Benz World Blog » Omnivore

Cane Toad

Jason Benz — Sat, 25 Feb 2017 22:20:03 +0000

This amphibian was photographed at Judd’s Lagoon in Queensland. It has been identified as a juvenile cane toad on Frogs.org.au. I suspect it marks the front line in their colonization of Australia. The story of how cane toads got here is an object lesson in the unintended consequences of introduced species. They arrived in 1935 following the apparent success of these toads saving sugar crops from beetles in Puerto Rico and Hawaii. Australia proved to be paradise for the cane toad, and they set about eating rodents, reptiles, other amphibians, birds, bats, invertebrates, plants, dog food and even ping pong balls. In fact anything they could fit in their mouth apart from the cane beetle that they were introduced to control. A single toad can produce 500,000 tadpoles in her lifetime. Native animals suffered a triple whammy. If they could avoid being eaten by the toads they would find their own food supply depleted by them. They die if they eat the toads because the skin is toxic and glands behind the eyes secrete a milky white poison which is strong enough to kill a human.

Grey Butcherbird

Jason Benz — Sat, 11 Feb 2017 22:36:36 +0000

This grey butcherbird visited our garden in Southport, Queensland, Australia. They prey on insects, lizards and birds. They have an extraordinary vocal range and this one was especially talkative. It sounded like it was telling a frantic story interspersed with imitations of other bird calls.

A similar image of this bird has been accepted by Shutterstock for Stock Photography and is available for download here.

Crested Cockatoo

Jason Benz — Tue, 17 May 2016 13:10:46 +0000

This is a Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo. They live for 20-40 years in the wild but can live for 100 years in captivity. This bird had the best of both worlds as it was on a road trip with its human family when we met them on our Broken Hill trip in 2014.

The head shot of the cockatoo has been accepted by Shutterstock for Stock Photography and is available for download here.

Southern Cassowary

Jason Benz — Sat, 23 Jan 2016 01:04:06 +0000

This is a Southern Cassowary. Like many of Australia’s animals it is weird, wonderful and potentially lethal. The bird weighs as much as 85kg, stands almost 2 metres tall and has a 12cm dagger like claw on each foot. Imagine an armed Emu. It lives in the dense forests of northern Queensland and Southern Papua New Guinea. As for eating the cassowary, it is said to be very tough. Australians stationed in PNG were advised that it “should be cooked with a stone in the pot: when the stone is ready to eat, so is the cassowary”

Yellow Sunbird

Jason Benz — Wed, 06 Jan 2016 11:27:27 +0000

This is a female Yellow-bellied / olive-backed sunbird. The male bird has an amazing metallic looking blue-black throat. They are similar to hummingbirds, nectar feeding on the wing and plucking spiders from webs. It is a pity she did not give our van the once over as she would have found a particularly fat, hairy, spider to eat. Instead it was left for us to discover one night after we had got into bed and were about to turn out the lights. After failing to persuade the giant insect to leave, it was unfortunately necessary to dispatch the creature with an axe.

Young Magpie

Jason Benz — Sat, 12 Sep 2015 23:12:00 +0000

This juvenile Australian magpie has been hanging around our garden on the Gold Coast. This was the first time I have seen it without its parents. It was busily hunting bugs in the grass this afternoon. The adult bird has black and white feathers like magpies in the UK although it is more closely related to a Currawong.

This image has been accepted by Shutterstock for Stock Photography and is available for download here.

Pied Currawong

Jason Benz — Sun, 26 Jul 2015 13:08:51 +0000

This is a Pied Currawong in the Springbrook national park on the Queensland New South Wales border. The bird is native to Australia and has been found as far south as Victoria. It is an omnivore which can feed on the wing but prefers to find its food in trees and gardens.

Flatback Turtle

Jason Benz — Thu, 25 Dec 2014 13:27:02 +0000

This animal is a flatback sea turtle which we were lucky enough to encounter laying eggs on a beach in Mon Repos as we travel north in Queensland. Later we visited the Museum of pioneer aviator Bert Hinkler who was born in Bundaberg. Among stunning botanic gardens his UK home, also named Mon Repos, had been shipped to Australia and rebuilt. We hope to get a boat to visit an island on the southern edge of the great barrier reef in the next few days. So far the weather has been kind and there has been no sight of the potential stronger storms as we approach the tropics.

In 2017 a study of 299 nest sites around the world showed turtle numbers rising on average. However, in Mon Repos abnormally high sand temperatures from 2016 are believed to have caused hatchlings to overheat on their way to the ocean.

Australian Cranes

Jason Benz — Tue, 07 Oct 2014 10:19:28 +0000

These are Australian Cranes or Brolgas. They are the official bird emblem of Queensland. There are two separate populations in Australia. The Northern Australian Crane is found in Western Australia, the Northern Territory and western Queensland. The Southern Australian Crane is found in Victoria, New South Wales, eastern Queensland and South Australia. We saw them at David Fleay‘s Wildlife Park

Bluetongued Lizard

Jason Benz — Sun, 31 Aug 2014 10:11:56 +0000

This is a Blue-tongued Lizard. It ambled through our garden yesterday and took up temporary residence in the shed. Australia has an abundance of reptiles and Queensland is particularly full of wildlife.