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Astrebla Downs National Park
Astrebla Downs is a national park in Shire of Diamantina, Queensland, Australia. Geography Astrebla Downs is located in the Channel Country of outback Queensland, 1298 km west of Brisbane. The landscape is flat and barren with few trees. The average elevation of the terrain is 108 meters. Animals The park received an award in March 2007 by the WWF for being among the top 10 reserves of the decade. Recognition was given for the successful efforts to protect the bilby, an endangered mammal native to Australia. By 2008 it was estimated the park contained a bilby population of around 300. In 2009, a plague of long-haired rats descended on the park. The large numbers of rats attract feral cats to the area, which pose a threat to the bilby. Between 2011 and 2021, control measures have got rid of more than 3,000 cats, and 471 bilbies were spotted on a survey in June 2021. The park is home to the kowari, a tiny carnivorous marsupial which is a vulnerable species in Queensla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birdsville, Queensland
Birdsville is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Diamantina, Queensland, Australia. In the the locality of Birdsville had a population of 110 people. It is a popular tourist destination with many people using it as a starting point across the Simpson Desert. Betoota is a ghost town within the locality (). Geography Birdsville is west of the state capital, Brisbane, and south of the city of Mount Isa. Birdsville is on the edge of the Simpson Desert, approximately 174 km east of Poeppel Corner. Birdsville is located about north-east of the Diamantina River in the Channel Country in the Lake Eyre drainage basin. The Birdsville Track extends from Marree, South Australia, Marree in South Australia before ending at Birdsville; the road continues north as the Eyre Developmental Road to Bedourie. The Birdsville Developmental Road travels east from the town towards Windorah, Queensland, Windorah. A popular route across the Simpson Desert goes from Birdsville to Mt Dar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BirdLife International
BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding important sites for birds, maintaining and restoring key bird habitats, and empowering conservationists worldwide. It has a membership of more than 2.5 million people across 116 country partner organizations, including the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the Wild Bird Society of Japan, the National Audubon Society and American Bird Conservancy. BirdLife International has identified 13,000 Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas and is the official International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List authority for birds. As of 2015, BirdLife International has established that 1,375 bird species (13% of the total) are threatened with extinction ( critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable). BirdLife International p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chestnut-breasted Quail-thrush
The chestnut-breasted quail-thrush (''Cinclosoma castaneothorax'') is a small endemic Australian bird which is predominantly found within the semi-arid deserts of New South Wales and Queensland. Distribution The chestnut-breasted quail-thrush is found in northwestern New South Wales and southwestern Queensland. It occurs predominantly within semi-arid zones featuring sparse woody shrubs, herbaceous vegetation and hummock grasses. Breeding The chestnut-breasted quail-thrush breeds during the winter semester. Eggs have been reported being laid at the end of months which have received heavy rain in the early weeks. Nesting The chestnut-breasted quail-thrush predominantly lays two eggs per clutch in a nest located on the ground in a slight depression. It is usually 5 cm deep and 15 cm wide and constructed of mulga leaves and hop-bush bark (''Dodonoea adenophora''). The nests are hidden amongst a low hop-bush which was part of a Mulga-Box association. The nest is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hall's Babbler
Hall's babbler (''Pomatostomus halli'') is a small species of bird in the family Pomatostomidae most commonly found in dry '' Acacia'' scrubland of interior regions of eastern Australia.Higgins, P., & Peter, J. (2003) ''Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds (Vol. 6). Melbourne, Australia.: Oxford University Press Superficially similar to the white-browed babbler The white-browed babbler (''Pomatostomus superciliosus'') is a small, gregarious species of bird in the family Pomatostomidae. They are endemic to the open woodlands and shrubby areas of central and southern Australia. The Latin name ''supercili ... this species was only recognised during the 1960s, which makes it a comparatively recent discovery. The bird is named after the Australian-born philanthropist Major Harold Wesley Hall, who funded a series of expeditions to collect specimens for the British Museum, during which the first specimens of Hall's babbler were collected in southwestern Queensland ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gibberbird
The gibberbird (''Ashbyia lovensis'') is a species of chat within the passerine birds. Taxonomy This species, also formerly known as the desert chat, is endemic to Australia and the only species within the genus ''Ashbyia''.Pizzey, Graham; Doyle, Roy (1980) ''A Field Guide to the Birds of Australia''. Collins Publishers, Sydney. This genus was named after the South Australian ornithologist Edwin Ashby. /sup> The specific epithet ''lovensis'' honours the Irish missionary Reverend James Love (1889–1947). The gibberbird, along with the four chats of the genus ''Epithianura'', have sometimes been placed in a separate family, '' Epthianuridae'' (the Australian chats), but are now thought to be aberrant honeyeaters in the family ''Meliphagidae''. The common name of gibberbird was given as a reflection of the gibber plains that make up the primary habitat for the species and unlike other chat species, the gibberbird is almost completely terrestrial, at ease on the ground level wher ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pied Honeyeater
The pied honeyeater (''Certhionyx variegatus'') is a species of bird in the family of honeyeaters Meliphagidae and the sole species in the genus '' Certhionyx'' (Christidis & Boles 2008). This species is also known as the black and white honeyeater or western pied honeyeater. It is endemic to Australia and is listed as a vulnerable species under Schedule 2 of the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 (NSW). Taxonomy In 1999, taxonomists had placed pied honeyeater (''Certhionyx variegatus''), banded honeyeater (''Cissomela pectoralis'') and black honeyeater (''Sugomel nigrum'') in the genus ''Certhionyx''; however, revised DNA analysis indicates that these species are not closely related.Driskell, A & Christidis, L 2004, ''Phylogeny and evolution of the Australo-Papuan honeyeaters (Passeriformes, Meliphagidae)'', Molecular phylogenics and evolution, vol. 29, pp. 540–549. Christidis and Boles placed the pied honeyeater in the clade '' Acanthagenys'' in its own monotypi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Honeyeater
The black honeyeater (''Sugomel nigrum'') is a species of bird in the honeyeater family Meliphagidae. The black honeyeater exhibits sexual dimorphism, with the male being black and white while the female is a speckled grey-brown; immature birds look like the female. The species is endemic to Australia, and ranges widely across the arid areas of the continent, through open woodland and shrubland, particularly in areas where the emu bush and related species occur. A nectar feeder, the black honeyeater has a long curved bill to reach the base of tubular flowers such as those of the emu bush. It also takes insects in the air, and regularly eats ash left behind at campfires. Cup-shaped nests are built in the forks of small trees or shrubs. The male engages in a soaring song flight in the mating season, but contributes little to nest-building or incubating the clutch of two or three eggs. Both sexes feed and care for the young. While the population appears to be decreasing, the black ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bourke's 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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Inland Dotterel
The inland dotterel (''Peltohyas australis'') is an endemic bird of the arid Australian interior. It forms loose flocks in sparsely vegetated gibber plain and claypans in the day where it loafs in the shade and eats shoots of shrubs. It is most often encountered at night when it forages on roads for insects. The relative remoteness of its habitat means that it is not well studied. The most detailed observations of the species were made by the South African arid-zone ornithology specialist Gordon Maclean in the 1970s. Alternate English names include Australian plover, inland plover, desert plover and prairie plover. Description The inland dotterel is a medium-sized plover with a distinctive cryptic plumage. Males and females are similarly sized: in length, a wingspan of a weight of , and a short bill . It is unlikely to be confused with any other species when found in its normal habitat. Its upperparts are a rich sandy buff, mottled with dark brown. The black band across the cr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White-necked Heron
The white-necked heron or Pacific heron (''Ardea pacifica'') is a species of heron that is found on most of the Australian continent wherever freshwater habitats exist. It is also found in parts of Indonesia, New Guinea and New Zealand, but is uncommon in Tasmania.Marchant, S & Higgins, P.J. (1990). Handbook of Australian New Zealand & Antarctic Birds.(Vol, 1). Melbourne: Oxford University Press. The populations of this species in Australia are known to be nomadic like most water birds in Australia, moving from one water source to another often entering habitats they have not previously occupied, taking advantage of flooding and heavy rain where the surplus of food allows them to breed and raise their young. Population explosions have been known when the environmental conditions are right for this species in places where they have been rare or unknown.Pringle, D.J. (1985). The Waterbirds of Australia: National Photographic Index of Australian Wildlife. Angus & Robertson Publisher ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Straw-necked Ibis
The straw-necked ibis (''Threskiornis spinicollis'') is a bird of the ibis and spoonbill family Threskiornithidae. It can be found throughout Australia, New Guinea, and parts of Indonesia. Adults have distinctive straw-like feathers on their necks. Description Straw-necked ibises are large birds, around long, with a bare black head and a long, downcurved black bill. They have a distinctive, highly iridescent plumage, which can appear fairly uniform dirty dark brown in indifferent light; the wings are dark, with an iridescent, multicoloured sheen in sunlight. They have a shiny blue-black back, with a metallic purple, green and bronze glow, and a dark collar. The upper neck is white, as are the underparts and the undertail; their legs are usually red near the top and dark grey toward the feet. Adults have straw-colored feathers on the neck, giving the bird its common name. Their wingspan is about and weight is generally . Sexes are similar, although males have longer bills and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australian Bustard
The Australian bustard (''Ardeotis australis'') is a large ground dwelling bird which is common in grassland, woodland and open agricultural country across northern Australia and southern New Guinea. It stands at about high, and its wingspan is around twice that length. The species is nomadic, flying to areas when food becomes plentiful, and capable of travelling long distances. They were once widespread and common to the open plains of Australia, but became rare in regions that were populated by Europeans during the colonisation of Australia. The bustard is omnivorous, mostly consuming the fruit or seed of plants, but also eating invertebrates such as crickets, grasshoppers, smaller mammals, birds and reptiles. The species is also commonly referred to as the plains turkey, and in Central Australia as the bush turkey, particularly by Aboriginal people, who hunt it, although the latter name may also be used for the Australian brushturkey, as well as the orange-footed scrubfowl. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
