moving through water or sunbathing.

The Australian saltwater crocodile can eat almost any animal in their territory and even attacks terrestrial animals like mammals and birds. Their deadliest attack is known as the death roll, where they catch their prey and then roll with them as they bring them under the water.

Why saltwater crocodiles are unique: A human can apply 100 pounds of pressure per square inch with their jaw, whereas a crocodile can apply up to 5,000 pounds of pressure per square inch with their jaw. 

These animals, whilst unique in their own way, are only a handful of the incredible array of animals and wildlife found in Australia.  For more amazing Aussie animals, check out our huge list of Animals in Australia as well as more detailed animal facts for kids.

“More than four out of five of our species are found nowhere else on Earth,” Australian Researcher Stephen Kearney.

Australian Marsupials

Australian Koala

Koala

Koalas are one of the most well-known Australian animals, mainly because they are like cute little teddy bears, and Australia is the only country where you will find them. They are not bears, though; they’re marsupials! Lovers of gum leaves and a lot of sleep, did you know that koalas also have six opposable “thumbs” and downward-facing pouches? Koalas are considered endangered, and local extinction events are already occurring across Australia. Explore more koala facts for kids.  

Weirdest fact about koalas: they are so different from any other marsupial that they have their own scientific family, which in Latin is called Phascolarctidae.

Kangaroo

Kangaroos are so important they feature on the Australian Emblem and the Australian dollar. Like the koalas, Kangaroos are another very famous Australian marsupial. They are incredible jumpers, have powerful tails, and are highly social creatures. A group of kangaroos is called a mob and might include up to 50 kangaroos.

Weirdest fact about a kangaroo: kangaroos cannot go backwards. They feature on our Emblem because it symbolises our country always moving forward and never going backwards.  

Red Kangaroo

The red kangaroo is the largest marsupial on Earth and the largest land mammal in Australia. They can grow over 2 metres in height and up to 90 kilograms in weight. The red kangaroo’s tail is strong enough to support its weight. Both male and female red kangaroos box each other to compete for water, and male roos also fight over females. When fighting, the kangaroo stands on its tail while kicking out with its legs.

Weirdest fact about the red kangaroo: The faster a kangaroo moves, the more efficient its jumping becomes. At top speed, 70% of its energy is recycled.

Sugar Glider

Sugar Gliders are small, soft-furred marsupials that get their name from their love of sugar and the fact they can glide in the air for up to 45 metres thanks to a specialised flap connecting the front leg to the hind leg. They make a large barking noise, similar to a dog.

Weirdest fact about Sugar Gliders: In Australia, sugar gliders can be kept as pets in Victoria, South Australia, and the Northern Territory, but not in any other state. 

Brush Tail Possum

Brush Tail Possums are one of our nocturnal marsupials – meaning they sleep during the day and like to head out and feed at night. In particular, they love to feed on fruit and eucalyptus leaves. They are very tame and friendly and are a protected species. In New Zealand, where they are an introduced species, they are considered a pest.

Weirdest fact about a Brush Tale Possum: Communication is by sound and scent, and they make an awful ruckus as they scamper along rooftops. Their mating and fighting noises are very guttural and can be extremely hard to listen to at night!

Wombat

Wombats are Australia’s second-largest marsupial and another night-time-loving nocturnal animal. They live in burrows in the ground, with some being as long as 100 metres in length! Although they have been portrayed in books and television for many years as slow-moving and lazy, wombats are fast animals and even get zoomies! They live throughout Australia, from the peaks of Mount Kosciuszko to the grasslands of central Australia. Explore more wombat facts for kids.

Weirdest fact about a wombat: A wombat’s poop is shaped like a cube thanks to opposing tensions in its intestine.

Tasmanian Tiger

The Tasmanian Tiger is now extinct, but when it was alive, it was a large, carnivorous marsupial, looking like a cross between a large dog, tiger and wolf. It had stripes on its back, a long stiff tail and short erect ears, which is how it got its name – Tasmania Tiger! ‘Benjamin’, the last known Tasmanian Tiger, died in captivity at a Hobart Zoo on the 7^th of September, 1936. Discover more Tasmanian Tiger fact for kids. 

Weirdest fact about a Tasmanian Tiger: Tasmanian Tigers could open their jaws to a 120-degree angle!

Tasmanian Devil

Not to be confused with the Tasmanian Tiger, the Tasmanian Devil still exists and is the world’s largest carnivorous marsupial. It can only now be found in the wild on the Island of Tasmania. They are nocturnal and usually hide in dens during the day, but at night they can roam up to 16km in search of food. The Tasmanian Devil can eat up to 10% of its body weight in one day. Explore more Tasmanian Devil facts for kids.

Weirdest fact about Tasmanian Devils: Their teeth never stop growing and are extremely powerful. They can bite through bone and even the strongest of metals; even break the cages of livestock and other animals.

Bilby

Bilbies are small rabbit-like marsupials with a very long tails. They are nocturnal and have poor eyesight, relying on their acute hearing and sense of smell to get around and find food. There may be fewer than 10,000 bilbies left in the wild, and this number is decreasing.

Weirdest Bilby fact: A toy bilby has been to the top of Mt Everest! It may be an Australian animal, but Mountaineer Tashi Tenzing took a toy one on a trek to the top as a promise to his Australian grandson to raise awareness about the Bilby.

Bandicoot

Bandicoots are small, furry Australian animals that are nocturnal. They live where there are low-growing plants and shelter in nests with piles of leaf litter. When moving fast, they bound and gallop.

Weirdest fact about the bandicoot: Unlike other marsupials, the pouch opens backwards. This adaptation helps keep dirt from getting into the pouch with the babies.  

Wallaby

Wallaby’s look a lot like kangaroos, except a lot smaller. They are active at night and rest during the day. Wallabies often sleep in a sitting position, leaning against a rock or tree, with their tail lying on the ground in front of them. Weirdest fact about wallabies: in Australia, wallabies are responsible for some of the country’s crop circles! They are known to run through poppy fields, eating the plants and hopping in circles before passing out.

Quolls

Quolls are tree-climbing, den-loving marsupials with black to fawn fur, white spots, long tails and sharp teeth. Most quolls have short life spans, generally living only 2 to 4 years in the wild. The northern quoll and eastern quoll are listed as Endangered, while the other four species: western quoll, spotted-tailed quoll, New Guinean quoll, and bronze quolls, are marked as Near Threatened.

Weirdest fact about quolls: The spotted-tailed quoll boasts one of the world’s strongest bites of any predatory mammal. 

Quokka

Quokkas are one of the smallest wallaby species in the world and one of the most adorable. They are known as the happiest animal in the world because of their smile and playful nature. They weren’t always so adored, with Dutch explorers once describing them as “nothing but bush rats“. Most quokkas can be seen offshore on Rottnest Island near Perth or Bald Island near Albany in Western Australia. When threatened, Quokka mothers may expel their joeys from their pouches, leaving them squealing on the ground as a distraction to get away.

Weirdest facts about Quokkas: tourists come from around the world to get a selfie with the Quokkas on Rottnest Island.

Australian Mammals

The Australian Dingo

Dingo

The dingo is the largest mammalian carnivore in Australia. Dingoes are social creatures that live in groups called packs, though some dingoes choose to live alone. Only dominant members of a pack will breed; the others take care of feeding the pups. The oldest dingo fossil was estimated to be about 3,500 years old. They can be found across mainland Australia, but the dingoes on World Heritage-listed K’gari (also referred to as Fraser Island) are the purest dingoes in Australia.

Weirdest facts about dingos: They can swivel their heads about 180 degrees and have rotating wrists!

Platypus

The platypus is one of the world’s most unusual animals thanks to its flat tail, short legs, webbed feet and duck’s bill. They are solitary animals that live in creeks and rivers and lay eggs! Platypus can only be found in Australia. 

Weirdest fact about the platypus: Platypuses are so unusual that it took British Scientists more than eighty years to decide what they are. Scientists first thought the platypus was a hoax! 

Echidna

The echidna is the only other living egg-laying mammal species along with the platypus. Echidna bodies are covered in spines, their main line of defence when predators strike. Echidnas slurp up ants, worms and insect larvae with their tongue, which can be up to 15cm long. The claws on an echidna’s hind limbs are curved backwards to help them dig.

Weirdest fact about echidnas: Their spines are long, tough, hollow hair follicles.

Bats

Bats are the only mammals capable of long, sustained flight and have evolved into Earth’s most widely distributed mammals. Contrary to popular belief, not all bats live in caves. Separate colonies of bats can be found in trees, mountains, deserts, rock crevices, barns, and rooftops. Bats cannot stand on their hind legs; they can only hang by their feet and thumbs. Bats are vital pollinators of native plants and disperse seeds over a wide area.

Weirdest fact about bats: Bats can slow their bodies down and go into torpor (a sort of hibernation) to save energy when it is cold or inactive during the day.

Whale

The whale is the largest mammal on Earth, and every year more than 20,000 Humpback Whales migrate north to the sub-tropical waters of East Coast Australia. They head to the warm waters of the Coral Sea, through the Pacific Ocean and past the Great Barrier Reef, to mate and give birth. Whales live in water but breathe air, like other mammals. To help them breathe, they have blowholes that expel the water as they come to the surface. Weirdest fact about whales: So that they can always control their blowhole to avoid drowning, whales rest half of their brain at a time while they’re sleeping.

Australian Reptiles

Australian Goannas.

Goanna

Goannas are predatory lizards who can grow up to two and a half meters in length. They are also very fast and can run at high speeds of up to 40 km/hr on their hind legs. Goannas use their sharp teeth, sharp claws and strong tail for protection. When threatened, goannas stand on their hind legs, inflate the flaps on their necks and make a harsh hissing noise. Explore more goanna facts for kids. 

Weirdest fact about goannas: goannas can mistake humans for trees, resulting in people being climbed by a goanna!

Copperhead Snake

Copperhead Snakes are cold-blooded reptiles usually found near cold, rainy areas. They are one of the most cold-tolerant snakes in Australia, with an average length between 61 and 90 cm. Even just-hatched copperheads have fully functional fangs capable of injecting venom just as toxic as an adult’s. Weirdest fact about Copperhead Snakes: the venom from a Copperhead Snake has been shown in medical trials to shrink the size of some human cancers.

Eastern Brown Snake

Eastern Brown Snakes are highly venomous snakes that are nervous and aggressive. It is of slender to average build and can grow up to 2m in length. Considered the world’s second-most venomous land snake, it is responsible for about 60% of snake-bite deaths in Australia.

Weirdest fact about Eastern Brown Snakes: They don’t bite enough people to be considered a significant threat. Many of their attacks involve so-called “dry bites,” which are painful but don’t include venom.

Saltwater Crocodile

The Australian saltwater crocodile is the largest reptile in the world. They are night hunters, spending the daytime hours moving through water or sunbathing. The Australian saltwater crocodile can eat almost any animal in their territory and even attacks terrestrial animals like mammals and birds. Males can grow up to 6 or 7 metres long. Weirdest fact about Salt Water Crocodiles: Their massive jaws contain about 64-68 teeth. Lost teeth quickly grow back, which means an adult crocodile can grow about 8000 teeth during its life!

Skinks

There are over 320 species of skink in Australia. You can find them on Australia’s highest mountain and in many Australian backyards. The long body part of a skink looks more like a snake than a lizard, but they have tiny legs and a head that is slightly off the ground and pointed upwards. As a survival tactic, skinks drop their tails when handled by you or chased by a predator.

Weirdest fact about a skink: Skinks can have as many as five tails depending on how many injuries they have. When a tail is damaged but not lost, a new tail starts to sprout from the wound.

Turtles

Turtles have been on Earth for over 200 million years, since before the dinosaurs. Both turtles and tortoises are the only reptiles to have a shell. Their heads have hard scales, and they do not have teeth. Instead, they have a beak with sharp edges for cutting food and strong jaws. Climate change threatens all turtle species, impacting their nesting outcomes and ability to survive as the ocean heats. Weirdest fact about turtles: Only 1% of sea turtles reach adulthood.

Death Adder

The Death Adder is one of the most venomous land snakes in Australia and globally. It has a broad, flattened, triangular head and a thick body with bands of red, brown and black with a grey, cream or pink belly. Weirdest fact about Death Adders: It can deliver the fastest strike among all venomous snakes recorded in Australia, and death can occur in only 6 hours.

Bearded Dragon

There are several species of bearded dragons in Australia. They all have flat bodies, broad heads and stout legs. Their ‘beard’ refers to a flap of skin below their jaws that they push forward and puff up when threatened. Sharp spikes run along the sides of their bodies and their throats. Bearded dragons can run with speed and are also fantastic climbers.

Weirdest fact about the Bearded Dragon: They can change colour when aggressive or threatened and regulate their body temperature by changing their colour.

Blue-Tongue Lizard

Blue-Tongue Lizards are the largest members of the skink family. Their teeth are large, and they have strong jaw muscles to crush beetles and snails. The Eastern Blue-tongue is silvery-grey with broad dark brown or blackish bands across the back and tail. Like all lizards, blue tongues do not produce their own body heat and rely on the warmth of their surroundings to raise their body temperature.

Weirdest fact about Blue-Tongue Lizards: when threatened, blue-tongues stick out their thick blue tongue, contrasting with their pink mouth, to ward off predators.

Red-Bellied Black Snake

The Red-Bellied Black Snake is a medium-sized snake recognisable by its crimson red underside, which contrasts sharply with its black body. Although greatly feared, they are relatively shy creatures who prefer to freeze or slide away when confronted with people. They search widely for prey on land and in water and are known to climb to several metres. They are still a venomous snake and should be treated with caution.

Weirdest fact about Red-Bellied Black Snakes: This snake will eat other snakes – including other Red-Bellied Black Snakes!

Eastern Water Dragon

The Eastern Water Dragon is a grey to brownish-grey colour with black stripes along the dorsal ridge and down the tail. They can reach a length of 1 metre and weigh about 1 kg. Two-thirds of the size of a Water Dragon is its tail. Although they usually run on all four legs, if they want to go faster, they lift their front legs off the ground and run on their back legs only.

Weirdest fact about Eastern Water Dragons: they can rest on the bottom of shallow creeks for up to 1.5 hours if they want to avoid detection!

Python

Pythons are non-venomous snakes that are heavily built, muscular and slow moving. The two halves of the lower jaw are not fused in the middle, allowing them to stretch far apart to fit the animal they are swallowing. When they catch their prey, they ultimately kill it by constriction, wrapping their body around it and tightening it until they suffocate. It can take several hours to eat a large animal.

Weirdest fact about a Python: Pythons can swallow animals several times bigger in diameter than their heads and may need to eat only a few meals yearly. 

Arachnids

Redback Spider

Redback Spider

The Redback Spider is a tiny black spider with a noticeable red stripe on its upper abdomen. The males’ red markings are often less distinct. Redback bites frequently occur, particularly over the summer months, but only the female bite is actually dangerous. Redbacks are usually found in warm or hot sunny spots and can be found in all Australian cities.

Weirdest fact about Redback Spiders: Females kill the males and eat them as a snack after mating.

Funnel Web Spider

Funnel Web Spiders are the most dangerous arachnids in Australia, with their venom able to kill a human in just 15 minutes. They are medium-sized, black spiders with long, rearward-facing fangs capable of piercing through fingernails. The male bites are six times more deadly than the female. They get their name from the funnel-shaped web they produce. Perhaps the most famous funnel-web spider is New South Wales’s Sydney Funnel Web Spider. There are at least 40 species of poisonous funnel-web spiders.

Weirdest fact about Funnel Web Spiders: They can live underwater for up to 30 hours!

White Tail Spider

The White Tail Spider has a long, narrow body and gets its name from its white spot at the top of its abdomen. They are often found in houses and are considered dangerous but not deadly, although the pain from their bite can last up to 12 days. Scarily, they often hide in bedding and clothing.

Weirdest fact about White Tail Spiders: They don’t spin webs like other spiders; instead, they envenom their prey for consumption.

Wolf Spider

Wolf Spiders get their name from the fact that they actively hunt and run down until they catch their prey – like wolves! They have excellent eyesight due to their three rows of eyes. Their bite is not deadly. They are very adaptable and can be found wherever insects are available to eat.

Weirdest fact about Wolf Spiders: Mother Wolf Spiders carry their baby spiders around on their backs.

Mouse Spider

Mouse Spiders are short and thick, black spiders with high, bulbous heads and jaws. They live in burrows with trapdoors that can reach nearly 30cm in diameter. Their venom is almost as deadly as the Funnel Web Spider; however, there are very few cases of actual bites, probably because the spiders occur in less densely populated areas. Weirdest fact about Mouse Spiders:

Weirdest fact about a Mouse Spider: Mouse spiderlings spin tiny parachutes of silk, which they use to travel on wind gusts, sometimes for many kilometres.

Huntsman Spider

Huntsman Spiders are usually feared due to their appearance. They are usually very hairy and can get as wide as 15cm! Also, as their front legs are larger than the back ones, their shape allows them to move very quickly in all directions. The truth, though, is they are harmless to humans and great at controlling mosquito and cockroach numbers.

Weirdest fact about Huntsman Spiders: The females and males have a long courtship before they mate. Some species even live in groups of up to 300, where they raise their children together and feed each other. 

Trapdoor Spider

Trapdoor Spiders can be black or brown and quite stubby, giving them a similar appearance to the Funnel Web Spider. They build long, silk-lined burrows with a hinged door (trapdoor) to lurk, awaiting their next victim. Although they are shy and usually run away from a threat, their large fangs can give a painful bite. Unlike the Funnel Web, it is not deadly.

Weirdest fact about a Trapdoor Spider: they leave a few legs out of their burrow to feel the vibrations of nearby victims as they approach and can pounce extremely quickly as they launch out of their burrow.

Daddy Long Legs Spider

Daddy Long Legs Spiders are relatively frail, with tiny bodies and legs about six times longer than their body. They have three body sections, not two like spiders, and their legs have seven sections which they can break off to surprise or distract a predator. They are found in every continent of the world except Antarctica.

Weirdest fact about Daddy Long Legs Spiders: They are not spiders. They are part of the Arachnid family but in a different class. They are called Harvestmen.  

Australian Birds

Kookaburra

Kookaburra

Also known as the laughing kookaburra, this large omnivorous bird’s chorus often comes with the sun’s rising and setting. The kookaburra can be found throughout Australia and while it is not officially endangered, its urban presence is decreasing.

Weirdest fact about Kookaburras: Kookaburras have been known to steal sausages from the plates of unwary Australian campers. 

Emu

The emu is Australia’s largest flightless bird that, at maturity, can reach almost 2 metres in height and is omnivorous. They can reach speeds of 30kms an hour and are distributed across mainland Australia. Female emu lay eggs, and the male emu will take care of both sitting on the eggs and protecting the young when they finally hatch. Discover more emu facts for kids.

Weirdest fact about Emu: Emu will eat small stones to assist with the digestion of their food. 

Cockatoo

Australia features 14 of the known cockatoo species of birds worldwide and are known to be noisy birds with varying behaviours depending on the species. Some commonly found cockatoo species in Australia are the sulphur-crested cockatoo and galah. Rarer cockatoos include the six species of black cockatoo that are migratory birds and are reducing in numbers due to habitat loss.

Weirdest fact about Cockatoos: Cockatoos will favour one of their feet like a human would favour a hand. Cockatoos are mainly left-footed. 

Rainbow Lorikeet

Colourful and with a cheeky song, the rainbow lorikeet is a native Australian bird found throughout the coastal areas of Australia. They forage on nectar, nuts and even insects and rely on hollowed eucalypt trees for where to lay their eggs. They roost in large flocks and are extremely noisy thanks to their social nature.

Weirdest fact about Lorikeets: Lorikeets have strange tongues shaped like a brush to help them gather nectar from flowering natives. 

Owls

Owls are nocturnal birds, with 11 species of native owls living throughout Australia. Entirely carnivorous, they will mainly hunt small rodents, birds and marsupials at night.

Weirdest fact about owls: Owls have feathers designed to allow them to fly silently! 

Cassowary

Australia’s most dangerous bird, the cassowary, is a flightless bird that lives in Northern Australia. Heavier than an emu but not quite as tall, they are flightless with massive feet known to kill humans when threatened. Like the emu, the cassowary male incubates the nest and looks after the young. They are shy, eat seeds, and have no natural predators except humans. The cassowary is an endangered Australian animal.

Weirdest fact about Cassowary: Their dagger-like claw can grow up to 5 inches long! 

Pelican

Pelicans are sizeable Australian water birds with species found throughout Australia. While fish is central to a pelican’s diet, they have also been known to eat crustaceans, ducklings and turtles. They have long beaks with a throat pouch to help gather fish.

Weirdest fact about Pelican: There is an urban legend of a pelican eating a chihuahua!

King Parrot

King Parrots are friendly native Australian parrots found along the East Coast of Australia. They are known to frequent both forested areas but are also commonly found in urban areas and eat seeds and fruit. The male King Parrot is the only Australian bird with a red head, while the female is entirely green.

Weirdest fact about King Parrot: People often think King Parrots are tame because they are so friendly to humans. 

Black swan

The black swan is a large majestic bird found throughout Australia. Living in wetlands and eating grasses and algae, the black swan is considered rare. They mate for life and will produce one clutch of young each season.

Weirdest fact about Black Swan. A Black Swan has been known to mourn the loss of its mate and its young. 

Australian Fish and Australian Marine Animals

Great White Shark

Great White Shark

Shark nets shelter swimming beaches across Australia to protect swimmers from predators like the Great White Shark. They can grow up to 6 metres in length and prefer the cold waters of the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean but are sometimes found in the Indian Ocean. While this shark has teeth, they instead eat its prey by tearing the flesh.

Weirdest fact about the Great White Shark: The Great White Shark can sense one droplet of blood in 100 litres of water. 

Box Jellyfish

The Box Jellyfish is considered the most venomous animal alive, named for its box shape. They live mainly in warm coastal areas, including the Northern Australian coastline and live on small fish and shrimp. Their sting is neurotoxic and can result in cardiac arrest, although anti-venom is available. 

Weirdest fact about Box Jelly Fish: Box Jellyfish have 24 eyes. 

Blue Ringed Octopus

Highly venomous, the Blue Ringed Octopus is named for it for its blue rings that only appear in all their glory when the octopus is threatened. They are solitary creatures and quite reclusive by nature, with new species still being discovered today. In Australia, they frequent the Eastern Australia coast, including Southern Queensland and New South Wales.

Weirdest fact about Blue Ringed Octopus: When humans are bitten by a blue-ringed octopus (assuming they survive), they often appear unconscious but report being aware of everything happening around them upon recovery.

Insects

Australian native bee

Bees

Honey bees and native Australian bees are the excellent pollinators of our world and arguably one of the most important creatures to exist on Earth. They live mainly in hives though some are solitary creatures, and all produce some form of honey. Discover more bee facts for kids. 

Weirdest fact about bees: Only female bees can sting. 

Termites

With an appetite for wood, Termites are tiny creatures with the potential to fly that live in termite mounds and termite nests. Known as a timber pest, termites are responsible for damage to homes, although not all species will eat wood.

Weirdest fact about termites: Termites never sleep.

Australian Amphibians

Australian Green Tree Frog.

Frogs

Frogs are amphibians that can be found across the globe, with 200 species in Australia. Frogs mainly eat invertebrates (small creatures) and evolve from eggs into tadpoles, then frogs, within one life span. In Australia, there are many endangered frogs mainly due to habitat loss and human insecticide use. A well-known Australian frog is the Green Tree Frog, famous for its almost phosphorescence green colour. 

Weirdest fact about frogs: A group of frogs is called an army. 

Cane Toad

Native to Central America, the Cane Toad was brought to Australia in the hope of dealing with a scourge of cane beetles that threatened Australia’s sugar cane industry. They are a poisonous amphibian whose presence threatens not only native frogs but a range of other native animals, including freshwater crocodiles, snakes and birds. Unfortunately, their hardy and adaptable nature have seen their population reach pest levels in Australia, with an estimated 2 billion toads now living in Australia.

Weirdest fact about Cane Toads: Cane Toads can get arthritis.

Threats to Australian Wildlife

• Habitat loss; contributing factors include land clearing for agricultural purposes, urban development, and the timber industry’s continued logging of native forests. (We acknowledge the timber and forestry industry mainly harvests from sustainable plantations but we cannot ignore that there are still native state forests that are still logged. While rules and regulations and pressures are different in every state, it is clear that any native forest that is logged, is a threat to Australian wildlife, at any scale, regardless of how small.  
• Bushfire. In 2021, one-third of Kangaroo Island was destroyed in one bushfire event, with an estimated 25,000 animals killed and 1550 square kilometres of the island destroyed.
• Invasive Species are a threat to many Australian Animals.
• Climate Change means more prolonged droughts, significant floods, higher temperatures, and rising sea levels. For example, one heat wave in Australia in 2018 killed an estimated 23,000 bats.
• Pollution generally occurs in marine environments like the Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest coral reef.
• Environmental consequences of mining for natural resources.
• Poor Environment Laws. In Australia, it seems like the environment sits at the back of the room without a voice. While there are laws to protect wildlife and habitats, they do little to stop the threat. For example, in one of Australia’s Cities, Brisbane, koala habitat is routinely removed to make way for housing developments. Koalas are then forced into new areas, often on main roads, with dozens losing their lives yearly.
• Urban Sprawl. As the population of Australia continues to climb (like the rest of the world), major cities continue to branch out into new areas. Planning laws permit this and often allow the government to sanction large parcels of land for this purpose. 

As you have read, Australia’s variety of unique animals is extraordinary, and the Australian landscape wouldn’t be the same without them. There are so many species of animals not found anywhere else in the world, thanks partly to the nature of being an island continent. You would think this would mean that Australia would do everything it can to protect this biodiversity for future generations and the present value to the economy. In short, no, we dont.

The 2021 State of the Environment Report showed that Australian animals are at massive risk of extinction. We have lost more mammal species than any other continent in the world. While we know the situation is dire, the report suggests that Australia’s surveys are so poor that the reality of known extinctions is likely higher than reported. It isn’t too late, however, and I hope that by reading this, especially if you are a child, you grow up to be a defender of our wildlife and a protector of our wild places.

We hope you have enjoyed a summary of the unique Animals that live on the Australian continent and interesting facts about them.

Part of the family Varanidae, a relative of the Komodo dragon and most commonly found in the Land Down Under, this lizard certainly merits a low-down of its own. Let’s go! 

Fun Goanna Facts 

• Goannas belong to an ancient lineage that evolved during the Cretaceous period, 90 million years ago! 
• Like most lizards, goannas lay eggs.
• Goannas can grow up to two and a half meters in length! 
• Goannas are also known as monitor lizards.
• Goannas can be found everywhere in Australia except Tasmania. Most occur in Eastern Australia, but certain species of Goannas persist across the country.
• Goannas are predatory lizards whose food sources include birds, small reptiles, small mammals, eggs and smaller prey like insects. The diet of goannas will change according to available food sources. 
• When threatened, goannas stand on their hind legs, inflate the flaps on their necks and make a harsh hissing noise. 
• Goannas use their sharp teeth, sharp claws and strong tail for protection.
• Goannas will hide and live under big rocks, termite mounds, hollow logs and tree hollows.
• Goannas run at high speeds and can even run short distances on their hind legs. It is known to be able to run at speeds up to 40 km/h! 
• A female lace monitor (a type of goannas) will lay her eggs in a termite nest to ensure they are protected. Female lace monitors, like other goannas, do not guard their eggs. As a bonus, the hatchlings also get to snack on the termites once they are out. 
• Goannas are carnivorous.
• The breeding season for goannas happens in the warmer months of Spring and Summer.
• Just like a snake, goannas can flick out their forked tongue to pick up scents in the air. 
• Goannas are solitary animals except during mating season.
• Also like a snake, it can unhinge its lower jaw to swallow large prey!
• Goannas are primarily found in Australia (25 species) and Southeast Asia (5 species).
• Unlike other species of lizards, the goanna can’t grow back its tail if it loses it. 
• Goannas can survive up to 40 years in the wild.
• These large lizards are great climbers and swimmers (there is even a species of monitor lizard known as the water goanna). 
• A baby goanna is called a goanna (original, we know).
• Goannas are diurnal, meaning they are active during the day. 
• Some goannas hibernate during the coldest months. 
• Predators of the goanna include hawks, snakes, other giant lizards and dingoes.
• A female goanna will produce up to 25 eggs!
• It is thought the name goanna is adapted from the word iguana, which is what the goannas were likened to by early European settlers.
• The sand goanna is the most common of all the Australian goannas.

Are Goannas Dangerous?

Goannas have venom glands, but recent studies question whether goannas have fangs to inject venom into humans. Bites are not deadly to humans and larger animals, but further complications can result from bacterial infections.

While goannas are not deadly, they are wild animals and people should not seek to antagonise wild animals, gigantic lizards. If you leave a goanna alone and give it lots of space, it will leave you alone too. It might try to steal a sausage but most of the time, people and goannas can cohabitate quite safely but there have been exceptions.

• Goannas can mistake humans for trees, and this can result in being climbed by a goanna which is why advice suggests lying down is the best thing to do if a goanna runs at you.
• If a goanna feels threatened, then it may seek to defend itself, don’t go out of your way to make a goanna feel threatened! (Such attacks are rare)
• While unlikely to attack intentionally, if you are camping in Australia with small children or dogs and a goanna is close, you should remain alert. There are old wives’ tales about goannas attacking livestock, but there is very little evidence to substantiate this except for the odd story, which will make you wonder.
• Some people have tried to feed goannas which have resulted in finger injuries – don’t do this.
• Feeding goannas makes them less wary of people which is more likely to increase the likelihood of goanna attacks.

Do Goannas keep snakes away?

The short answer is no. The goanna will eat venomous snakes but there is no evidence that a goanna is a deterrent for snakes.

Where to find goannas in Brisbane

Goannas live in Brisbane, commonly sighted at Mount Coot-tha and Mount Mee but also out at Cedar Creek and potentially anywhere in the outer suburbs. If you have ever camped on Stradbroke Island, Fraser Island or Bribie Island, you will likely have come across one.

You can also find them at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary – Famously known for being the first and largest koala sanctuary with over 130 koalas; it is also home to plenty of other animals and birds today. One among these to visit is the huge, tree-climbing Lace Monitor, commonly called the ‘tree goanna.’ The centre is a 20-minute drive northeast of Brisbane, making it a perfect place to spend an afternoon with the kids. 

Like all Australian native fauna, Goannas still need our help to thrive. Habitat loss and disturbance of their habitats all threaten their future. While they are not listed as endangered at a national level, there are several species of goanna that are threatened. If you notice a sick or injured person, you should reach out to Wires Australia for advice.

You might also like to read the following animal fact sheets

• Bee facts for kids
• Platypus facts for kids

If your Brisbane kid has an affinity for koalas too, here’s a list of fun facts for them to learn more about their favourite animal. There’s also a list of places to see koalas. You can even get up close and personal with them at some of these locations too.

Fun Koala Facts

• Koalas are often referred to as Koala Bears, but they’re actually marsupials not bears
• Koalas are native to Australia
• Koalas are nocturnal so are mainly active at night
• Koalas live in eucalypt forests and eat gum leaves which are usually toxic to other animals.
• Koalas don’t usually need to drink as they get moisture from eucalyptus leaves. They only need to drink water during a drought or on extremely hot days
• Koalas have very sharp claws which help them climb high into the trees.
• Koalas have similar fingerprints to humans
• A baby koala is called a joey and it lives in its mother’s pouch for six months and then remains with her for another six months usually riding on her back
• When a joey is born it is only 2cm long
• Koalas can live for 10-15 years
• Koalas are not allowed to be kept as pets
• The koalas closest common relative is a wombat

Dedicated Koala Sanctuaries in Brisbane

Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary – We’re lucky to have the world’s first ever koala sanctuary right in our backyard in Brisbane. Lone Pine was established as a koala sanctuary in 1927, starting with only two koalas – Jack & Jill. They now have over 130 koalas in residence and have grown into a full wildlife sanctuary to include over 100 different species of native Australia animals. You can even have a koala encounter (bookings required).

Daisy Hill Koala Centre – Built by the government as a koala education facility, the Daisy Hill koala centre was opened to the public in 1995. The centre offers a number of educational programs. Entry is free and koala’s can be seen from two different viewing board walks.  Visitors are unable to pat or handle the koalas.

Brisbane Kids can also see koalas at Wildlife HQ, Australia Zoo and Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary.

Baby Koala Facts

Aside from being called joeys, baby koalas have a number of other unique features. A newborn koala is only 2cm long when it is born, is hairless and looks much like a jellybean in shape. The joey stays safe in its mother’s pouch for about 6 or 7 months, drinking only its mothers milk. To prepare for a lifetime of eating Eucalypt trees, the joey will feed on what is known as the “pap” of its mother which actually her diluted droppings. You can liken it to human babies being fed mushy food before they move onto solids. The pap (and the helpful bacteria within it) is needed for joeys to digest eucalyptus leaves. 

Interesting fact about baby koalas: A sad but true reality is that many koala joeys fall victim to misadventure, often on busy suburban roads. If koala rescuers find a mum and joey koala diseased, they will often seek to recover the pap which can be used to help orphaned koala joeys.

Wild koalas

It is true that koalas are found in the wild throughout Australia. As they are mainly nocturnal animals, if you do spot them during the day it will usually be high in a eucalypt tree fast asleep. They aren’t particularly active animals but will move more during breeding and dispersal season. 

Facts about a koala’s appearance

• Koala paws have 5 digits (2  are opossable acting like thumbs)
• A koala’s paws (and claws) are designed to grip and climb a tree
• A koala’s fur is water repellant
• Koalas have a small brain when compared to their body size
• Male koalas are bigger than female koalas
• Koalas have a pouch that opens outwards in its centre
• Koalas have a large black leathery nose
• Southern koalas are bigger than Northern koalas
• A koala’s bottom has thicker fur acting like a cushion for them
• Koalas have powerful chewing muscles to help them eat Eucalypt leaves
• Koala fingerprints are all individual just like humans

Frequently asked questions about koalas

Do koalas live in Australian backyards?

Koalas can be found in backyards across Australia but less so in urban environments. Koalas are solitary creatures and males, in particular, live alone in ‘territories’. Because they don’t live in groups, it means that koalas can quite difficult to find in the wild even if you know they are there. Even experienced koala spotters have been known to miss koalas 

What sounds do koalas make?

Koalas make a range of noises depending on what is happening around them but they are mainly silent creatures. Noises include high-pitched shrieks from joeys or upset koalas or guttural bellowing noises from male koalas keen to find a special lady koala (and keep other males away) 

Do koalas have tails?

The koala does not have a visible external tail but their skeleton shows maybe they did in some part of their evolutionary history. 

Can koalas swim?

Koalas can swim but they can also easily drown in swimming pools when they aren’t able to get out. 

Can koalas kill you? 

No, koalas cannot kill you. The dropbear as it is sometimes referred to is an Australian urban myth. You can find photos on the internet of koalas seemingly with huge fangs and scary faces. These images are photoshopped and are not real. Koalas will not attack you at all but may scratch and bite if you decide to pick one up (which you shouldn’t), but they cannot kill you. 

Do koalas have whiskers?

Wouldn’t that be fun if they did! But no, koalas do not have whiskers.