Tag Archives: Animal

Australian Brush Turkey

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Australian Brush Turkey

Can you hear the quiet grunt of an Australian brush turkey?

  • Australian brush turkeys are common ground dwelling birds, native to the eastern areas of Australia’s Queensland and New South Wales.
  • ‘Australian brush turkeys’ are also known as ‘Australian brush-turkeys’, ‘scrub turkeys’, ‘bush turkeys’ and ‘brush turkeys’.
  • An Australian brush turkey has the scientific name of Alectura lathami, and comes from the family Megapodiidae, the family of mound building birds.
  • Australian brush turkeys have mostly black feathers, yellow wattles and red necks and heads.
  • Male Australian brush turkeys use leaf matter and other organic litter to create mounds, up to 1.5 metres (5 feet) in height and 4 metres (13.1 feet) in diameter, that covers the 16 to 24 eggs that a female lays.

Australian Brush Turkey, animal, Mound, Tall, Male, Yellow, Maintaining, Ten Random Facts, Australia

Photo courtesy of Val Laird
  • Australian brush turkeys grow to be 60 to 75 centimetres (23 to 30 inches) in length, weigh 2.27 kilograms (5 pounds) on average, and have an 85 centimetre (33 inches) wingspan, although they only fly very short distances.
  • Australian brush turkeys are found mostly in rainforests, urban areas, and scrublands.
  • Male Australian brush turkeys use their mound as an incubator, often for more than one female’s eggs, and keep the mound at a constant temperature in the mid thirties °C (nineties °F), using their beak to test the temperature, and changing the temperature by adding or removing leaf matter.
  • Australian brush turkeys have a diet that mainly consists of seeds, insects and fruit.
  • Australian brush turkey chicks are not cared for by their parents and are capable of looking after themselves, although they are often preyed upon by animals and birds, and are said to have a 1 in 200 chance of survival to adulthood.
Bibliography:
Australian Brush Turkey, 2013, Wildlife, http://www.wildlife.org.au/wildlife/speciesprofile/birds/brushturkey.html
Australian Brushturkey, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Brushturkey
Brush-turkey: The Rainforest Rake, 2007, Skyrail, http://www.skyrail.com.au/news/skyrail-nature-diary/1040-brush-turkey-the-rainforest-rake

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Brown Bear

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Brown Bear

Be wary around those brown bears!

  • Brown bears are large mammals native to northern Europe, Asia and North America, and along with polar bears, are the largest bears and land predators.
  • Brown bears have the scientific name Ursus arctos, meaning ‘bear’ in Latin and Greek respectively, and they are from the family Ursidae, the family of bears.
  • Brown bears have a formal subspecies count of 16, although there is debate about this number and others suggest between 5 and 90 exist.
  • Brown bears typically have a fur colour of a variety of brown shades, depending on the subspecies, with the fur in winter growing up to 11 to 12 centimetres (4 to 5 inches) long.
  • Brown bears are generally 1.5 to 2.5 metres (5 to 8 feet) in height and can weigh 55 to 680 kilograms (121 to 1500 pounds) depending on the subspecies and the environment in which they live, and they can weigh twice as much as they would normally before winter when they store fat on their bodies, so that they can semi-hibernate in dens during the cold season.

Brown Bear, Fur, Water, Stalking, Grass, Mammal, Alaska, Ten Random Facts, America, National Geographic

Brown Bear
Image courtesy of National Geographic
  • Some subspecies of brown bears are extinct or endangered, but the species is classified as a ‘least concern’, and they have a population of approximately 200,000 bears in the wild.
  • Brown bears are mostly nocturnal, and are typically found in forests with open land areas, as well as mountainous environments.
  • Brown bears do not often attack humans, but leading causes include surprise or curiosity, and they can run at speeds of 48 kilometres per hour (30 miles per hour).
  • Female brown bears give birth in their den in winter, and litters range from one to four cubs.
  • Brown bears can live up to 37 years in the wild, although longer in captivity, and their diet mainly consists of vegetation such as berries, roots and grass, small mammals and salmon, but sometimes larger animals are preyed upon.
Bibliography:
Brown Bear, 2014, National Geographic, http://animals.nationalgeographic.com.au/animals/mammals/brown-bear/
Brown Bear, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_bear

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Rainbow Trout

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Rainbow Trout

No, rainbow trout do not cause rainbows.

  • Rainbow trout are fish native to North American and north east Asian areas of the Pacific Ocean, and are also native to cold, North American lakes and rivers.
  • ‘ Rainbow trout’ are also known as ‘steelheads’, ‘steelhead trout’, ‘redband trout’ and ‘ocean trout’.
  • Rainbow trout adults have a typical length between 51 to 76 cm (20 to 30 inches) and depending on their habitat, they can weigh between 0.5 to 9.1 kilograms (1 to 20 pounds).
  • Rainbow trout have a red stripe from the tail to the head, and have a silvery, grey or brown skin colour and have numerous small dark coloured spots.
  • Rainbow trout have been introduced into every continent except Antarctica, and as a result, have decreased native fish population in many countries.

Rainbow Trout, Hold, Fish, Fisherman, Silver, Caught, Ten Random Facts, Alaska, United States, National Geographic

Rainbow Trout
Image courtesy of National Geographic
  • Rainbow trout, or steelhead trout as they are called in the United State’s Washington, became an official symbol of the state of Washington in 1969.
  • Rainbow trout has the scientific name Oncorhynchus mykiss and is from the family Salmonidae, the family of ray-finned fish, that migrate to fresh water to spawn, and either return to the ocean or further down stream after reproducing.
  • Rainbow trout can live to be 11 years, but their typical lifespan ranges from 4 to 6 years in the wild, and they always breed at the same place they were born.
  • Rainbow trout has a diet of crustaceans, small fish, water insects and fish eggs is popularly hunted for sport, food and bait.
  • Rainbow trout can be cooked and are easily eaten, while having a nut-like taste, and are commonly farmed commercially, with 604, 695 tonnes (666,562 tons) produced in 2007, with Chile being the largest producer.
Bibliography:
Rainbow trout, 2014, National Geographic, http://animals.nationalgeographic.com.au/animals/fish/rainbow-trout/
Rainbow trout, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_trout

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Chipmunk

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Chipmunk

Watch the chipmunks scurry over the rooftops.

  • Chipmunks are small mammals that are primarily native to North America, but one of the 24 species is native to Asia.
  • The scientific name of a chipmunk is ‘Tamias’, and they are from the family Sciuridae, the family of squirrels.
  • Chipmunks mainly eat nuts, seeds, and berries, but also other vegetation, as well as insects, worms, frogs, bird eggs and fungi.
  • Chipmunks live in burrows that can be 3.5 metres (11.5 feet) or longer, and they collect food in autumn that they store there for eating during the winter hibernation period.
  • A chipmunk has flexible cheeks that allows it to obtain a number of food items at once, and it uses them as a carrying pouch.
Chipmunk, brown, rodent, striped, white, black, squirrel, Ten Random Facts, Flickr
Chipmunk
Image courtesy of Dawn Huczek/Flickr
  • Chipmunks have calls that are similar in sound to chirps of a bird, and they have a lifespan generally of 2 or 3 years, and can have 2 to 8 babies in one litter.
  • ‘Chipmunks’ are rodents, and are also known as ‘striped squirrels’, ‘timber tigers’, ‘munks’ and ‘chippers’.
  • Different species of chipmunks are different colours, and range from brown, red-brown and grey in colour, and they have light and dark coloured stripes down their backs, face and tail.
  • Chipmunks are commonly found in woodland habitats, but also live in urban areas, and are preyed on by foxes, weasels, coyotes, snakes and hawks.
  • Chipmunks grow to be 10 to 18 cm (4 to 7 inches) in length, plus have a tail of 8 to 13 cm (3 to 5 inches) and weigh between 28 to 142 grams (1 to 5 ounces).
Bibliography:
Chipmunk, 2014, National Geographic, http://animals.nationalgeographic.com.au/animals/mammals/chipmunk/
Chipmunk, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chipmunk

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Green Anaconda

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Green Anaconda

Constrict these facts like a green anaconda.

  • Green anacondas are constrictor snakes found in South America’s tropical swamps and creeks.
  • ‘Green anacondas’ are also known as ‘common anacondas’ and ‘water boas’, and have the collective nouns of ‘knots’ and ‘beds’.
  • Green anacondas are from the family Boidae, the family of boas that are snakes that are non-venomous.
  • Green anacondas have the scientific name of Eunectes murinus, meaning ‘good swimmer’ and ‘of mice’ from Greek and Latin respectively.
  • Green anacondas are the heaviest known snake in the world and are said to weigh up to 250 kilograms (550 pounds) and have lengths of 10 metres (33 feet) or more, rating them as the second longest snake, although these sizes are debated, and their average weight and length is generally considered less, growing on average 4.6 to 5 metres (15 to 16 feet) in length and 30 to 70 kilograms (66 to 154 pounds) in weight.

Green anaconda, half, snake, moving, boa, zoo, ground, flickr, Ten Random Facts

Green Anaconda
Image courtesy of Cristóbal Alvarado Minic /Flickr
  • Green anacondas have olive green scales spotted with black patches, and a head with an orange/yellow stripe down each side.
  • Green anacondas can be 30 cm (12 inches) or more in diameter and their jaws can stretch wide open so they can swallow their prey whole.
  • Green anacondas typically spend a lot of time in the water, and hunt at night, lurking in the water, striking at weaker animals like fish, turtles, birds, caiman and mammals, and sometimes larger animals like deer, constricting them and then consuming them.
  • Green anacondas birth between 20 to 40 live babies, that start at a length of 70 to 80 centimetres (2.3 to 2.6 feet).
  • Green anacondas have an average lifespan of 10 years in the wild and are popularly depicted in media as large snakes that swallow humans whole, although in reality, this is a very unlikely occurrence.
Bibliography:
Eunectes murinus, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eunectes_murinus
Green Anaconda, 2014, National Geographic, http://animals.nationalgeographic.com.au/animals/reptiles/green-anaconda/

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Plague Soldier Beetle

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Plague Soldier Beetle

Harmless plague soldier beetles can recolour your garden!

  • Plague soldier beetles are flying beetles native to Australia, particularly the south eastern and south western parts of the country.
  • Plague soldier beetles have a mostly orange yellow body, that is covered with metallic forewings of a dark olive green colour, that almost look black, and the rest of the beetle is mostly black.
  • Plague soldier beetles have the scientific name ‘Chauliognathus lugubris, although they are sometimes known as ‘Chauliognathus pulchellus’.
  • Plague soldier beetles are named after their characteristic of plaguing during mating season, that occurs generally in summer.
  • ‘Plague soldier beetles’ are also known as ‘green soldier beetles’ and they are from the family Cantharidae, the family of soldier beetles.

Plague Soldier Beetles, Line, Washing, Orange, Black, Yellow, Ten Random Facts, Bug, Adult, Many

Plague Soldier Beetles
Image Courtesy of B Being Cool
  • Plague soldier beetle larvae live underground, eating insects, and transform into adults during spring.
  • Plague soldier beetles have colours that warn other creatures that they are poisonous, in that they excrete toxins, which is also used to prevent their eggs being contaminated.
  • At mating time, plague soldier beetles can be found swarming in their thousands, often totally covering plants and other areas, although they are said to leave little damage to the plants.
  • Plague soldier beetle adults are believed to have a diet of mainly nectar and pollen, although they also eat small insects and their eggs, and sometimes other parts of plants.
  • Plague soldier beetles live in habitats with significant numbers of trees like forests, and are often found in urban environments especially during the mating season.
Bibliography:
Plague Soldier Beetles, 2012, Museum Victoria, http://museumvictoria.com.au/about/mv-blog/?tag=chauliognathus%20lugubris
Plague Soldier Beetle, n.d, AustralianMuseum, http://australianmuseum.net.au/Plague-Soldier-Beetle
Pullen K, Insect of the week: The Plague Soldier Beetle isn’t nearly as bad as it sound, 2012, CSIRO, http://csironewsblog.com/2012/11/08/insect-of-the-week-the-plague-soldier-beetle-isnt-nearly-as-bad-as-it-sounds/

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