Kakadu National Park
At first glance, there appears to be little activity in the lowland woodlands, yet they are in fact the richest of all Kakadu's habitats in terms of animal numbers. They contain a wealth of bird life, especially along the watercourses. Honeyeaters and parrots are particularly common. Red-collared lorikeets, red-winged parrots, red-tailed black cockatoos and sulphur-crested cockatoos are more often heard before they are seen.
Rainbow Lorikeet |
White-winged Triller |
Bar Breasted Honeyeater |
Double Bar Finch |
The pale-coloured northern rosella is more commonly seen during the wet. An ever-present woodland sound is the 'doodle-doo' of the peaceful dove. The ground-dwelling partridge pigeon, with its distinctive red eye patch, is now largely restricted to the Kakadu area and is often seen along park roads. Finches, the black-tailed treecreeper, the whistling kite and the black kite are all common. The evening is usually announced by the raucous call of the blue-winged kookaburra, while at night the distinctive 'woof-woof' of the barking owl can often be heard.
Dingos - the largest predators in the Kakadu Woodlands
The fine-featured agile wallaby is often seen feeding at the roadside in the north of the Park. Dingoes are also often seen crossing roads. Wild dogs thought to have arrived in Australia with people about 5000 to 6000 years ago, dingoes have spread throughout the Australian mainland; they hunt a wide variety of small animals and feed on carrion.
Among the nocturnal mammals of the lowland woodlands are the flying fox, the brush-tailed phascogale, the fawn antechinus, the sugar glider, the northern brushtail possum, and the black-footed tree rat. The northern brown bandicoot builds daytime nests from grass and comes out at night to dig for roots and insects. Less commonly seen of the mammals are a number of native mice and rats. Even though many nocturnal animals might not be seen, their tracks, diggings and droppings provide evidence of their activities.
Of the reptiles, Gould's goanna, with its yellow-green throat, is often seen stalking through the woodlands. On the forest floor skinks scuttle through the leaf litter looking for insects. The largest skink is the northern blue-tongue, but perhaps the most eye catching is the fire-tailed skink, with its bright-red tail. Non-venomous olive, carpet and children's pythons are most often seen at night on the roads. Legless lizards, which can also be seen on the roads at night, look like small snakes, but have an external ear opening and are able to regenerate their tail if they lose it.
The Striking display of the Frilled-Necked Lizard
Frill-necked lizards are the largest and most spectacular of the dragons: they emerge at the onset of the wet season after spending most of the cooler months in the tree tops. Also common throughout the lowlands is Gilbert's dragon, often called the ta-ta lizard because of its habit of waving its front feet.
Prominent in the lowlands are the termite mounds. Inside each mound is an intricate network of tunnels and chambers that serve as highways to food and water, as areas for storing food, and as nurseries. Over 55 species of termites occur in the Park, although not all of them build mounds. Some live in and on trees; some live completely underground. Wood-eating termites hollow out tree limbs and so provide homes for many other lowland birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians.
