All about Ringtail Possums! #ringtailPossum week

Its ‪#‎RingtailPossum‬ week! Australia’s Common Ringtail is a small arboreal possum with a body length about the same as a 30cm school ruler, and a weight of 500g to 1kg.

Watch them in action: https://youtu.be/jlCEE4Q3X7E

These beautiful little marsupials live in the You Yangs and can occasionally be seen by day, if you are lucky or know where to look! Their main roost is a drey – a circular nest made of sticks – that they construct themselves. But though dreys are easy to find, they are tightly woven, so it is difficult to see possums inside them. We do often find some possums, like these ones, sheltering in bushy shrubs.

Did you know that Common Ringtail Possums live in family groups? Mum, Dad, new joeys and last year’s immature young all snuggle together in the same drey by day and emerge to feed at night.

So when we see a little darling alone, like this one, it makes us wonder where the rest of the family is hiding! Or possibly, its a young animal, newly independent, that hasn’t found his/her own home yet.

Common Ringtail Possum gestation is 20 – 26 days. Ringtails usually have two babies at a time, anytime from May to December. After leaving the pouch at 4 months, ringtail joeys ride on their parents backs for a few months. Both ringtail parents take turns caring for and carrying their babies.

Ringtail Possum joeys are weaned at about 6 months, but will stay with their parents until maturity at about 13 months.

As ringtails build their own nest, they can live in young eucalyptus forest with few natural hollows. Young forest suits them – they prefer the young foliage of eucalyptus trees, and mostly eat mature leaves when young leaves are not available.

In one study near Melbourne, Victoria, ringtails were found to prefer to eat (in order): Swamp Gum (E. ovata), Spotted Gum (E. maculatus), River Red Gum (E. camaldulensis), Forest Red Gum (E. tereticornis). Ringtails do eat the leaves of several shrubs, including Leptospermum (tea-tree) and Acacia (wattle) especially if their preferred young eucalyptus is not available (1).

Ringtails have a very special, clever adaptation to their nutrient-poor diet: they reingest the contents of their caecum to get more nutrition from their food. Basically, they produce 2 different types of poo: hard ‘normal’ faeces at night which is not eaten, & soft caecum faeces in the day, which they eat. Its a bit like koala pap. Eating the soft ‘cecotrope’is similar to cattle chewing their cud – the only difference is that the food passes almost all the way through the digestive system, extracting a maximum of nutrients, before being expelled. Other animals do it too, particularly rabbits and hares.

Common Ringtails really are quite beautiful little animals. They have a soft, bird-like twittering song that often goes unnoticed unless you are listening for it. If you love them and have them in your backyard, you can help them by planting eucalyptus trees, by keeping your cat & dog inside at night, and by allowing branches of trees to interconnect so that the possums don’t have to run along the powerline.

Pahl, L “Diet preference, diet composition and population density of the ringtail possum in several plant communities in southern Victoria” pages 253-60 in POSSUMS and GLIDERS ed by A P Smith and I D Hume, Australian Mammal Society, Sydney 1984

A Miracle (Koala) Baby! The story of wild koala Misty

25th August 2015: While on Koalas & Kangaroos IN THE WILD tour Wildlife Guide Scott’s Whats App message came through to Echidna Walkabout Nature Tours base:
“K1 (Koala sighting 1) is Misty. K4 is her joey. Both high in a Yellow Gum. Joey is laying across her front”

It was followed by a torrent of whoops, woohoos and thumbs up as our whole Koala Research and Wildlife Guiding team celebrated.

Every year we see koala joeys, so why was this one so special? To explain we have to go back to January 2014, to a week of terrible heat. Four consecutive days over 41C (105.8F). By January 18th, the fourth day, koalas were suffering.

This photo was taken 18th January 2014 and shows the first time we met Misty. She was not a happy koala.

This poor young girl was sitting miserably in a waterhole. And she wasn’t the only one – six other koalas were on the ground over those four days, and another six were sitting in the lower third of their trees. This is an unusually high incidence of ground and low roosting.

Misty was found at 9.45am that day, sitting with her feet in the waterhole. She was checked five times over the next five hours and she barely moved. I came past at 2pm with a lovely group of people on a Koala Conservation Day for Locals. I was shocked by her look of hopelessness.

On this occasion I did something I would not normally do: I asked my volunteers to wait in the car, and I approached Misty with a water spray while they watched. I was hoping that my approach would make her spark up and climb a tree. It didn’t, and that’s when I really knew she was in deep trouble.

A wild koala does not welcome a close approach by a human unless they are severely injured or so heat-stressed they are in danger of dying. Basically, their knowledge of impending death is so great that their fear of humans is cancelled out. Misty was at Stage 5 of the Koala Heat Stress Scale – read about that here: When does a hot koala need help?

So when you see that beautiful photo of Sam the koala being given water by the firefighter – don’t see an appreciative wild animal being helped by a person. See a dying animal that has no choice.

I sprayed the full bottle of water on her, standing back as far as I could and all she did was put her head up. I called a wildlife carer and asked if she could take her into care.

My beautiful volunteers were absolutely quiet and didn’t leave the car all this time. I bet the iPhones and cameras were working overtime!

Misty stayed in care for 10 days. In that time she was weighed, thoroughly vet checked, and assessed to have nothing wrong with her. I was surprised – could a healthy young koala really be brought so low by a heatwave? Other, older koalas were still alive through this heatwave, without our help. But, interestingly, one joey was looking a bit flat too – maybe it is hard on the young?

She was released to the place she was found, healthy and well, late on 28th January 2014.

Throughout 2014 and 2015 we have seen Misty on and off. At first, she stayed near the little waterhole. Later she was seen moving close to Nova and Elizabeth’s home area. We were thrilled that she was staying around and looking so well!

Then suddenly, in August this year, we got that beautiful message from Wildlife Guide Scott:

“K1 is Misty. K4 is her joey. Both high in a Yellow Gum. Joey is laying across her front”

Not only has Misty survived her ordeal, she has thrived. She has done the greatest thing of all for koala conservation – she has produced the next generation. And we’ve been part of that.

We are very proud ‘grandparents’.

Update: Misty’s first joey Lluvia, a male, thrived, and became independent at around one year old. He regularly visited his mother’s home range until 2019. In July 2016 Misty’s second joey, Cuddles, a female, emerged from her pouch. Cuddles stayed with Misty until February 2017, then started travelling around the region. She was last seen in 2019 in the Branding Yard area of the You Yangs. Misty continued to be seen, healthy and well right into mid 2020. She followed her independent joeys Cuddles and Lluvia into Branding Yard, and probably further. We haven’t seen her since June 2020, but with the cool wet years we assume she has moved further afield.

A bird of stardust: the Chestnut-quilled Rock-Pigeon of Kakadu

In Kakadu, in the Top End, there’s a pigeon bird made of shadows and stardust.

pigeons Kakadu

He is Doddorok*, the Chestnut-quilled Rock-Pigeon. He is one of those people that you remember, but you don’t know why. Every glimpse of his subtle form is burned into my mind, even eclipsing the equally momentous Sandstone Shrike-thrush and White-lined Honeyeater seen nearby. Its like the stars that have sprinkled his plumage have also gifted him with touch of cool magic.

As a long-time lover of pigeons and doves, I wanted to meet him so badly.

On our first visit to Kakadu we had underestimated the Swedish sauna heat of a September day and had started the Gubara Pools walk late – around 10am. Its only 6km. Allow 3 hours, ‘they’ say. 3 hours!!?? Is everyone a birder up here? Well, ‘they’ were right – by the time we reached the thin monsoon forest strip where the Gubara Pools hide we were knackered and all our water was gone.

Gubara020911p01 — the walk into Gubara Pools

But the pools were peaceful, shady and fair dinkum it had to be 10 degrees cooler beside them. So we loafed there for several hours, letting our bodies renew and the heat subside.

After an hour or so we started exploring – shady spots only! At one point Roger came rushing back from high in the Kakadu rocks, waving and shushing me – he had found a pool, and a resident big dark pigeon. He thought it might be Doddorok but, good man that he is, he came to get me so we could make the discovery together. We had to go quietly he said, and hope that the bird hadn’t been disturbed.

You’ve never seen two people climb so furtively as we did. Step, look around, step again, like an overacted old movie. Doddorok would have been chuckling: “look at these two southerner idiots. They think I can’t hear them!”

Eons later (it seemed) we reached the pool. We sat. We waited, looking up at the shady shelf where Roger had first seen him. Doddorok tested our patience a little. Did we respect him? Had we paid our ‘ top end time tax’ to the spirits of Gubara? Eventually we passed the test and a dark head appeared and looked at us.

Don’t be fooled by pictures showing a drab, dark bird. This pigeon has the loveliness of a tropical night. His dark head and neck is splashed with stars. Bluish eyelids close over dark eyes as he enjoys the silence in his shady enclave. A splash of the red rocks of his escarpment home shows in his wings when he flies.

The second time we saw this rare pigeon was powerful again. We had discovered that Nanguluwur, a short walk to a rarely-visited art site near Nourlangie, could be accessed very early. The walk is charming. Tropical savannah grasslands with pandanus and fern-leaved grevillea forest are visited by yabbering Grey-crowned Babblers, wisps of finches and red-backed fairywrens, singing Pied Butcherbirds and the occasional Diamond Dove. The forest rings with the maniacal calls of friarbirds and lorikeets.

diamondDoves160814p01cropenhLogo — a tiny Diamond Dove on the walk in to Nawurlandja

On reaching the art site, the birds went quiet. I developed itchy feet, so on a whim, took off my shoes and made the final climb barefooted. It was like walking into a cathedral and removing one’s hat.

We whispered, pointing out the ancient and post-contact art on the overhang, not wanting to damage our tender connection with history. There’s something about being alone at an Aboriginal Rock Art site – the very silence makes you realise you’re not alone at all. We were being watched by at least one being. On an outcrop above our heads he sat, framed by red ochre paintings. He wasn’t disturbed. This is his place. Doddorok – the pigeon of the rock.

chestnutQuilledRockPigeon110814p04enhLogolowres

Each time we go we look at every faded splash of red ochre and every diamond-spattered rock hoping to see him again. We can imagine his dark calm eyes watching, through a curtain of stars.

Chestnut-quilled Rock-Pigeons Petrophassa rufipennis live in the sandstone country of Kakadu and Arnhemland in the Northern Territory’s Top End. The population size is not known, but they appear to be stable in their preferred habitat, much of which is protected.

Wilkins’ (Eastern Short-eared) Rock-wallaby also lives in the rocky art-filled overhangs of Kakadu. Read about them here.

*Doddorok is the Kunwinjku, Gundjeihmi and Kuninjku language name for the Chestnut-quilled Rock-Pigeon. To say the name go to this wonderful site of Bininj names of plants and animals: http://mayh-dja-kundulk.bininjgunwok.org.au/plant_or_animals/chestnut-quilled-rock-pigeon

About wild koala Bermborok – July 2015 Koala of the Month

July Koala of the Month is Bermborok!! Bermborok is the Watharurong* word for sister, and is probably the origin of the name ‘Beremboke’ – the town in the Brisbane Ranges where Roger’s mum and dad lived, and our good friend Marilyn Blankley runs a wildlife shelter.

Koala Researcher Melinda King, a member of the Wathaurong Aboriginal Community, suggested the name for her. We like to promote the use of the original languages of Australia, and this is a great way of remembering them.

Bermborok is a beautiful little lady living just near Koala Clancy. This month we’ll tell you a bit about her.

We first met July koala of the month Bermborok in December 2012. At first it was hard to get a decent photograph – this one was the best we could manage. Why? Like a lot of unhabituated wild koalas, she was nervous. She would hide in the leaves at the very top of the tree.

Bermborok in the early days, nervously peeking at us

If koalas have had no experience of humans they see us as a danger. So we are patient – we stay quiet, move little and stay well back from the tree. See our Koala Rules to learn how to do it. It works! In the next photo we’ll show you how relaxed Bermborok has become.

Now, 2.5 years after first meeting Bermborok, she is relaxed enough to look at us with curiosity. She no longer bolts for the top of the tree each time she hears us coming, she no longer feels she has to hide her lovely face in the leaves.

This is our reward for being gentle and patient with her. We feel better knowing she isn’t terrified. It also makes her easier to find! Nervous koalas can avoid people by hiding themselves in thick foliage when they hear you coming. So there’s another reason to be quiet, and stay well back from wild koalas – next time you visit you might be rewarded!

July koala of the month Bermborok has a chubby little face – can you see it? This suggests to us that she is quite young, perhaps just 4 or 5 years old.

Koalas age like we do – they start off with round “puppy fat” faces and over time become more angular. Its not a totally reliable method of aging a wild koala, but its the best we can do non-intrusively!

Learn more about our Wild Koala Research Project: http://www.echidnawalkabout.com.au/wildliferesearch

*Wathaurong is the language of the Aboriginal People of Geelong, Little River and the You Yangs.

The people of the sky – in the flight path of the Flying-foxes

We felt them before we saw them. I don’t know if it was a change in air pressure, or just that feeling that you are not alone, but we sensed something on a primeval level. Even after hundreds of generations of urban living, we are not disconnected from nature.

It was the fruit bats. Thousands of them. On a summer evening, in Mallacoota in far eastern Victoria, we were standing on the verandah enjoying the last shreds of the dying sun. Something made us look up, and for the next twenty minutes we couldn’t move. The sky was full of Grey-headed Flying-foxes. Full, seriously, full. Every part of the sky from horizon to horizon had a megabat in it. Sometimes there was a bat-length between them, sometimes less. Watch:

The magic of the experience was partly the silence. It was like every other creature held their breath out of respect for these magical beings.

Watch:

In many ways, bats are like people. Many of them live in high-rise “cities” – crowded, noisy places with complaining neighbours. They commute long distances to “work”. They love mangoes and apricots (fruit-bats do anyway – the little ones love mosquitoes, which is an area in which they differ to us!) They have a highly advanced brain, that is quite similar to ours. Some scientists have suggested that they may have evolved from primates.

We had the same feeling coming down from sundowners on Nawurlandja, in Kakadu National Park, last August. It was a balmy still evening and we had stayed well past the sunset. As we came out of the rocks into the carpark we felt it again and looked up. This time it was Little Red Flying-foxes, with a few, larger, Black Flying-foxes amongst them. The Blacks were swirling around, but the Little Reds were on a mission – flying directly north in silent masses. Little Reds can congregate into camps of one million animals. We saw tens of thousands that night.

In Australia, you can see fruit-bats/flying-foxes in many places. We have them in Melbourne, Bairnsdale and Mallacoota in Victoria. They live in Sydney and Brisbane. They are most numerous in the warm tropical places like Cairns and Darwin. Listen for them in their daytime cities (roosts/camps) – they sound a bit like children laughing, squealing and crying all at once. At night, look up. If you are under their flight path you will enjoy a moment of pure wonder.

Join us on our Maximum Wildlife tour sometime and see this wonder for yourself.

Read about the wildlife wonders we see all around Australia here.

Please help! Join or follow the Australasian Bat Society: http://ausbats.org.au or FB: www.facebook.com/AustralasianBatSociety

Background: bats are some of the most threatened mammals on the planet. Grey-headed Flying-foxes, for example, have had most of their natural foraging habitat destroyed by farming, land clearing and housing. They hang on in patches of natural bushland, and sometimes have to resort to eating fruit from orchards. Unfortunately, this brings them into conflict with the farmers.

Bats also suffer from a public relations problem – some people are scared of them. Bats have been used to symbolize darkness and evil in books and movies. Nothing could be further from the truth. 99.98% of bats eat insects or fruit. They don’t, and can’t, drink blood. They are completely harmless to humans, and do their best to stay away from us. 3 species out of 1,240 do drink blood, but never enough to harm their prey.

How to Identify Koalas by Their Nose Patterns

Koalas can be easily and non-intrusively identified by the natural black and white markings inside their nostrils. These markings, ‘the nose pattern’ appear to stay the same throughout life, so can be a useful and reliable identifying feature. Over a 16 year study, monitoring 108 individual koalas in three locations, no two koala nose patterns have ever been seen to be identical, and no nose pattern has been seen to change substantially.

Step 1. Take a photograph of a koala’s nose. The best identification photos are taken from front-on and slightly below the koala. The focus should be on the nostrils, in good light (not too much shadow or contrast) and as close-up as possible.

TRUGANINA161213p01dclowres — Koala Truganina

Step 2. Look at the white/pale pattern inside and around the nostrils. This is the ‘target area’ where the nose pattern exists. See the area inside the pink outline in the image below. Markings outside of the target area can vary throughout the life of the koala, so should be noted, but should not be relied upon for identification.

TRUGANINA161213p01dcenhtextlowres2 — Koala Truganina nose pattern target area

Step 3. Compare the first koala (Truganina) to this koala below (Pat). Look just at the target area – can you see the differences?

PAT061013p01mrtextlowresPink — Koala Pat nose pattern target area

Below is a comparison of the two koalas nose pattern target areas rotated to the same angle. Truganina on the left has a lot more white in her nose pattern. The white extends outside the nostril area in a few places, with a messy outline. Her lips have a lot of white too. There are black spots in the white. Pat, on right, has a simpler nose pattern. The white is almost totally confined inside the nostrils. The pattern has a scalloped edge.

trugPattargetAreas — Nose Pattern target areas – left: Truganina right: Pat

Step 4. Record the pattern. There are three ways you can record nose patterns. Use just one, or two in combination, whatever works for you. We use all three methods in tandem, and it works well.

METHOD 1: File the photograph in a folder on your computer for quick reference in future. Compare each new koala photograph to the existing photographs until you achieve a match by eye. These two photographs below are of the same koala, Truganina, 5 years apart. Can you see the match? This method works if you can see the match easily, and if there’s not a lot of koalas to choose from. It will help if you file carefully, and keep a record of each koala seen (see Tips below on how to do this)

TRUGANINA220209enhtextlowres — Koala Truganina 2009

METHOD 2: Trace the nose pattern with tracing paper over a printed photograph. This method is perfectly valid, quick and easy especially if you’re not computer savvy, or don’t have a lot of time. Take a photocopy or scan of your diagram, keep it handy in a binder to check against future photographs of the same koala. We still use this method as it is the quickest and handiest way to keep up to date.

trugPicTracing1lowrestext — Koala Truganina photo with tracing overlay

trugPicTracing2lowrestext — Koala Truganina photo and overlay tracing diagram

METHOD 3: Use a computer graphics program. This method is useful if there are several people using the method on the same koalas, or if you are not confident of making the comparison by eye. Simple graphics programs will do the job. Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro are fine – use the layers tools.

Powerful programs like GIMP are good too. The image below shows three nose pattern diagrams, created with GIMP, of the same koala nearly 5 years apart. Yellow layer = December 2013, pink layer = December 2013, blue layer = February 2009. The similarity is astounding, particularly considering that the the nose is a soft tissue that changes shape.

TRUGANINAcomparison2textlowres — Koala Truganina graphic diagram comparison over 5 years

TIPS:

It helps to come up with a photo file name protocol that you use the same way each time. You can name the image with the koalas name or number and date eg. K1female120515 (first female sighted on 12th May 2015).
If you regularly see koalas in a number of locations, it might be good to separate the nose pattern photographs from different locations, and by sex by folder. ie Nose Patterns – YouYangs – females.
Record keeping will help! Keep a record of when and where a koala was seen. You can do this in the image (EXIF) information on the photo, or in a simple (or detailed) datasheet – examples below:

exampleSimpleDatasheet — Basic koala observation datasheet

exampleComplexDatasheet — Detailed koala observation datasheet

Side-on photographs, or photos from extreme angles can distort a nose pattern. If possible, wait or move to get a front-on view. This image below is Truganina again, but at an angle. You can still see her distinctive nose pattern in her right nostril, but the left pattern is obscured.
Koala Truganina side on
Deep shadows under the nostril ridge, or strong light, can hide the nose pattern. Photograph with several different settings on your camera when light is strong. In the beautiful photo below, Cloud’s nose pattern is almost completely lost in shadow. Brightening the image on a computer graphics program may reveal the pattern.

CLOUD050214p02pcroplowres — Koala Cloud in strong shadow

Flaring and closing of the nostrils can appear to change a nose pattern, but in a predictable way. Look closely at the nostril shape in your photograph to determine whether the nostril is flared or closed.

This method was discovered in 1998 and documented by Janine Duffy, President of the (brand new!) Koala Clancy Foundation and founder of Echidna Walkabout Nature Tours. We have more details if you need them, or if you have tips or observations to add please contact janine@echidnawalkabout.com.au. We will credit you!

Wildlife of the Top End, Northern Territory Australia

Here’s a full list of the mammals, reptiles and birds we’ve managed to see in our trips to the Top End since 2008. Most of these animals can be seen on our Wild Top End 6 day trip to Kakadu and Mary River National Parks:

MAMMALS

shortEaredRockWallaby070713p03enhLogolowres — *Badbong – Wilkins Rock Wallaby*

Bandicoot – Northern Brown
Rock-wallaby – Wilkins (formerly Short-eared)
Wallaby – Agile
Kangaroo – Antilopine
Wallaroo – Black
Possum – Northern Brushtail
Flying-fox – Black
Flying-fox – Little Red
Dingo

REPTILES

Crocodile – Saltwater (Estuarine)

: Burarr – Mertens Water Monitor

Crocodile – Freshwater
Python – Water
Snake – Slaty Grey
Snake – Common Tree
Snake – Lesser Black Whipsnake
Dragon – Gilbert’s (Ta-ta Lizard)
Dragon – Two-lined
Dragon – Frill-necked Lizard
Water Monitor – Mertens
Goanna – Gould’s
Skink – Two-spined (Bauxite) Rainbow Skink
Skink – Firetailed

AMPHIBIANS

Frog – Northern Laughing (Roth’s) Tree Frog
Frog – Northern Dwarf Tree Frog

BIRDS

Goose – Magpie

: Wandering & Manbarladjidji – Plumed Whistling-ducks and Manimunak – Magpie Geese

Duck – Plumed Whistling-Duck
Duck – Wandering Whistling-Duck
Duck – Radjah Shelduck
Goose – Green Pygmy-goose
Duck – Pacific Black
Duck – Grey Teal
Duck – Pacific Black
Duck – Pink-eared
Scrubfowl – Orange-footed
*Quail – Brown
Grebe – Australasian
Jabiru (Black-necked Stork)
Cormorant – Little Black
Cormorant – Pied
Cormorant – Little Pied
Darter
Pelican – Australian
Bittern – Black
Heron – White-necked (Pacific)
Heron – Great-billed
Egret – Great
Egret – Intermediate

: Djakarna – Black-necked Stork (Jabiru)

Heron – White-faced
Egret – Little
Egret – Eastern Reef
Heron – Pied
Egret – Cattle
Heron – Striated
Heron – Nankeen Night
Ibis – Glossy
Ibis – Australian White
Ibis – Straw-necked
Spoonbill – Royal
Spoonbill – Yellow-billed
Osprey
Kite – Black-shouldered
Buzzard – Black-breasted
Eagle – Little
Eagle – Wedge-tailed
Harrier – Swamp
Harrier – Spotted
*Goshawk – Grey
Goshawk – Brown
Sparrowhawk – Collared
Kite – Black
Kite – Whistling
Kite – Brahminy
Sea-Eagle – White-bellied
Bustard – Australian
Rail – Buff-banded
Swamphen – Purple
Coot – Eurasian
Brolga
Stone-curlew – Bush
Stone-curlew – Beach
Stilt – Black-winged
Avocet – Red-necked
Oystercatcher – Australian Pied
Lapwing – Masked
Dotterel – Black-fronted
Dotterel – Red-kneed
Plover – Oriental
Plover – Red-capped
Plover – Pacific Golden
Plover – Grey Plover
Plover – Greater Sand
Plover – Lesser Sand
Jacana – Comb-crested
Sandpiper – Common
Tattler – Grey-tailed
Greenshank – Common
Sanderling
Curlew – Eastern
Whimbrel
Godwit – Bar-tailed
Godwit – Black-tailed
Turnstone – Ruddy
Marsh Sandpiper
Wood Sandpiper
Pratincole – Australian
Gull – Silver
Tern – Gull-billed
Tern – Caspian
Tern – Whiskered

: Doddorok – Chestnut-quilled Rock Pigeon

Dove – Emerald
Pigeon – Crested
Pigeon – Partridge
Pigeon – Chestnut-quilled Rock-pigeon
Dove – Diamond
Dove – Peaceful
Dove – Bar-shouldered
Dove – Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove
Dove – Banded Fruit-Dove
Pigeon – Torresian Imperial
Cuckoo – Brush
Bronze-cuckoo – Little
Koel – Common
Cuckoo – Channel-billed
Coucal – Pheasant
Owl – Rufous
Owl – Barking
Boobook – Southern
Nightjar – Large-tailed
Kingfisher – Azure
Kingfisher – Little
Kookaburra – Blue-winged
Kingfisher – Forest
Kingfisher – Collared
Kingfisher – Sacred
Bee-eater – Rainbow
Dollarbird

: Rainbow Bee-eater

Kestrel – Nankeen
Hobby – Australian
Falcon – Brown
Falcon – Black
Black-cockatoo – Red-tailed
Galah
Corella – Little
Cockatoo – Sulphur-crested (Fitzroy ssp.)
Parrot – Red-winged
Rosella – Northern
Lorikeet – Red-collared (Rainbow)
Lorikeet – Varied
Pitta – Rainbow
Bowerbird – Great
Treecreeper – Black-tailed
Fairy-wren – Red-backed
Honeyeater – White-lined
Honeyeater – White-gaped
Miner – Yellow-throated
Honeyeater – Bar-breasted
Honeyeater – Rufous-banded
Honeyeater – Rufous-throated
Honeyeater – Dusky
Honeyeater – Red-headed
Honeyeater – Banded
Honeyeater – Brown
Honeyeater – White-throated
Honeyeater – Blue-faced
Friarbird – Little
Friarbird – Helmeted
Friarbird – Silver-crowned
Pardalote – Striated
Weebill
Gerygone – Green-backed
Gerygone – Large-billed
Gerygone – Mangrove
Babbler – Grey-crowned
Woodswallow – White-breasted
Woodswallow – Little
Butcherbird – Pied
Butcherbird – Black
Cuckoo-shrike – Black-faced
Cuckoo-shrike – White-bellied
Triller – White-winged
Triller – Varied
Shrike-thrush – Little
Shrike-thrush – Sandstone
Shrike-thrush – Grey
Whistler – Grey
Whistler – Rufous
Oriole – Olive-backed
Oriole – Yellow
Figbird
Drongo – Spangled
Fantail – Northern
Willie Wagtail
Fantail – Arafura (Rufous)
Mudlark (Magpie-lark)
Flycatcher – Leaden
Flycatcher – Broad-billed
Flycatcher – Paperbark

: Broad-billed Flycatcher

Flycatcher – Shining
Crow – Torresian
Flycatcher – Lemon-bellied
Martin – Tree
Martin – Fairy
Reed-warbler – Australian
Grassbird – Tawny
Cisticola – Golden-headed
White-eye – Yellow
Mistletoebird
Finch – Crimson
Finch – Double-barred
Finch – Masked
Finch – Long-tailed
Mannikin – Chestnut-breasted
Mannikin – Yellow-rumped

About Gurren: June 2015 Wild Koala of the Month!

Gurren is a strong male living near Koala Clancy in the You Yangs. We first met him in November 2012. He
was mature when we met him, so he’s probably about 7-9 years old now.

Gurren has a very distinctive nose pattern! Can you see the white pattern inside his nostrils? This is
how we tell him apart from his neighbours Bungaleenee, Koala Clancy, Unaipon and Bundjalung.

He also has an unusual couple of dark spots in the fur beside his nose on his left – can you see that? Not
all koalas have that, and it can be a very useful identifying feature.

June Koala of the Month Gurren had a special relationship with this lovely old lady Corrin. In 2013 & 2014
he was often seen in Corrin’s home range, and was by her side a lot, even outside of breeding season.

We’ve found in our research that male koalas sometimes form an alliance with a high-ranking resident
female. It might be the key to achieving dominant male status.

Sadly for Gurren (and us) Corrin didn’t survive the heatwave in summer 2014. Since then Gurren has been
ranging more widely through the neighbourhood – like a lost lover searching for meaning in life. We hope
he can settle down with another lady.

For more about our wild koalas and wild koala research project: http://www.echidnawalkabout.com.au/wildliferesearch

Janine Duffy: Echidna Walkabout

A Wildlife Guide's thoughts & experiences with wild Australian animals