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Native animals

Waverley Council has a great variety of native animals, despite our small areas of habitat. The Biodiversity surveys carried out in 2010 identified 37 native bird, 11 reptile, 4 frog and 4 mammal species.

• Birds
• Reptiles
• Frogs
• Mammals
• Possums

Birds

Waverley is lucky to have high numbers of the Superb Fairy Wren (Malrus cyaneus). This species is in decline in other urban areas. One reason for this could be that our dense, shrubby coastal vegetation provides great habitat for small insect eating birds.

The male Superb Fairy Wren is brightly coloured, especially during mating season. Plumage above the throat is bright blue and black. Females are less showy with greyish brown foliage.

Photography: K Wang and W Dabrowka  © Bird Explorers

Did you know?

Male Superb Fairy Wrens have been labelled as 'the least faithful birds in the world'. Females may be courted by up to 13 males in half an hour, and 76% of young are sired by males from outside the social group.

Other small birds found in Waverley include Silvereye, and the Yellow-rumped Thornbill.

These birds are also inhabitants of or frequent visitors to Waverley:

• Rainbow Lorrikeet
• Red Wattlebird
• Little Corella
• Welcome Swallow
• Laughing Kookaburra
• Australian Magpie
• New Holland Honeyeater
• Australian Raven
• Australian Grebe
• Grey headed butcherbird
• Dusky Moorhen
• Darter
• Great Kormorant
• Nankeen Kestrel
• Yellow Rumped thornbill
• Channel billed Cuckoo

Reptiles

Waverley has a great diversity of lizards, with 11 species:

• Three-toed Skink (Saiphos equalis)
• Dark-flecked Garden Sunskink (Lampropholis delicata)
• Pale-flecked Garden Sunskink (Lampropholis guichenoti)
• Cream-striped Shinning-skink (Cryptoblepharus virgatus)
• Eastern Water-skink (Eulamprus quoyii)
• Pale-lipped Shadeskink (Saproscincus spectabilis)
• Eastern Blue-tongue (Tiliqua scincoides)
• an unidentified turtle within the Queens Park pond
• probable identification of a Weasel Skink (Saproscincus mustellinus)
• Broad-tailed Gecko (Phyllurus platurus) - recorded during nocturnal spotlighting
• Lesueur's Velvet Gecko (Oedura lesueurii) - recorded during nocturnal spotlighting

Frogs

Four species of frog were detected during the field surveys:

• Brown-striped Frog (Limnodynastes peronii)
• Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog (Litoria fallax)
• Bleating Tree Frog (Litoria dentata)
• Common Eastern Froglet (Crinia signifera)

Mammals

Four native mammal species were detected during the 2010 field surveys:

• Common Brushtail Possum (Trichosurus vulpecular)
• Grey-headed Flying-fox (Pteropus poliocephalus), a threatened species in the state and nationally
• Gould’s Wattled Bat (Chalinolobous gouldii), named after the English naturalist John Gould,
• Eastern Freetail Bat (Mormopterus sp.), a threatened species in New South Wales

Possums

Brush tail possums are a welcome addition to our urban ecology. If a possum sets up camp in your roof, then it may be relocated to the nearest tree on your property. Click for information on how to remove a possum from your roof.

Injured animals

Contact wires if you find injured wildlife or if you would like to become a NSW Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service Inc (WIRES) carer. For urgent wildlife rescues, please call NSW WIRES Rescue Line: 13 000 WIRES or 13 00 094 737.