Brolga congregate in huge flocks in the tropical north, but they penetrate as far as the south-east of South Australia in small numbers. Much of their earlier habitat has been drained and converted to cultivated pastures and cropland. Brolga have a widely varied diet. Major food items are the tuberous roots of sedges, but they also take insects, crustaceans, small vertebrates, and in cultivated areas, cereal grains and nut crops. They feed by digging with their large bill in drier areas, and foraging in shallow waters and wetlands. Breeding is…

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Black Falcons are very dark, nomadic raptors and often associated with the sparsely treed plains of inland Australia, although they also frequent farmland in South Australia. They are usually seen alone, or in pairs. Black Falcons prey on mammals (rats and rabbits), birds (particularly ground birds such as quail, pipits and larks), large insects, and carrion. They will also take reptiles. They use a variety of hunting techniques: low, fast flight along watercourses or drainage lines, slow quartering, high soaring, or still hunting from a perch. Prey may be seized…

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The Australian pelican is a very large waterbird, unmistakeable in appearance, and is the only pelican in the Australia. Despite their sometimes-comical manoeuvres, with their large bills and distensible pouches, pelicans are majestic birds whether soaring high overhead, coming into land on the water with legs extended like a water skier, or swimming in convoys on the water. Every art show or photo exhibition along the coast testifies to their popularity with the public, and their inspiration to the artistic. Australian Pelicans mainly feed on fish but will also take…

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This tiny dove is the smallest dove in the world. The calls are distinctive. One call consists of long coos which may be repeated up to five times. The other call is of two notes, the first of which is often burry and the second clear. Diamond Doves feed almost entirely on the seeds of grasses and legumes, but eat some leaves and insects. They take very small seeds. Breeding is strongly influenced by food and rainfall and may occur throughout the year but the peak is usually in spring…

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Hardheads belong to the worldwide Aythya genus (Pochards or Scaups) distinguished by the white or yellow eyes of the male. Hardheads are mainly vegetarian. They feed on grasses, sedges and other aquatic vegetation, but also take aquatic animals including  small fish. They feed mainly by diving to depths not reached by most other duck species, but also forage by dabbling, head dipping and upending. Like most duck species they breed in spring and early summer when wetlands are full of and vegetation is plentiful. They breed in single pairs and…

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The worldwide genus Spatula contains ten species, four of which have large, spatulate bills and a low sloping forehead, and are known as “shovelers”. The male Australasian Shoveler is arguably the most handsome of these. Well, as handsome as you can be with a low sloping forehead and a large snozz. Shovelers live on small aquatic invertebrates such as insects, molluscs and crustaceans ,and also parts of aquatic plants. They use their spatulate beak to filter water and mud obtained by dabbling on the surface or at the water’s edge….

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