White-faced Herons

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Once I had my friend over and we were just about to go out the door when I spotted the most beautiful bird. It was tall, grey, with a long thick beak and white face. It was a white-faced heron, hunting for lizards in my garden. Today, we saw that it had visited us again. It was leaning over the pond, where our fish were lurking. We were worried that it would gobble them up. What were we to do? we wondered. Luckily, we didn't see the heron eat any fish. Except for a little black wriggly thing in its beak. Still, I would like to share with you the wonders of these amazing birds...

Habitat
Wetlands, shrub and shallow watery places.

Feeding
Small reptiles, fish, frogs, and others.

Breeding
White-faced heron breeding usually occurs in spring. The pair build the nest together, a shallow bowl of sticks. They make it on high leafy branches. Their breeding plumage consists of long plumes on the neck, back, and head. The females lay 3 to 5 light blue eggs in the nest, and normally one clutch is laid every year. After about 25 days, the eggs hatch and the mother and father guard the babies for 3 to 4 weeks and the chicks are ready to fledge after 40 days. The chicks are fed upon by owls, kookaburras, magpies and others.

Lifespan
About or over 70 years.

(If you want to learn more about white-faced herons and see some awesome pictures, click here!)

Thorny Devils

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The thorny devil is known by a variety of different names, such as the thorny dragon, thorny lizard, mountain devil, and moloch. Did you know that it is the only animal in the genus Moloch?

Looks

Thorny devils are a small, grey brown desert lizard covered with spiky armour. On the back of their necks is a “false head.” They display this to enemies by tipping their actual head. Its spikes protect it against its predators and help it to camouflage, also collecting dew in the ridges and moving the water to the mouth using grooves between the spikes. Their colours change, lighter in hotter weather and dark in cold. In all, the thorny devil is a cleverly created creature.

Habitat

These lizards live in the scrubland and desert areas throughout central Australia, and therefore it makes use of the spinifex clumps common in the regions.

Feeding

Thorny devils mostly eat ants. They eat many, many of them in a single day. It can drink in water from any part of its body.

Breeding

In the breeding season, September to December, Females lay three to ten eggs in a burrow. After three or four months, the eggs hatch. At only a couple days old, the babies have dig their way out of the sand and into the world.

Predators

Birds, goannas, and humans. Buzzards hunt these lizards for prey.

Lifetime

About 20 years. At 3 years old Thorny Devils reach maturity.

Thorny Devils are endangered animals. Humans have been protecting their nests by putting wire around them, keeping enemies away from the newborn lizards.

Watch this great video about these cool lizards!