Animal fact sheets
 "Little penguin.. Image: G.Robertson/DECC")
The little penguin - a Sydney resident?
Think you know a lot about Australian wildlife? See if you can answer the questions below, then check out the fact sheets to see if you were right.
Australian brush turkey
QUESTION: How do brush turkeys keep their eggs warm until they hatch?
Australian magpie
QUESTION: Why do magpies sometimes swoop at people during spring? What should you do if it happens to you?
Bandicoots
QUESTION: What of the following does a bandicoot NOT eat - worms, spiders, grubs, tadpoles, fungus, or roots?
Bowerbirds
QUESTION: What might you find in a satin bowerbird's bower - a pink hairclip, a blue clothes peg, or a silver bottletop?
Brush-tailed possum
QUESTION: What's the best way to help out brush-tailed possums that live near your house?
Dingo
QUESTION: How long have dingos lived in Australia - 3500 years, 35,000 years, or three million years?
Echidnas
QUESTION: How can an echidna eat termites, if it doesn't have any teeth?
Emu
QUESTION: How does an emu defend itself when attacked?
Frogs
QUESTION: Frog populations are declining around the world - what's killing them?
Gliding possums
QUESTION: What distance can a yellow-bellied glider cover in a single leap - 30 metres, 85 metres or 140 metres?
Kangaroos & wallabies
QUESTION: Where would you find a red kangaroo - in the Minnamurra Rainforest, on the Western Plains, or up in the Snowy Mountains?
Koala
QUESTION: How big is a newborn koala - as big as your fingernail, as big as your finger, or as big as your hand?
Laughing kookaburra
QUESTION: How does a kookaburra 'soften up' a snake before eating it?
Little penguin
QUESTION: Where's the only known mainland colony of little penguins in NSW - Coffs Harbour, Nelson Bay or Sydney Harbour?
Lord Howe Island woodhen
QUESTION: Why can't Lord Howe Island woodhens fly?
Lyrebirds
QUESTION: Can a lyrebird sound like a chainsaw?
Malleefowl
QUESTION: Who looks after a malleefowl chick when it hatches?
Parrots
QUESTION: A lorikeet's tongue has a brush-like tip. What is this used for?
Platypus
QUESTION: Is a platypus poisonous?
Purple copper butterfly
QUESTION: The larvae of this butterfly are protected and 'shepherded around' by ants. Why do the ants do this?
Shearwaters
QUESTION: Why are large numbers of dead shearwaters sometimes found washed up on the beach?
Snakes
QUESTION: Do snakes have ears?
Wedge-tailed eagle
QUESTION: What's longer - your arm, or the wing of a wedge-tailed eagle?
Whales
QUESTION: Which whale blows up a 'V' shaped plume of spray - the humpback whale, or the southern right whale?
Wombats
QUESTION: Who's heavier - a fully-grown wombat, or you?