Australian Animal Facts: Cassowary- The Dinosaur Bird

What is a Cassowary?

The Cassowary is a large flightless bird found in the rainforests of Australia and New Guinea.  The Australian cassowary is known as the Southern Cassowary or Double Wattled Cassowary. This is to distinguish it from other types found in Papua New Guinea.

A fully grown Cassowary can weigh as much as 60kgs (130lbs) and grown up to 2 meters in height ( 6.5 feet).

While usually shy, it will attack with a deadly kick if provoked.

This bird is endangered, with only about 1500 still remaining in the wild.

Related Article: What is a Cassowary? 

Waltzing Matilda Australia's Favorite Song

Waltzing Matilda

Australia's Favourite Song

Waltzing Matilda is Australia's favourite song.  It is quite likely that more Australians know the words to this song than the national anthem. There is probably no other song that is more easily recognised by people young or old, native born or a newly arrived immigrant.


We have updated our Waltzing Matilda page on Trishan's Oz. This page was originally written in 1997 by Trishan, an eleven year old Australian child and his dad. Over the ensuring years this page continued to rate in the top 10 sites in Google’s raking on the subject. We have now given the page a long overdue face-lift with new video clips (which didn't exist at the time the page was originally written) and lots of additional content. We have, however, decided to maintain some of the “look and feel “ of the original website. So you will still see Trishan’s artwork and explanation of the song as it appeared on the original website. We hope you find our site informative and fun.

We believe this page is now the most comprehensive , easy to understand page about Waltzing Matilda. It also contains the most extensive information about Christina Macpherson who history has overlooked as the person who wrote the music for this Australian icon. Come check it out for yourself. 

Are Black Swans Gay?

While researching our webpage on Black Swans we came across an interesting fact.

Up to one thirds of all black swans are homosexual and nearly a quarter of all black swan couples are same-sex couples.  Usually it is two males getting together. These males sometimes steal a nest from a heterosexual couple and raise the young as their own or one male copulates with a female and once she has laid her eggs they chase her away and raise the chicks themselves.

Scientists believe there is a biological advantage in this behaviour as it appear that there is a higher survival rate amongst cygnets (chicks) raised by male-male couples than by male-female pairs. This may be due to the fact that there is an additional male to protect them and that having chosen to be parents they are more caring than natural heterosexual pairs.

Note: Homosexual behaviour amongst animals has been observed in over 1500 species. Besides black swans, these include the giraffes, vultures, bears, dolphins, etc.

You can learn more about these interesting birds at Black Swans 


photo "Black Swan at Martin Mere" by © Francis C. Franklin 

How does A Kangaroo Hop?

What is a Kangaroo?

Do Red Bellied Black Snakes Attack Humans?

Red Belly Black Snake

The Red Bellied Black Snake a poisonous snake found in Australia. The average adult snake is about 1.5 - 2m long. It is s shy creature which would rather avoid humans than confront them. When threatened it will try to bluff its way out by puffing itself up to look bigger and hissing loudly. It still threatened, it will attack in self-defence. There is no record of any human dying from the bite of a Red Bellied Black Snake.

Relax you are more likely to die falling off a horse than be attacked by a Red Bellied Black Snake.

For more information about this interesting Australian snake, including ad video of a Red Bellied Black Snake attack  visit our Red Bellied Black Snake website.

Photo by Matt from Melbourne, Australia [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

What is a Red Bellied Black Snake?

Red Belly Black Snake

The Red Bellied Black Snake is a poisonous snake found in Australia. It lives on warm moist environments predominantly along the eastern coast of Australia. It eats frogs, fish, lizards and other reptiles. 

While a poisonous snake, it rarely attacks humans. There has been no recorded death as a result of a bite from the Red Belly Black Snake. 

For more information about this interesting Australian snake visit our Red Bellied Black Snake website.

Photo by Matt from Melbourne, Australia [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Poisonous Australian Snakes - Red Bellied Black Snake

Red Bellied Black Snake

The Red Bellied Black Snake is a venomous Australian snake. It is found along the eastern seaboard (coast) of Australia. 

While it is indeed a venomous snake, it is also a very shy and avoids humans. The chances of getting bitten by one is very remote. (You are more likely to fall off a ladder than be bitten by one).

Our Red Bellied Black Snake website has lots more fascinating information about the Red Belly Black Snake.


Photo by Matt from Melbourne, Australia [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Where does the Red Bellied Black Snake Live?

What Does a Red Bellied Black Snake Eat?

How the Kangaroo Got Its Name

Wondered how the Kangaroo got its Name?

Kangaroo

The kangaroo an Australian plant-eating marsupial.

Up until 1770 people outside of Australia were not aware of the funny hoping animal of Australia. The first European reference to it is in a diary note of Joseph Banks a naturalist on board the sailing ship Endeavour which had beached itself for critical repairs after running aground on the Great Barrier Reef. He referred to the animal as "kangooroo". This word eventually evolved to the present day form of "kangaroo".


Visit our Kangaroo website for lots more information about the Kangaroo.

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Who Owns the Copyright to Waltzing Matilda

Is Waltzing Matilda Copyrighted?

There is some controversy as to the copyright status of the iconic Australian song Waltzing Matilda. While the generally held view is that it is in the public domain, this is strictly speaking not correct.

Visit Waltzing Matilda - Australia's Favourite Song to discover to complete story behind this famous Australian song.

Platypus, Platipi, Platapod? Oh what is it?

Koalas Hug Trees to Keep Cool

 Koala 

What is a Kola?

The koala is a small cuddly-looking Australian tree-dwelling plant-eating marsupial.

The Koala's Air-conditioner - It hugs trees

Yes its true.  On very hot days, the koala may resort to hugging the truck or large branches of a tree to keep cool. By doing so it transfers its body heat to the tree and in the process cools itself. 

This is the same principle used in air-conditioners called heat transferal or thermal conduction. 


Learn more about the Koala at our fantastic Koala website.

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Why Do Koalas Hug Trees? (No Its not what you think)

Koalas Hug Trees to Keep Cool

 Koala 

What is a Kola?

The koala is a small cuddly-looking Australian tree-dwelling plant-eating marsupial.

The Koala's Air-conditioner - It hugs trees

Yes its true.  On very hot days, the koala may resort to hugging the truck or large branches of a tree to keep cool. By doing so it transfers its body heat to the tree and in the process cools itself. 

This is the same principle used in air-conditioners called heat transferal or thermal conduction. 


Learn more about the Koala at our fantastic Koala website.

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Australian Animal Facts: Kookaburra - Why are they Fatal Road Kills?

Kookaburras as Road Kill

Laughing Kookaburra in Flight

What is a Kookaburra?

The Kookaburra, the world's largest kingfisher but it doesn't hunt fish. Instead it preys on snakes, frogs, lizards and large insects. Its about 18 inches (45cm) long and weighs about 1lb (.5kg). 

Why is the Kookaburra prone to Vehicle Strikes?

Being a carnivorous bird the Kookaburra is also an opportunist and will try to eat road prey knocked down by passing road vehicles. Unfortunately the kookaburra is a slow flier. It finds it very difficult to quickly get airborne and get out of the way of oncoming traffic.

Unfortunately as a consequence the bird itself becomes a road fatality. 

Learn more about the  Kookaburra here...

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Australian Animal Facts: Southern Cassowary the Endangered Dinosaur Bird of the Australian Rainforest

Southern Cassowary Endangered Dinosaur Bird
of the Australian Rainforest

Southern Cassowary the Endangered  only 1500 remain

What is a Cassowary?

The Southern Cassowary is a massive flightless Australian bird that lives a solitary existence in the rainforests of northern Australia. 

If provoked it will attack with a powerful kick slashing its victim with its fearsome claws. 

Why is it Endangered

There are only 1,500 Cassowaries left in the wild today. This is nearly a 50% drop in population over the last twenty five years. The major causes of its decline are habitat loss, motor vehicle accidents, attacks by dogs, feral pigs and human hand feeding. 

Read more . ..

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Great Barrier Reef Facts: Touring the Great Barrier Reef

Great Barrier Reef Tours

Great Barrier Reef Coral and Fish (including a Star Fish)

The Great Barrier Reef off the Gold Coast of Queensland Australia is one of the finest coral reefs in the world. It is also the largest. These are hundreds of tour operators providing 

Major Cities near the Great Barrier Reef

The key "jump-off points for the reef are Cairns, Townsville, Airlie Beach, Port Douglas and Townsville. These cities are all well equipped to handle tours. 

Getting to the Great Barrier Reef

The Best way to get to one of the major cities of the Gold Coast is by air. Local and international airlines such as Qantas, Virgin, Cathay Pacific and Air New Zealand fly into these cities regularly.

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Waltzing Matilda Facts: Waltzing Matilda page Updated on Trishan's Oz.

Waltzing Matilda Page Updated

We have updated our Waltzing Matilda page on Trishan's Oz. We believe this page is now the most comprehensive, easy to understand page about Waltzing Matilda. Come check it out for yourself. 

This page was originally written in 1997 by Trishan, an eleven year old Australian child and his dad. Over the ensuring years this page continued to rate in the top 10 sites in Google’s raking on the subject. We have now given the page a long overdue face-lift with new video clips (which didn't exist at the time the page was originally written) and lots of additional content. We have, however, decided to maintain some of the “look and feel “ of the original website. So you will still see Trishan’s artwork and explanation of the song as it appeared on the original website. We hope you find our site informative and fun.

Waltzing Matilda - The Woman Who Inspired Waltzing Matilda?

Would there have been a Waltzing Matilda without her?

It was Christina Macpherson who inspired Banjo Paterson to compose Waltzing Matilda. 

Christina Macpherson

She also arranged the original music for the song. Christina readily admitted that she did not originate the music for Waltzing Matilda but that she had heard it played by a brass band at the horse races at Warrnambool Victoria in April 1894. She found the tune catchy and had learned to play it by memory on her autoharp. As part of an evening’s entertainment Christina played this tune to Banjo. He asked her what the tune was and she told him she didn't know. (The tune in question is the Scottish song "Bonnie Wood O' Craigielea" first published in 1818.) Banjo liked the tune and immediately started to put down some words to it. Christina and Banjo worked though the score, Christina playing the tune on her autoharp and Banjo penning the words as they came to mind.

Christina never married. She moved to South Yarra, a suburb of Melbourne and died in relative obscurity on March 27 1936. She left her entire estate worth £3,624 to her younger sister. She was buried in in the St Kilda Cemetery. It was only in the late 1970's while the Australian Broadcasting Commission was making a documentary on Waltzing Matilda that her burial plot, without a tombstone, was rediscovered. Christina's grand-niece had a small marker placed on the spot where she was buried.

This small marker on a long forgotten grave-site is the only recognition, it seems, given to the woman who inspired the creation Australia's most treasured song.

Read the full story of Waltzing matilda here.

An extract from the Waltzing Matilda webpage of Trishan's Oz written by Senani Ponnamperuma

Great Barrier Reef Facts: Where is the Great Barrier Reef?

Where is the Great Barrier Reef Located?

The grey area on the map is the location of the Great Barrier Reef

Location of the Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef is located along the north-eastern coastline of Australia. It starts off the coast of the city of Bundaberg in the south and extends all the way up to the Cape York Peninsula to the north. This is a length of nearly 2300 km (1450 miles). The breath of the coral reef varies from 60 to 250 kilometres wide (37 to 155 miles).

It is the largest coral reef in the world.