Alice Springs Desert Park
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Alice Springs Desert Park
The Alice Springs Desert Park is an environmental education facility and wildlife park in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is sited on , with a core area of . It is an institutional member of the Zoo and Aquarium Association (ZAA) and Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI). The park contains native animals and plants representative of Central Australian desert environments, and contributes to their conservation through research programs as well as through public education. It offers people the opportunity to experience the variety of the deserts of central Australia, exploring the relationships between the plants, animals and people. The area is culturally important to the local Arrernte people. Much of the work of the park is under the auspices of their ''apmereke-artweye'' (decision-makers) and ''kwertengerle'' (caretakers) – people once known as the park's traditional owners. Exhibits and facilities The park contains three separate walk ...
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Alice Springs, Northern Territory
Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Alice Gillam Bell), wife of the telegraph pioneer Sir Charles Todd. Known colloquially as 'The Alice' or simply 'Alice', the town is situated roughly in Australia's geographic centre. It is nearly equidistant from Adelaide and Darwin. The area is also known locally as Mparntwe to its original inhabitants, the Arrernte, who have lived in the Central Australian desert in and around what is now Alice Springs for tens of thousands of years. Alice Springs had an urban population of 26,534 Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. in June 2018, having declined an average of 1.16% per year the preceding five years. The town's population accounts for approximately 10 per cent of the population of the Northern Territory. The town straddles the ...
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Banded Lapwing
The banded lapwing (''Vanellus tricolor'') is a small to medium-sized shorebird, found in small parties or large flocks on bare ground in open grasslands, agricultural land and open savannah. It is native to Australia and in the past considered as a game bird for hunting. Population estimate is 25 000 - 1 000 000. Other names include banded, black-breasted, brown flock and plain plover. Taxonomy Lapwings belong to the family Charadriidae (plovers) and sub-family Vanellinae. Biochemical evidence suggests that plovers are holophyletic, meaning that all modern plovers, and no other taxa, share the same common ancestor. It has been suggested that most plovers originated from the Southern Hemisphere and evolved under arid and semi-arid conditions. There are 25 extant species of lapwings. Africa has the most species of lapwings, while North America has none. Australia has two native species, the masked lapwing and the banded lapwing. The masked lapwing is split into ''Vanellus mile ...
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Crimson Chat
The crimson chat (''Epthianura tricolor'') is a species of small bird found in Australia. It is also known as the tricoloured chat, saltbush canary, and crimson-breasted nun. Description Crimson chats are usually in length and in weight. They have long, thin legs; a pointy, downward curving bill; and a brush-like tipped tongue. Adult males are covered in brown feathers, have red crowns and under parts; a black mask around their eyes; and white throats. Females and younger chats are colored similarly, but with paler markings. The males are usually more brightly colored than females, specifically during the breeding season in order to attract a mate. Similar species A bird species similar to and often confused with the crimson chat is the male red-capped robin, whose scientific name is ''Petroica goodenovii''. However, there are three main differences between their characteristics. A male crimson chat has crimson crown and underparts, white throat and a yellow eye; whereas the r ...
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Crested Bellbird
The crested bellbird (''Oreoica gutturalis'') is a medium-sized passerine bird in the family Oreoicidae. It is native to drier parts of Australia where its typical habitats are acacia scrublands, eucalypt woodlands, spinifex and saltbush plains, and dunes. The male is about long and has a grey head, a black crest and breast, and a grey or olive brown body. The female and juvenile are similar but the colours are more muted and the black breast is lacking. The distinctive call is a high pitched bell-like sound, audible at some distance. Sometimes a pair of birds duet. The crested bellbird feeds on seeds and small invertebrates, foraging on the ground or in low bushes. The deep, cup-shaped nest is usually within a couple of metres of the ground, built in the fork of a branch or in a crevice in a stump. It is made from small twigs and bark and lined with finer material. Up to four eggs are laid and these are incubated by both parents. Overall this bird is quite common, but in some ...
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Cinnamon Quail-thrush
The cinnamon quail-thrush (''Cinclosoma cinnamomeum'') is cryptic arid-zone species that is endemic to Australia. This small to medium-sized species of bird is found in the arid and semi-arid regions of central Australia. Taxonomy This species is a member of the family Cinclosomatidae, which is a group of passerine bird's native to Australia and nearby areas. The quail-thrushes (''Cinclosoma''), which the cinnamon quail-thrush is a part of, belong to this family. Description Cinnamon quail-thrush have a body-length of 20 cm, and weigh up to 50 grams when fully grown. Male birds are characterised by a white eyebrow, black face and a broad white streak down the sides of a black throat. The upperparts of their body are plain cinnamon-rufous with buff-white patches on the upper breast and a broad black band below. The outer tail feathers are black with white tips. The female has similar features but duller with a buff-white throat and eyebrow. Their upper breast is grey and ...
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Chiming Wedgebill
The chiming wedgebill (''Psophodes occidentalis''), sometimes referred to as chiming whipbird, is a species of bird in the family Psophodidae. It is endemic to Australia. The chiming wedgebill and chirruping wedgebill (''Psophodes occidentalis'') were considered a single species until as late as 1973, when they were separated due to marked differences in their calls. The chiming wedgebill makes a cooing sound during mating. References {{Taxonbar, from=Q1314576 chiming wedgebill Endemic birds of Australia chiming wedgebill The chiming wedgebill (''Psophodes occidentalis''), sometimes referred to as chiming whipbird, is a species of bird in the family Psophodidae. It is endemic to Australia. The chiming wedgebill and chirruping wedgebill The chirruping wedgebil ... Taxonomy articles created by Polbot ...
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Chestnut-rumped Thornbill
The chestnut-rumped thornbill (''Acanthiza uropygialis'') is a small passerine bird in the family Acanthizidae, endemic to Australia. Specially named for its pale-chestnut rump from mediaeval Latin ''uropygium'', the rump.Higgins, P. J., & Peter, J. M. (Eds.). (2002). ''Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds'' (Vol. 6, pp. 468-478). Melbourne: Oxford University Press. Its other names include chestnut-tailed or chestnut-backed thornbill, tit or tit-warbler, chestnut-rumped tit or tit-warbler. A plain, pale thornbill, with pale eyes, it is widespread throughout inland Australia, west of the Great Dividing Range to the West Australian coast but is absent in the far north and humid southwest Western Australia.Pizzey, G., & Knight, F. (2012). ''The field guide to the birds of Australia'' (S. Pizzey Ed. 9 ed.). Sydney: Harper Collins. It is a cooperative breeder like some of the other thornbills Nicholls, J. A., Double, M. C., Rowell, D. M., & Magrath, R. D. (2000). Th ...
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Australian Zebra Finch
The Australian zebra finch or chestnut-eared finch (''Taeniopygia castanotis'') is the most common estrildid finch of Central Australia. It ranges over most of the continent, avoiding only the cool humid south and some areas of the tropical far north. The bird has been introduced to Puerto Rico and Portugal. Due to the ease of keeping and breeding the zebra finch in captivity, it has become Australia’s most widely studied bird; by 2010, it was the most studied captive model passerine species worldwide, by a considerable margin. Taxonomy and phylogeny The Australian zebra finch was described in 1837 by John Gould as ''Amadina castanotis'', about two decades after the Sunda zebra finch (''T. guttata'') was described. For over a century and a half, the Australian and Sunda zebra finches were classified as a single species, ''Taeniopygia guttata''. They were split by the IUCN Red List and BirdLife International in 2016. The International Ornithological Congress followed suit in ...
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Bush Stone-curlew
The bush stone-curlew or bush thick-knee, also known as the Iben bird (''Burhinus grallarius'', obsolete name ''Burhinus magnirostris'') is a large, ground-dwelling bird endemic to Australia. Its favoured habitat is open plains and woodlands, where it stalks slowly at night in search of invertebrates such as insects. Its grey-brown coloration is distinguished by dark streaks, its eyes are large and legs are long. It is capable of flight, but relies on the camouflage of its plumage to evade detection during the day; the bush curlew adopts a rigid posture when it becomes aware of an observer. Both sexes care for two eggs laid on the bare ground, usually sited near bush in a shaded position or next to a fallen branch. Taxonomy The bush stone-curlew was first described by English ornithologist John Latham in 1801 under the binomial name ''Charadius grallarius''. Latham published three names simultaneously; however, the seniority of ''C. grallarius'' follows the publication of the nam ...
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Budgerigar
The budgerigar ( ; ''Melopsittacus undulatus''), also known as the common parakeet or shell parakeet, is a small, long-tailed, seed-eating parrot usually nicknamed the budgie ( ), or in American English, the parakeet. Budgies are the only species in the genus ''Melopsittacus''. Naturally, the species is green and yellow with black, scalloped markings on the nape, back, and wings. Budgies are bred in captivity with colouring of blues, whites, yellows, greys, and even with small crests. Juveniles and chicks are monomorphic, while adults are told apart by their cere colouring, and their behaviour. The species is the only member of the genus ''Melopsittacus'', which is the only genus in the Melopsittacini tribe. The origin of the budgerigar's name is unclear. First recorded in 1805, budgerigars are popular pets around the world due to their small size, low cost, and ability to mimic human speech. They are likely the third most popular pet in the world, after the domesticated d ...
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Bourke%27s Parrot
Bourke's parrot (''Neopsephotus bourkii'', formerly known as ''Neophema bourkii''), also known as the blue-vented parrot, sundown parrot, pink-bellied parrot, Bourke's parakeet, Bourke or "Bourkie", is a small parrot found in Australia and the only species in its genus, ''Neopsephotus''. It is approximately 19 cm long and weighs around 45 grams. It is named after General Sir Richard Bourke, Governor of New South Wales from 1831 to 1837. Description The Bourke's parrot is a relatively small species. They tend to vary between 18 cm and 23 cm in length with a tail length of approximately 9 cm. The females of the species tend to be slightly smaller than the males: males of the species weigh between 47 g and 49 g whilst females weigh between 41 g and 49 g. Both sexes look very similar until the age of nine months, after which they come into full plumage colour. In the wild, Bourke's parakeets display an overall brown colouration with a pink abdomen, pinkish b ...
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Black-faced Woodswallow
The black-faced woodswallow (''Artamus cinereus'') is a woodswallow of the genus Artamus native to Australia, New Guinea and the Sunda Islands, including Timor. It is long and is the most widespread species in the family Artamidae. Woodswallows have a soft call with chiff, chap and chattering calls which can include vocal mimicry Increased vegetation due to inappropriate fire regimes has caused the woodswallows numbers to decline since 1993 in Cape York Peninsula. Description The black-faced woodswallow is in length, and weighs . It has a blue-grey beak with a black tip and a black face mask which extends from the base of the bill up to and around the eyes. It has ash grey plumage, which is lighter around the breast with darker wings, and silver underwings. The tail is black with a white tip. There are four different subspecies of back faced wood swallows. These are differentiated by black or white colouration of their tail vents. The white-vented subspecies ''A.c. normani'' ...
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