Black and white, with the pattern varying across its range. The back of its neck, upper tail and shoulders (on its wings) are white in males and grey in females, and (across most of Australia) the rest of its body is black. In south-eastern, central and south-western Australia, including Tasmania, its back and rump are entirely white. Its eye is red-brown. Young birds are usually grey rather than black and have dark eyes.
Distinctive feature
One toe faces backwards and three face forwards. It has a square-tipped tail.
The caterpillar (larva) is initially pale yellow with fine hairs, before turning green. It has narrow yellow lines on its body which are sometimes hard to see. The upper side of the butterfly (adult) is white with a black tip on its forewing (front wing) and a black patch on the front edge of its hindwing. A male has one black spot on its forewing, while a female has two black spots. Looking from underneath, the forewing is white with two black spots and the hindwing is yellow.
Size
Caterpillar about 3.5 cm; Butterfly up to 5 cm wingspan.
The adult male is black with a deep-orange to yellow beak, a narrow orange to yellow ring around its eye, and dark legs. The female is grey-brown, with some streaks or mottling, and its back is darker than its belly. The female also has a paler chin than the male, a dull yellow-brown beak, dark legs, and the ring around her eye is less bright. Young birds are also brown but with lighter underparts and a dark grey or black beak.
Size
25 to 28 cm (from head to tail)
The caterpillar (larva) is initially a pale yellow-grey, before turning green with long black hairs along its body. Its head is brown-black with short hairs. The female butterfly (adult) is orange with creamy yellow and dark brown patches towards the tip of its forewings (front wings). The male is less colourful, being brown and orange with no pale patches. It also has an obvious raised vein in the middle of its forewing. Both males and females have a small eye-spot on each wing. The undersides of the wings in both the male and female are paler with faint markings, and their hindwings have very few markings. The female’s hindwing is darker then its forewing. It is difficult to identify these butterflies when they are resting with their wings closed. The males emerge quite a while earlier in the year before the females.
Size
Caterpillar about 3.5 cm long; Butterfly wingspan 5.5 – 7.5 cm (females are larger than males).
A dark grey to black bird with a yellow-tipped red bill, red frontal shield, red legs, and white undertails. Hatchlings are also black with red frontal shield, juveniles have green legs, green horn or black coloured bill, generally paler.
Size
35-40 cm (from head to tail)
This frog goes by several common names: Eastern Banjo Frog, Eastern Pobblebonk Frog and Southern Bullfrog. The first two are based on its distinctive 'bonk' call which sounds similar to the string of a banjo being plucked.
Its back ranges from grey, to olive-green, dark brown or black, with dark marbling or flecks. It has a pale yellow stripe running from under its eye to its arm, a dark band above this, and may also have a pale stripe running down its back. Its sides commonly have a purple or bronze sheen, mottled with black. Its belly is white and sometimes mottled with grey. Its back is warty and rough but its belly is smooth.
Distinctive feature
A prominent gland on the outer side of its hind leg (its shin) and a fleshy lump at the base of each hind foot.
It has a grey back and head, and bright-yellow underparts. Southern birds have an olive-yellow rump, while birds in northern Australia have a brighter yellow rump. Its throat is off-white and when seen in flight, it has a pale bar on its wings. Its bill is black. Young birds are rufous-brown with paler streaks.
Size
13 – 17 cm long, the males are slightly larger
A beetle with a shiny black back and head with bright yellow-green markings, and dark brown to black legs.
Distinctive feature
Violin-shaped markings on its back (after which it is named).
Size
About 2 cm
An adult male has a bright orange breast and throat, with white on its lower belly and under its tail. The upperparts are dark slate grey and there is a clear white stripe on its folded wing. It has a black beak and dark brown legs. A female is mostly grey-brown with a pale buff strip on its wing. Its outermost tail feather is mostly white. A young bird looks like an adult female, but its back has buff streaks and its belly is pale with brown streaks.
Size
12 - 14 cm
Grey-brown to bronze, with a dark stripe running along each side of its body from its nostril, across its eye to its tail, getting wider from its front legs. Its body pales below the stripe to a cream belly.
This species has a lighter body with a less obvious stripe running along its sides than the Southern Garden Skink.
Size
8 - 10 cm (nose to end of tail).
Grey-brown to bronze, with a dark stripe running along each side of its body from its nostril, across its eye to its tail, getting wider from its front legs. Its body pales below the stripe to a cream belly.
This species has a ‘heavier’ looking body and a more obvious stripe running along its sides, compared to the Northern Garden Skink.
Size
8 - 10 cm (nose to end of tail).
Its head and upperparts are mostly dark grey, with a white eyebrow and throat, a narrow grey band across the upper breast and a creamy-buff belly. The feathers of its long tail have white edges and tips, and the tail is often fanned out.
Size
14 – 16 cm long
Dark grey to brown body, with lighter grey fur on its head and golden-orange fur encircling its neck. Its wings are black.
Distinctive feature
Fur on its legs that extends to its ankles.
Size
23 cm to 29 cm head and body length); wingspan over 1 m.
A black and white bird, the pattern varies slightly between sexes. The male has a white eyebrow above a black horizontal eye-stripe, a black face and throat, while the female has a white face and throat, with a broad vertical stripe through the eye, and no white eyebrow. Both sexes have a thin white bill and black legs and feet. Juvenile Magpie-larks have a black forehead, white eyebrow and a white throat.
A tussock-like, rosette plant. Tussock size up to 30 cm high and wide with a flower stalk up to 1 m high.
Leaves
Long, sword-shaped and forming a clump. Each individual leaf is 8 – 20 cm long and 1 – 3 cm wide and usually stands upright. There are 5 veins running down each leaf.
Flowers
Small and initially cream, but turn brown rapidly. They grow on top of a ridged, 1 m high flower stem growing from the centre of the tussock of leaves. The flowers form a tight, cylindrical cluster which is 1 – 7 cm long.
The southern brown tree frog is native to southern Australia. Other common names of this tree frog are brown tree frog, whistling tree frog, or Ewing's tree frog.
Ranges from pale fawn, cream, or orange to light brown, although some individuals in western Victoria and South Australia are partly or completely green. It has a wide brown band that starts from between its eyes and runs down its back. Darker flecks are also scattered across its back. It has a narrow black or brown stripe that runs from its snout to its shoulder, and a pale stripe that runs from below its eye to the base of its arm. Its belly is white to yellow and breeding males have a light brown vocal sac (beneath their mouth).
Distinctive features
Its back is smooth with small lumps, its fingers have no webbing and its toes are half webbed.
The striped marsh frog or brown-striped frog is a common species in urban habitats It is a mostly aquatic frog native to coastal Eastern Australia.
A pale to grey-brown back with darker brown stripes. Usually also a pale stripe running down the middle of its back. Its belly is white and often flecked with brown, and there are dark spots and stripes on its limbs.
Size
4.5 - 7.5 cm
Grey soft fur, with a white belly and a black stripe that runs from its nose, over its head and along its back. It has a long bushy tail, the last quarter of which is black, often with a white tip. Its ears are large and hairless, and its large eyes are black.
Size
About 28 cm long (from nose to tip of tail).
Also know as Blackthorn.
A woody shrub to small tree, usually with thorny branches. Grows up to 5 – 10 m high.
Leaves
Glabrous, dark green, 20 – 44 mm long and 5 – 9 –mm wide.
Flowers
White, 6 – 10 mm wide, fragrant.
Mostly bright green, with a blue crown, cheeks and colouring on its wings. It has red around its bill, throat and forehead, and bright red patches under each wing. The red on its throat is edged with yellow and its long, pointed tail is purple-red. The female is slightly duller, with a creamy bar under its wings.
Size
About 25 cm; ; Wingspan 32 – 36 cm
One of Australia's most widespread birds on mainland.Mostly black with a white belly and eyebrow. A young bird has paler, slightly rusty edges to its wing feathers.
Size
18 - 22 cm long (from head to tail)
