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Paisley Islet
Paisley Islet (also known as West Bay Islet) is an islet located in the Great Australian Bight immediately off the west coast of Kangaroo Island in South Australia approximately west south-west of Kingscote. It is currently part of the Flinders Chase National Park. Description Paisley Islet is approximately west south-west of Kingscote. It is an extension of the southern headland of West Bay and is only separated from the mainland by tide or wind driven waves. It can be reached by walking along the rock isthmus at low tide. Formation, geology and oceanography Paisley Islet was formed about 7500 years ago after sea levels rose at the start of the Holocene. The islet consists of basement rock of Kanmantoo group metasandstone which extends to the mainland. The central portion of the islet is topped with a layer of Bridgewater Formation calcarenite which is in turn capped with a layer of calcrete. Layers of soil lie in depressions within the calcrete layer. The islet is l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Australian Bight
The Great Australian Bight is a large oceanic bight, or open bay, off the central and western portions of the southern coastline of mainland Australia. Extent Two definitions of the extent are in use – one used by the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) and the other used by the Australian Hydrographic Service (AHS). The IHO defines the Great Australian Bight as having the following limits: ''On the North.'' The south coast of the Australian mainland. ''On the South.'' A line joining West Cape Howe () Australia to South West Cape, Tasmania. ''On the East.'' A line from Cape Otway, Victoria to King Island and thence to Cape Grim, the northwest extreme of Tasmania. The AHS defines the bight with a smaller area, from Cape Pasley, Western Australia, to Cape Carnot, South Australia - a distance of . Much of the bight lies due south of the expansive Nullarbor Plain, which straddles South Australia and Western Australia. The Eyre Highway passes close to the cli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Enchylaena Tomentosa
''Enchylaena tomentosa'', commonly known as barrier saltbush or ruby saltbush, is a small native shrub of Australia. Description ''Enchylaena tomentosa'' grows as a small perennial shrub, up to a meter in diameter. Leaves are slender and cylindrical growing to 6-15mm long, both leaves and stems are densely covered in woolly hairs. Fruits form as fleshy berries changing from bright green/yellow to bright red/orange. The derivation of the name helps describe and classify its features with ''Enchylaena'' coming from the Greek ''egchlos'' meaning fleshy or succulent and ''chlaen'' a cloak referring to the ripe fruiting perianth, ''tomentosa'' botanical Latin outlining that the plant is covered with dense short or curled hairs soft hair. Highly drought tolerant ''E. tomentosa'' has historically been sought after by Indigenous Australians, early settlers and livestock. Nutritional analyze gives the plant a 65% digestibility rating providing grazing species with 14% digestible prote ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western Kangaroo Island Marine Park (state Waters)
__NOTOC__ Western Kangaroo Island Marine Park is a marine protected area in the Australian state of South Australia located in the state’s coastal waters adjoining both the west coast of Kangaroo Island and Lipson Reef, an islet located to the south of Kangaroo Island. The marine park was established on 29 January 2009 under the ''Marine Parks Act 2007''. The marine park consists of two areas of water. The first is the portion of coastal waters adjoining the coastline to the western end of Kangaroo Island extending from the middle of Sanderson Bay on the south coast to Cape Forbin on the north coast. The seaward boundary is the limit of coastal waters which moves away from within of the island in a northern-westerly direction towards the Eyre Peninsula while the northern boundary is a line with an east-west alignment and located about north of Cape Forbin. The second is the coastal waters within of Lipson Reef which is located about south-east of Cape du Couedic. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Four-toed Earless Skink
The four-toed earless skink (''Hemiergis peronii''), also known commonly as Péron's earless skink, the lowlands earless skink, or the four-toed mulch skink, is a viviparous earless skink endemic to southern Australia. Etymology The specific name, ''peronii'', is in honor of François Péron, a French naturalist and explorer.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Hemiergis peronii'', p. 203). Geographic range ''H. peronii'' is found in coastal and subcoastal areas of the following Australian states: Western Australia, South Australia, and western Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle .... Description ''H. peronii'' has an average snout-vent l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australian Sea Lion
The Australian sea lion (''Neophoca cinerea''), also known as the Australian sea-lion or Australian sealion, is a species of sea lion that is the only endemic pinniped in Australia. It is currently monotypic in the genus ''Neophoca'', with the extinct Pleistocene New Zealand sea lion ''Neophoca palatina'' the only known congener. With a population estimated at around 14,730 animals, the Wildlife Conservation Act of Western Australia (1950) has listed them as “in need of special protection”. Their Conservation status is listed as endangered. These pinnipeds are specifically known for their abnormal breeding cycles, which are varied between a 5-month breeding cycle and a 17-18 month aseasonal breeding cycle, compared to other pinnipeds which fit into a 12-month reproductive cycle. Females are either silver or fawn with a cream underbelly and males are dark brown with a yellow mane and are bigger than the females. Distribution Australian sea lions are sparsely distributed acro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haul Out
Hauling-out is a behaviour associated with pinnipeds (true seals, sea lions, fur seals and walruses) temporarily leaving the water. Hauling-out typically occurs between periods of foraging activity. Rather than remain in the water, pinnipeds haul-out onto land or sea-ice for reasons such as reproduction and rest. Hauling-out is necessary in seals for mating (with the exception of the Baikal seal) and giving birth (although a distinction is generally made between reproductive aggregations, termed "rookeries", and non-reproductive aggregations, termed "haul-outs"). Other benefits of hauling-out may include predator avoidance, thermoregulation, social activity, parasite reduction and rest. There is much variation in haul-out patterns among different seal species.Hoelzel, A. Rus. (2002). ''Marine Mammal Biology: An Evolutionary Approach''. Blackwell Publishing. . p. 197. Haul-out sites may be segregated by age and sex within the same species. Many species of pinniped have only a fe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australian Pipit
The Australian pipit (''Anthus australis'') is a fairly small passerine bird of open country in Australia and New Guinea. It belongs to the pipit genus ''Anthus'' in the family Motacillidae. It was formerly lumped together with the Richard's, African, Mountain and Paddyfield pipits in a single species: Richard's pipit, ''Anthus novaeseelandiae''.Many authors split the Australasian pipit further into two species: Australian pipit (''Anthus australis'') in Australia and New Guinea. Description It is a slender bird, 16 to 19 cm long, and weighs about 40 grams. The plumage is pale brown above with dark streaks. The underparts are pale with streaks on the breast. There is a pale stripe over the eye and dark malar and moustachial stripes. The long tail has white outer-feathers and is often wagged up and down. The legs are long and pinkish-brown while the bill is slender and brownish. It has a sparrow-like ''chirruping'' call and a drawn-out ''tswee'' call. Ecology It is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Welcome Swallow
The welcome swallow (''Hirundo neoxena'') is a small passerine bird in the swallow family. It is a species native to Australia and nearby islands, and self-introduced into New Zealand in the middle of the twentieth century. It is very similar to the Pacific swallow with which it is often considered conspecific. This species breeds in southern and eastern Australia in a variety of habitats, mostly in open areas, man-made clearings or urban environments, but not desert or dense forest. Eastern populations are largely migratory, wintering in northern Australia. Western birds and those in New Zealand are mainly sedentary. Taxonomy The welcome swallow was first described by John Gould in ''The Birds of Australia'' as a member of the genus ''Hirundo'', but the first publication is often incorrectly given as in the ''Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London''. Both its species name and common name refer to people welcoming its return as a herald of spring in southern parts of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rock Parrot
The rock parrot (''Neophema petrophila'') is a species of grass parrot native to Australia. Described by John Gould in 1841, it is a small parrot long and weighing with predominantly olive-brown upperparts and more yellowish underparts. Its head is olive with light blue forecheeks and lores, and a dark blue frontal band line across the crown with lighter blue above and below. The sexes are similar in appearance, although the female tends to have a duller frontal band and less blue on the face. Two subspecies are recognised. Rocky islands and coastal dune areas are the preferred habitats for this species, which is found from Lake Alexandrina in southeastern South Australia westwards across coastal South and Western Australia to Shark Bay. Unlike other grass parrots, it nests in burrows or rocky crevices mostly on offshore islands such as Rottnest Island. Seeds of grasses and succulent plants form the bulk of its diet. The species has suffered in the face of feral mammals; a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sooty Oystercatcher
The sooty oystercatcher (''Haematopus fuliginosus'') is a species of oystercatcher. It is a wading bird endemic to Australia and commonly found on its coastline. It prefers rocky coastlines, but will occasionally live in estuaries. All of its feathers are black. It has a red eye, eye ring and bill, and pink legs. Taxonomy John Gould described the sooty oystercatcher in 1845. Its species name is the Latin adjective ''fuliginosus'', "sooty". Two subspecies are recognised, the nominate from the coastline of southern Australia and subspecies ''ophthalmicus'' from northern Australia. The southern subspecies is larger and heavier than the northern. The northern one, with a more yellowish eye ring, is found from the Kimberleys across the top of the country to Mackay in central Queensland. There is considerable overlap, as the southern subspecies has been found up to Cape York. Subspecies ''ophthalmicus'' has been thought distinctive enough to warrant species status and needs further inv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red-capped Plover
The red-capped plover (''Charadrius ruficapillus''), also known as the red-capped dotterel, is a small species of plover. It breeds in Australia. This species is closely related to (and sometimes considered conspecific with) the Kentish plover, Javan plover, and white-fronted plover. Description Red-capped plovers have a white forehead and underparts. Their upperparts are mainly grey-brown. Adult males have a rufous or reddish-brown crown and hindneck. Adult females have a paler rufous and grey-brown crown and hindneck, with a pale loreal stripe. The upperwing of ''Charadrius ruficapillus'' shows dark brown remiges (flight feathers) and primary covert feathers with a white wingbar in flight. Its length is 14–16 cm (5.5–6.3 in) and its wingspan is 27–34 cm (10.6–13.4 in); it weighs 35–40 g (1.2–1.4 oz). Breeding plumage shows a red-brown crown and nape with black margins. Non-breeding plumage is duller and lacks the black margins. Distribution and habitat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greater Crested Tern
The greater crested tern Retrieved 28 February 2012 (''Thalasseus bergii''), also called crested tern or swift tern, is a tern in the family Laridae that nests in dense colonies on coastlines and islands in the tropical and subtropical Old World. Its five subspecies breed in the area from South Africa around the Indian Ocean to the central Pacific and Australia, all populations dispersing widely from the breeding range after nesting. This large tern is closely related to the royal and lesser crested terns, but can be distinguished by its size and bill colour. The greater crested tern has grey upperparts, white underparts, a yellow bill, and a shaggy black crest that recedes in winter. Its young have a distinctive appearance, with strongly patterned grey, brown and white plumage, and rely on their parents for food for several months after they have fledged. Like all members of the genus ''Thalasseus'', the greater crested tern feeds by plunge diving for fish, usually in marine en ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
