c o m m i s s i o n e d b y Purple-Crowned Superb Fairy Wren Lorikeet The City of (Malurus cyaneus) (Glossopitta 14cm porphyrocephala) Campbelltown AD RO 16cm long ONE A petite roundish bird ATHELST with a gushing song - WER LO the male has a bright blue cap, cheeks and A back. Females are quite B a different brown and russet colour.They build

S N their domed nests in the E R AVENUE R ADDISON grassesand bushes of forest and TO RIVER C woodland, relying on the protection of the understorey for Living in small flocks in treed concealment as they move between the nest and ground STRADBR D PLACES OF INTEREST areas, this little parrot nests in MAR feeding. DE

Road NEWT

Road E Montacute F AD eucalypt hollows quite high in the O Y R canopy.The birdscommunicate by V A LINEAR PARK A ON Brown Tree Frog

LE a harmonious screeching as they OKE B FIFTH CREEK

wton EAST (Litoria ewingii) R R C THORNDON PARK O

travel in search of nectar from O Ne TH R AD 22-46mm, the females being the larger.

AD flowering gum trees, pollen, fruit O D WADMORE PARK OR A

N D E BLACK HILL CONSERVATION PARK and grains. ABCDEFGHI This pretty little creature lives near per- 172 Montacute Road F LOCHIEL PARK Native Flora & Fauna WER D manent water, such as pools or streams TACUTE ROA Rostrevor SA 5073 LO MON G FOURTH CREEK and commonly turns up in suburban Telephone: (08) 8366 9222 Fax: (08) 8337 3818 H THIRD CREEK bathrooms. Its call is a loud and high- in the City of email: [email protected] I THE GUMS Snake Neck Tortoise G pitched wee-pee-peep. Eggs may be laid Website: www.campbelltown.sa.gov.au (Chelodina longicollis) SIGNIFICANT RESERVES at any time of year on clumps of sub- Carapace up to 30cm in length merged vegetation. The tadpoles are Campbelltown ©Erica Mainprize 2004 [email protected] almost transparent. ABDEGHI AVENUE Thanking staff of The Museum of South Australia Not acutally a true tortoise but an Australian chelid, it GL KOONGA favours slow moving waterways such as lakes, swamps YNB For further information about Landcare contact: Eastern Blue Tongue or a sluggish creek. Its long neck is used to grab at pass- URN (Tiliqua scincoides scincoides) ing frogs, tadpoles, small fish and crustaceans, but can SA Landcare Committee R Up to 60cm be pulled right back into the shell for safety if the need O

AD Often startling in colour, the yabby is still found in our rivers GPO Box 2834, SA 5001 arises. Yabby Telephone: (08) 8303 9336 Fax: (08) 8303 9320 (Cherax and dams, as it is tolerant of a range of environmental con- The largest skink, known for its startling display of long destructor) ditions. Occasionally a cannibal, it feeds mostly blue tongue against pink mouth.It is not venomous, and In the rainy season, the sudden force of stormwater can Up to 16cm upon rotting matter on the water bed. has no true teeth, but if alarmed can bite hard with its destroy the snake neck; in dry summer months it may o H strong jaws, used for cracking beetle and snail shells. bellt wn L mp a a nd The yabby requires full immersion in a In cold weather, blue tongues lie inactive C c I a r body of water to breed, but can sur- under cover, but on hot days they come e

G vive drought for several months, or out to bask. Often living in suburban

r

o even years, by burying itself in the gardens where insects and snails

u p AD

MAGILL RO riverbed, where it is able to keep its are plentiful, they fall prey to

I n

c gills moist. pets, garden poisons and lawnmowers (the noise will venture overland in search of a more generous Its scientific name ‘destructor’refers drive them not out, but further waterhole, generally choosing an overcast day for the to the impact it can have when it digs into the grass). However, an journey. Naturally, it is vulnerable to vehicles as it wan- with its huge claws into the banks of a individual, if it reaches adult- p r o d u c e d b y ders across our fields and highways. ABGH dam or levee. ABGH hood, may live to 20 years. ABCDEFGHI Genoveva Tawny frogmouth White Striped (Freetail) Mastiff Bat rotect our biodiversity: Azure (Podargus strigoides) (Tadarida australis) Butterfly Up to 46cm About 10cm in length P (Ogyris genoveva Plant native and local genua) One of about a dozen local bat species, its echolocation iodiversity literally refers to the num- It can be difficult to spot a some attractive garden plants Up to 6cm call can actually be heard by humans: listen at night for a ber of species in an area; in this frogmouth, even if it’s right in are spread into neighbouring across the open chink-chink sound a bit like two five cent pieces being brochure it can be taken to mean front of you. In the daytime bushland and quickly become a wings B knocked together. The mastiff’s long, narrow wings are problem weed - so choose the NATIVE biodiversity. This is the range of they roost in eucalpyts, com- ideal for fast, agile flight. Favouring lines of red gums on species which has developed in the pletely motionless, with their original flora for the birds and A large beautiful butter- dry inland creeks, it hunts high-flying moths above the tree Campbelltown region over many thou- heads raised so that they the butterflies. The Council fly,camouflaged against canopy, catching and eating its prey on the wing. Occa- sands of years. They survive not in look like branches. can refer residents to local bark when their wings are sionally it descends to forage on the ground, which has isolation, but in a complex intercon- native plant nurseries, who will closed. The larvae feed on earned it the nickname of ‘scurrying bat’. Some bats are nected system known as an ecosystem. give advice on native planting. native mistletoe (left), hosted unable to fly from the ground, but the mastiff will, albeit The native biodiversity of a place helps to by eucalypts and have a with difficulty. By hunting above and below the canopy, the make it unique. Create habitat in your garden strange symbiotic relation- mastiff bat avoids the territories of other local species. In logs and stones for lizards, shipwith theCamponotus daytime they sleep alone or in small nesting boxes with smaller consobrinus ant, a large groups, in tree hollows and stumps, hen an ecosystem is disturbed entrance holes favouring birds orange and black sugar ant, under loose bark and in the roofs in some respect it will cause currently under threat from which not only houses the of buildings. ABCDEFGHI Wimbalance in the whole system, more aggressive species. Leaf larvae in underground which could result in a loss of biodiversi- mulch provides habitat for chambers beneath the food The White Browed Babbler ty.This is more likely if there is a high rate smaller animals and reduces of change in an area. If the rate of source, but at night escorts the (Pomatostomus superciliosus) water lost from the property. young up and down the tree to the Red Midge Orchid change in the Mount Lofty Ranges and sur- About 20cm (was Genoplesium rufum mistletoe to feed. The ants’ reward is a rounds is not slowed, and if we do not Care for our water catchment now Corunastylis rufa) reverse the loss of habitat that has Black sugary secretion from the posterior gland This is a noisy, sociable what we put in (rubbish, toxins) 4-30cm occurred over the last century or more, Chinned of the larvae. E bird with a downcurved inevitably has effects down- we are likely to lose up to 50% of our stream. Weeds from dumped Honey bill, long tail and powerful Favouring dry sclerophyll native biodiversity in the Campbelltown cuttings travel fast along water- Eater legs. It is seen in groups forests, heaths, rocky crevices area in the next 50 years. Many species courses and drastically change (Melithreptus of up to a dozen birds, Their colouring and scree. Surprisingly, the have already been lost. the bioculture. To ease storm gularis) searching the ground for blends perfectly with flowers can be seen at the runoff, consider having a ‘per- 15-17cm seeds, spiders or the patterns of native hottest time of the year - from meable property’, that is, fewer insects and prising the bark. At dusk and just January to May; they rely on small This is one of concrete paths and pavings. bark from tree trunks in before dawn they will flies (midges) for pollination. DE the larger search of invertebrates. swoop from their perches to honeyeaters, Control pets feed themselves on a passing with an attrac- keep cats in at night and re- In their mouse or spider. This method Short Beaked Echidna The echidna moves noisily through leaf litter, but is a tive prrp-prrp- he residents of Campbelltown live movement suits them, as they are slow (Tachyglossus aculeatus) shy creature. If it is alarmed it digs itself into the ground strain dogs from running in scorp-scorp amongst the plants and animals of between the trees animals. Their startling faces Up to 45cm long. and curls up into a spiky ball (Note: The spines are not parks designated dog-free. call. It makes Tremnant red and blue gum wood- and ground foraging, bab- with their triangular beaks are poisonous and cannot be fired at you!). If you stand still its deep nest lands. From the banks of the Torrens blers make use of understorey reminiscent of owls, however Very ancient, yet as intelli- a while, the echidna may uncurl and carry on with its Favour native trees of bark, grass through Linear Park in the west, to the shrubs for cover. The prickly Acacia their closest relatives are gent as a domestic cat, business - whipping up ants and termites with the long they need less water. Also, de- and fluff in the borders of the Conservation Park at paradoxa (left) is a particular favourite, nightjars. Frogmouths are its muscly front feet have pink tongue it shoots out through the ciduous autumn leaf-fall impacts outer leaves of Black Hill in the east, Campbelltown is giving the birds protection from predators. monogamous and often retain five strong claws for small hole in its beak. heavily on the aquatic ecosystem. the canopy. dotted with interesting green space. This At night they nest together in these shrubs, the same flimsy nests year in year even, downward dig- Sightings are brochure offers a brief introduction to the or in the uppermost branches of trees - a out, making minor repairs along ging. Its back feet are Its Latin name Tachyglos- Join your local landcare group uncommon as biodiversity of the Campbelltown area favourite nesting tree is the native pine. Their the way. They live in native forest rotated outward with an sus means ‘rapid tongue’, be involved in planting, weed- this species is and some suggestions for those with fur- nests are globes of sticks with outward facing and plains, preferring open eucalyp- extra long, curved claw aculeatus means ‘with ing and other activities of ben- now endan- ther interest. entrance holes. DE tus woodlands. ABDGHI for mite removal. points’. DE efit to your neighbourhood. gered. DE