This egg-laying mammal is active at Northern brown night hence it is more & long-nosed bandicoots are visible at sunset and 61 species of native sunrise. It is still often marsupials that frogs (27 endemic) spend the day in seen during the day are found in Tropical but usually for only a nest and forage North , at night. They dig 1 or 2 seconds before and are more obvious diving to forage. conical holes in in the wet season. walking tracks • Rose Gums Creek There are many and are often • Corner of Topaz and green frogs, seen on roads and Heidke Road rocket frogs, stream driveways. frogs, marsh frogs, • Bridge burrowing frogs, and then there is the feral cane toad! Platypus Frogs Bandicoot

The smallest kangaroo is endemic to Tropical Tropical North Queensland has the Possums are rainforest, and is richest diversity of marsupials often very primitive having insects and spiders producing twins evolved 20 million in the world, and is once a year. Night years ago. It is solitary home to thousands of spotlighting reveals but diurnal so can be spider species, (many possums such seen during the day. undescribed). as the coppery brush-tails, green The female bears Common are the ring-tails, striped two young at a time huntsman spiders possums and sugar nurturing them in which do not use a gliders. her pouch. Its tail is web to catch prey, are almost hairless and hairy and sometimes • Mt Hypipamee it has 4 toes on each quite large. They are Crater hind foot. not dangerous but • • Rose Gums can bite if handled. kangaroo hide

Musky-rat kangaroo Spiders Possums

Lumholtz’s Tree Kangaroos are large There are thousands About 40 species marsupials that eat of beetle, moth and of bat, the flying rainforest leaves, are dragonfly species, mammal, are nocturnal but still many undescribed, found in Tropical sighted during the in Tropical North North Queensland. day, and found mainly Queensland. There The larger fruit on the Atherton are 240 butterfly and nectar-eating Tablelands. species alone. bats are called flying foxes. Other The Birdwing • smaller bats eat Butterfly is the largest • Mt Hypipamee insects. in , while the Crater NP Hercules Moth is the • Tolga Scrub • Peterson Creek heaviest in the world. • Centre of Cairns walk, Yungaburra

Tree kangaroo Insects Bats

Rainforest does not support a large Kangaroos are Saw-shelled turtles number of reptiles, marsupials, and are often seen in only 55 out of 850 in Australia has about nearby and Australia. Common 50 species. rivers. sightings are the •  rock Normally quite constrictors, scrub wallabies can be shy, they are easily (amethystine) and seen up-close at seen at the viewing carpet pythons. Granite Gorge platform at Malanda Dangerous snakes • Eastern Grey Falls. It is one of the are rough-scaled Kangaroos on few native Australian snakes, small-eyed the Mareeba golf animals successful snakes, red-bellied course in preying on the black snakes, taipans introduced and very • Agile Wallabies and brown snakes. poisonous cane toad. at the Cairns Look out on walking beaches’ turn-offs tracks and roads.

Turtles Snakes Other kangaroos Fruit-doves and cuckoo-doves are arboreal and feed almost entirely on fruit. They have An elusive bird with a large gapes enabling ringing ‘whip-crack’ them to swallow (male) call: sharp The male Red-backed large items such ‘choo choo” (female Fairy Wren has a as berries. Often response), the Eastern crimson lower back brightly coloured Whipbird inhabits and rump, while the but difficult to see, the understory of female is grey-brown. they forage at the rainforest and wet They are seen usually top of the rainforest. sclerophyll forest. in family parties in tall The Wompoo grass at the edge of Fruit-Dove makes the forest, and often the distinctive loud on fence lines. ‘wollack-a-woo’ call.

Eastern Whipbird Red-backed Fairy Wren Pigeons

KURANDA The endangered Cassowaries are generally elusive The iconic Laughing but some are Kookaburra is seen used to people on power lines and and easily seen. often kills snakes up CAIRNS Take care with to 50cm long. It is encounters. the world’s largest The male sits on kingfisher. the eggs and raises At sunset and sunrise the chicks. This its laughing call, in flightless bird can family groups is to MAREEBA reach 2 metres let other birds know in height. of its territory. It may • The Crater NP live for 20 years. • Etty Bay, Innisfail GORDONVALE • Mission Beach • Daintree WALKAMIN Kookaburras Cassowary Tinaroo

TOLGA Lake ATHERTON YUNGABURRA This endemic This endemic bird bird of paradise builds a court of Hasties displays in a very Swamp Curtain selected leaves to Fig Tree unique way on a lure the female. dead tree stump LAND ROAD State Forest Malanda to attract females. The male impresses Falls her by mimicking Wooroonooran It makes a harsh several other birds MALANDA National Park advertising call at Bromfield his display area. before mating. The Swamp nest is then built by The female and the female. The Crater young males are brown.

Millaa Millaa Falls

Tooth-billed Bower Bird MILLAA MILLAA Victoria’s Riflebird

Of the 15 crane Australia, ‘The Land species in the of Parrots’ has 52 Australia has about 750 species of birds, and world, Australia parrot species found over 300 are endemic (found only in Australia). has the Brolga in all habitats. The and Sarus Crane, local Double-eyed Fig About RAVENSHOEhalf the birds recorded in the rainforest the tallest crane. Parrots are Australia’s of Tropical North Queensland are also found They feed on the smallest parrot. in . North Queensland has 12 farmlands near • King Parrots & endemics and is home to half the bird species Atherton from late Rainbow Lorikeets at May to November Rose Gums in Australia. and congregate at • Sulphur-crested sunset on Bromfield White cockatoos Best birding spots: Swamp, Malanda roost in tall and other wetlands. eucalypts • Hasties Swamp • Malanda Falls • Lake Eacham They fly north to • Red-tailed Black • • The Crater National Park breed on Cape York. Cockatoos in • Wongabel State Forest • • Bromfield Swamp, Mareeba Malanda

Parrots Birds Cranes