WILDLIFE AUSTRALIA

A trio of Australia's fascinating wild creatures: 

• The termite-eating short-beaked Echidna. It is  among the few living representatives in the world of mammals that both lay eggs and suckle their young. Due to their small size and slow speed, the echidna protects itself by either hiding, or curling into a ball being protected by their spikey exterior. Sometimes called the porcupine of Australia. 

• The platypus lives in an aquatic environment like a fish, suckles its young like a mammal, lays eggs and has the bill of a duck! Platypuses are carnivores. They hunt worms, shrimp, insect larvae, and crayfish at dawn, dusk, and night. They live along streams and rivers in eastern Australia, including Tasmania.

• The Blue-winged Kookaburra, a giant kingfisher. Nielsen Park is inhabited by the kookaburra, easily identified by its call, which sounds like laughter. Kookaburras are very efficient breeders: one of the young birds is kept on in the nest to look after the next batch of hatchlings, leaving both parents free to gather food.

(left to right): Short-beaked Echidna; the Platypus; the Blue-winged Kookaburra