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Babel Island
The Babel Island, part of the Babel Group within the Furneaux Group, is a granite island, located in Bass Strait, lying off the east coast of Flinders Island, Tasmania, south of Victoria, Australia. The privately owned island was named by Matthew Flinders from the noises made by the seabirds there. In 1995 freehold title to Babel Island was vested in the Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania, on behalf of the Tasmanian Aboriginal community, under the ''Aboriginal Lands Act 1995'' (Tas). Besides Babel Island, other islands as part of the Babel Group include the Cat and Storehouse islands and Fifty Foot Rock. Fauna Many seals were reported here in 1817. The Babel Island group is classified as an Important Bird Area. Babel island is home to the largest colony of short-tailed shearwaters in the world, with an estimated 2.8 million pairs, or about 12% of the whole population of this species, and is subject to annual muttonbirding. It also has a major colony of little penguins, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cat Island (Tasmania)
The Cat Island, part of the Babel Group within the Furneaux Group, is a unpopulated granite island, located in Bass Strait, lying off the east coast of Flinders Island, Tasmania, south of Victoria, in south-eastern Australia. Cat Island is part of the Babel Island Group Important Bird Area. Fauna Seabirds and waders recorded as breeding on the island include little penguin, short-tailed shearwater, silver gull, Pacific gull, crested tern, sooty oystercatcher, pied oystercatcher and Australasian gannet. Resident reptiles include White's skink and tiger snake. The rakali has also been recorded on the island. The historically important breeding colony of Australasian gannets, with an estimated 5,000-10,000 birds at the beginning of the 20th century, declined to extinction by the mid-1980s as a result of, at first, human intrusion, followed by fires, disturbance and, finally, predation by white-bellied sea-eagles.Brothers, Nigel; Pemberton, David; Pryor, Helen; & Halley, V ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Muttonbirding
Muttonbirding is the seasonal harvesting of the chicks of petrels, especially shearwater species, for food, oil and feathers by recreational or commercial hunters. Such hunting of petrels and other seabirds has occurred in various locations since prehistoric times, and there is evidence that many island populations have become extinct as a result. More recently ‘muttonbirding’ usually refers to the regulated and sustainable harvesting of shearwaters in Australia and New Zealand. Anderson, Atholl. (1998). Origins of Procellariidae Hunting in the Southwest Pacific. ''International Journal of Osteoarchaeology'' 6(4): 403–410. These include the short-tailed shearwater, also known as the yolla or Australian muttonbird, in Bass Strait, Tasmania, as well as the sooty shearwater, also known as the titi or New Zealand muttonbird, on several small islands known as the Muttonbird Islands, scattered around Stewart Island in the far south of New Zealand. Australia Licensed commerci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
House Mouse
The house mouse (''Mus musculus'') is a small mammal of the order Rodentia, characteristically having a pointed snout, large rounded ears, and a long and almost hairless tail. It is one of the most abundant species of the genus ''Mus''. Although a wild animal, the house mouse has benefited significantly from associating with human habitation to the point that truly wild populations are significantly less common than the semi-tame populations near human activity. The house mouse has been domesticated as the pet or fancy mouse, and as the laboratory mouse, which is one of the most important model organisms in biology and medicine. The complete mouse reference genome was sequenced in 2002. Characteristics House mice have an adult body length (nose to base of tail) of and a tail length of . The weight is typically . In the wild they vary in color from grey and light brown to black (individual hairs are actually agouti coloured), but domesticated fancy mice and laboratory mice ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tasmanian Pademelon
The Tasmanian pademelon (''Thylogale billardierii''), also known as the rufous-bellied pademelon or red-bellied pademelon, is the sole species of pademelon found in Tasmania, and was formerly found throughout southeastern Australia. This pademelon has developed heavier and bushier fur than its northern relatives, which inhabit northern Australia and Papua New Guinea. The scientific name honours J.J.H. Labillardier, who collected the first specimen on an expedition to what was then Van Diemen's Land in 1792. There are no recognised subspecies. Description The Tasmanian pademelon has a compact body with short, rounded, ears, thick fur over the limbs, head, and body and a tail covered with short hairs. It has greyish fur over most of the body with yellowish to rufous underparts, and, unlike most other pademelons, has no distinct facial or hip markings. Males reach around in weight, in length including the tail, and are considerably larger than the females, which average . Dist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red-necked Wallaby
The red-necked wallaby or Bennett's wallaby (''Notamacropus rufogriseus'') is a medium-sized macropod marsupial (wallaby), common in the more temperate and fertile parts of eastern Australia, including Tasmania. Red-necked wallabies have been introduced to several other countries, including New Zealand, the United Kingdom (in England and Scotland), Ireland, the Isle of Man, France and Germany. Description Red-necked wallabies are distinguished by their black nose and paws, white stripe on the upper lip, and grizzled medium grey coat with a reddish wash across the shoulders. They can weigh and attain a head-body length of , although males are generally bigger than females. Red-necked wallabies are very similar in appearance to the black-striped wallaby (''Notamacropus dorsalis''), the only difference being that red-necked wallabies are larger, lack a black stripe down the back, and have softer fur. Red-necked wallabies may live up to nine years. Distribution and habitat Red- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mammal
Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or hair, and three middle ear bones. These characteristics distinguish them from reptiles (including birds) from which they diverged in the Carboniferous, over 300 million years ago. Around 6,400 extant species of mammals have been described divided into 29 orders. The largest orders, in terms of number of species, are the rodents, bats, and Eulipotyphla ( hedgehogs, moles, shrews, and others). The next three are the Primates (including humans, apes, monkeys, and others), the Artiodactyla (cetaceans and even-toed ungulates), and the Carnivora ( cats, dogs, seals, and others). In terms of cladistics, which reflects evolutionary history, mammals are the only living members of the Synapsida (synapsids); this clade, toget ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peregrine Falcon
The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a cosmopolitan bird of prey (raptor) in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-grey back, barred white underparts, and a black head. The peregrine is renowned for its speed, reaching over during its characteristic hunting stoop (high-speed dive), making it the fastest bird in the world, as well as the fastest member of the animal kingdom. According to a ''National Geographic'' TV program, the highest measured speed of a peregrine falcon is . As is typical for bird-eating raptors, peregrine falcons are sexually dimorphic, with females being considerably larger than males. The peregrine's breeding range includes land regions from the Arctic tundra to the tropics. It can be found nearly everywhere on Earth, except extreme polar regions, very high mountains, and most tropical rainforests; the only major ice-free landmass fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White-bellied Sea-eagle
The white-bellied sea eagle (''Haliaeetus leucogaster''), also known as the white-breasted sea eagle, is a large diurnal bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. Originally described by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1788, it is closely related to Sanford's sea eagle of the Solomon Islands, and the two are considered a superspecies. A distinctive bird, the adult white-bellied sea eagle has a white head, breast, under-wing coverts and tail. The upper parts are grey and the black under-wing flight feathers contrast with the white coverts. The tail is short and wedge-shaped as in all ''Haliaeetus'' species. Like many raptors, the female is slightly larger than the male, and can measure up to long with a wingspan of up to , and weigh . Immature birds have brown plumage, which is gradually replaced by white until the age of five or six years. The call is a loud goose-like honking. Resident from India and Sri Lanka through Southeast Asia to Australia on coasts and major waterways, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 mari ... [...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] |
Pacific Gull
The Pacific gull (''Larus pacificus'') is a very large gull, native to the coasts of Australia. It is moderately common between Carnarvon in the west, and Sydney in the east, although it has become scarce in some parts of the south-east, as a result of competition from the kelp gull, which has "self-introduced" since the 1940s. Much larger than the ubiquitous silver gull, and nowhere near as common, Pacific gulls are usually seen alone or in pairs, loafing around the shoreline, steadily patrolling high above the edge of the water, or (sometimes) zooming high on the breeze to drop a shellfish or sea urchin onto rocks. Diet The gulls' diet consists of a number various fish species and invertebrates. They frequently consume crabs, most often the species ''Ovalipes australiensis'' and '' Paragrapsus gaimardii.'' They also commonly eat '' Platycephalus bassensis'' (sand flatheads) and cephalapods, both of which are sourced from their regular consumption of waste from fish which ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silver Gull
The silver gull (''Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae'') is the most common gull of Australia. It has been found throughout the continent, but particularly at or near coastal areas. It is smaller than the Pacific gull (''Larus pacificus''), which also lives in Australia. The silver gull should not be confused with the herring gull, which is called "silver gull" in many other languages (scientific name ''Larus argentatus'', German ''Silbermöwe'', French ''Goéland argenté'', Dutch ''zilvermeeuw''), but is a much larger, robust gull with no overlap in range. Taxonomy It has traditionally been placed in the genus ''Larus'', as is the case with many gulls, but is now placed in the genus ''Chroicocephalus''. Hartlaub's gull (''C. hartlaubii'') of South Africa was formerly sometimes considered to be subspecies of the silver gull. There are three subspecies: * ''C. n. forsteri'' ( Mathews, 1912) – north and northeast Australia, New Caledonia, Loyalty Islands * ''C. n. novaehollan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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