Robins of Australia

Robins of Australia 2 of 49 species

Since we soon leave for an Outback Australia trip, we, my wife and I, have been studying all about Australia.  This includes the geology and flora and fauna of the country.  I only learned about Australian Robins a few days ago.  These two species are on the left:  Scarlett Robin. . . and on the right:  Red Capped Robin.   There are a bunch of Robins in the South Pacific Southern Asia area.  Some are actually yellow breasted.  

Remember that new drawings are at the bottom of the printable lists that are found by clicking on the buttons up top. . . . Now, I have to go finish packing.  I hopoe you have enjoyed coloring some of the extinct and living animals of Australia found here on my free coloring pages blog.  On our trip it will probably be impossible to post. . . so I will start posting more pictures when we return.  Probably starting with the Galah.   

AUSTRALIA HERE WE COME!!!!!!

Wallaby

Wallaby

A lone wallaby is seen in this drawing.  They are a lot like kangaroos but have some differneces.  For one thing, their feet are smaller than kangaroos.  Wallabies live in forests or on rocks.  There are even some callled Rock Wallabies.  These are still marsupials, but they don't go hopping at high speed across the plains.  Of course, Wallabies are much smaller than kangaroos.  The Rock Wallabies have pear shaped bodies.  I probably should have drawn this guy on rocks or in a forest.  

Printable version of the drawing found by clicking on the buttons up top.  Scroll down to the bottom of the list for new drawings.  

Red Kangaroo

Red Kangaroo Mother with Joey out of the Pouch

Gotta finish packing for our trip to where these guys live. . . so . . . I'll just add a few interesting facts about Red Kangaroos.  .  .

They are the largest marsupial livng today.  The males are the ones with the reddish fur.   The females can be caring for an adolescent who is out of the pouch, while also nursing a baby joey IN the pouch, while carrying a fertilized embryo elsewhere.  Red Kangaroos can hop along at 44 miles per hour.  That is like 70 kph.  

Cockatoo

Cockatoo

There are 21 species of Cockatoo.  They live in Australia, New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Indonesia, New Zealand, and the Phillipines.  They are a type of parrot.  I drew this as I looked at the Major Mitchell Cockatoo.  It has a red crest.  The Sulfphur Crested Cockatoo is also found in Australia.  

Look up photos of Cockatoos (unless you live among them) and decide how to color this drawing.  There are some Cockatoos with black body feathers and a read head.  The Galah is a common type of Cockatoo as well.  It is very pink in many parts of its body.  

Cockatoos eat primarily grass seed, so this one is about to have breakfast.  

NOTE:  Remember to click on the correct button up top for the printable vesion of the drawing.  New drawings are at the bottom of the correct lists.  

Budgerigar or Parakeet

Budgerigars or Parakeet

Budgerigars are called Parakeets in the United States.  They are native to Australia and are green in the wild.  Well, they are green and black.  They are known to flock around watering holes and are preyed upon by birds of prey.  

Budgies are the third most popular pet in the world after dogs and cats.  In captivity some have been bred to be blue but as I said before, in the wild they are primarily green or maybe a yellow-green color.  

By the way, we are about to embark on a trip to the drier parts of Australia where these birds live.  So I am not typing too much right now.  I need to finish packing.  

NOTE:  Remember that new drawings are found at the end of the correct lists.   Click on the correct button at the top of the page.  

Wedge-tailed Eagle

Wedge-tailed Eagle

The Wedge-tailed Eagle is the largest bird of prey in Australia.  This makes him or her a raptor.  Did you know that "raptor" means bird of prey.  The term has come to be used for dinosaurs. . . but more correctly we should probably say "dinosaur raptor" or "Theropod raptor."  

Wedge-tailed Eagles have a wingspan of 9 feet 4 inches.  This is almost three meters wide.  They are about 3 1/2 feet  or  just over a meter long.  The females are larger than the males.  Females can wiegh almost 13 pounds or about 6 kilograms.  

Wedge-tailed Eagles hunt practically anything but they eally like the introduced European hares (rabbits).  Since hares were introduced and are a scourge on the environment. . . GO WEDGE-TAILED EAGLES!!!!!    By the way, this eagle can even bring down the introduced species of ferel cats and foxes as well.  Their original diet and of course still part of their diet was mostly marsupial mammals that were small enough to kill and carry.  So bandicoots, small kangaroos, possums, koalas etc. etc.  They even hunt some other birds.  They sometimes eat reptiles like the brown snake too.  

This bird is amazing in that it can soar for hours without flapping a wing.  It must be catching the rising thermal air currents.  It can soar as high as 5,900 feet or 1,800 meters.  When flying it is easy to spot its wedge shaped tail that gave the species its name. . . well, it is easy to see if its not too high up.  The Wedge-tailed Eagle is also often found perched up on a cliff or high in a tree to keep an eye out.  It often spots carrion and flies down to feed on the already dead animal.  It obviously has excellent eyesight to see prey and carrion from high in the sky.

Artist Note:  This new drawing, in prntable form....is found under the top buttons labeled:  . . .
.............All Printables........ or..............Australian Animals.......or........Animals....... Remember to scroll down to the bottom of the long list for the printable drawing you are seeking.

Now, I will admit that this eagle drawing is probably not my best work. . . but I was drawing while sitting on a gurney in a hospital gown, with an IV in my arm, while waiting to go in for surgery.  So maybe I am allowed some leeway.   Don't ya think?  

Barred Bandicoot

Barred Bandicoot

(This is a new drawing... done while waiting for trachea stent replacement surgery today.)

Bandicoots come in around 20 species.  This includes the Barred Bandicoot.  Bandicoots come in several different sizes from small to rather large.  They are all marsupials with a rear facing pouch.  The rear facing pouch is helpful for this burrowing animal.  It is an omnivore and eats bugs and plants.  

Unfortuantely bandicoots are the vector for transmitting the bacteria that causes Q. Fever.  This can be passed on by aerosol of feces. . . so dust that has the feces can be inhaled and make humans very very ill.  This reminds me of a similar situation in North America where the Deer Mouse can pass on the dangerous Hantavirus to people.  So if you see Deer Mouse droppings. . . or Bandicoot droppings. . .stay away.  Do not sweep up without taking major precautions.  Call your health department or get some hazmat help.   

Deer Mouse

(Actually, they don't have antlers. . . I was being funny.)

ARTIST'S NOTE:  The printalbe versions of the drawings are found by clicking the correct button up top.  For the bandicoot that would be . . . Australian Animals  . . . .  Animals of the World. . . . and . . .

All Printables.    Scroll down because the new drawings are at the bottom of the page.  

PERSONAL NOTE:  I had my tracheal stent replaced today and had some scar tissue cut out.  If you were praying for me, thank you so much!  Everything went very well and I am cleared for our Australia trip in a few days.     

Cooper and George the Huge Australian Titanosaurs

Cooper and George Titanosaurs

Cooper and George are the names given to two huge Titanosaurs that were found in Queensland Australia.  Cooper, the smaller of the two Sauropods, is known by a 5 foot or 1.5 meter long humerus.  That is the upper arm bone.    The bigger of the two, George, is know due to a 6 foot or 1.8 Gmeter long femur.  This is the upper leg bone.  George is estimated to have been around 82 feet or 25 meters long.  On the other hand, Cooper was possibly the bigger of the two.  

Some Paleontologists think that Cooper may be more closely related to Apatasaurus.  There are even estimates that the biggest of the two could have been 100 feet or   meters long.  In any case, these are the two biggest dinosaurs ever found in Australia.  

Since Australia was once part of the Supercontinent called Gondwanna. . . that included South America, it makes sense that they would be Titanosaurs, or at least closely related to Titanosaurs....since Titanosaurs lived in South America.  

Now, if I have confused you I apologize.  The research on these two monsters is being done now.  There may be more and different conclusions or inferences as the studies continue.  Also, is is certainly possible that more fossilized bones will be found and shed more light on the size issue. 

Neither animal has been officially named, as far as I know.  Maybe the Cooper and George fossils will turn out to be from the same species of Sauropod.  In my drawing they are different species. . . . unless it turns out that they are not different species . . . then what you see in my drawing is sexual dimorphism.  The male looks somewhat different from the female.   

NOTE:  The printable versions of the drawing are found by clicking on the top buttons labled....

.....All Printables. . . . or . . . . Paleontology . . . or . . .Animals of Australia. 

Australovenator the Banjo Raptor

Australovenator climbing a Hill

Australovenator is the most complete predatory dinosaur found in Australia.  It was a large raptor but it had its killing claws on its hands instead of its feet.  It was around 20 feet or 6 meters long and probably weighed from 1,100 to 2,200 lbs  . . . . that would be 500 to 1,000 kg.  

It had very flexible and useful hands for grabbing and holding and killing prey.  It possibly used that large pair of hand claws for killing since it appears to have had a fairly weak bite.  It may have had some of the most useful hands of any known Theropod (carnivorous dinosaur).  

I noticed that its long weak biting snout and big killing claws are similar to traits found on Spinosaurs.  It is thought that Spinosuars used those large claws to fillet their fish.  So I wonder if Australovenator might have also been a piscavore (fish eater).  This COULD be a case of convergent evolution because the Spinosaurs are NOT closely related to Australovenator. 

I should note that some of these dinosaurs were found around a large Sauropod skeleton and that Sauropod was Diamantinasaurus matildae.  So Australovenator was nicknamed "Banjo" after Banjo Paterson, the composer of the famous Australian song Waltzing Matilda.  

NOTE:  Printable versions will be found by clicking on top buttons. . . .All Printables. . . .
. . . . . . . . Paleontology. . . . . . . . . Australian Animals.   Scroll down to the bottom for new drawings like this one found at the top of today's post.   Older drawings are further up the lists. 

Below is a Spinosaur for comparison: 

Spinosaurus fishing with Young

Muttaburrasaurus from Australia

Muttaburrasaurus 

Muttaburrasaurus was a large Ornithopod dinosaur.  Ornithopod dinos started out as small bipedal animals.  Ornithopods eventually evolved to be large and successful herbivores.  Muttaburrasaurus was around 28 feet or 8 meters long and weighed around 3 tons.  It was not an Iguanodon or Hadrosaur (duck billed).  

This was a dinosaur that was a native to the continent of Australia.  The printable form of the drawing can be found by clicking on the top buttons:  All Printables.....Animals of Australia....Paleontology.