DID YOU KNOW?
Flora and Fauna of Deep Creek
Conservation Park
Birds
The Laughing Kookaburra,
derived from the
Wiradjuri Aborigine
word guuguubarra which
means laugh-like call, is
the best-known
Australian bird. The
Laughing Kookaburra
feeds off the ground and
is easily spotted feeding
high in the trees.
The Superb Fairy-wren
can be easily spotted as
they prefer a clear and
open habitat. The vivid
blue on the face and
chest make the male bird
easy to identify. Early in
the morning, the males
sing their territorial song
called ‘furgling’ to interest
their female counterparts.
Butterflies use ants to be babysitters.
They can attract the ants using their own
chemicals. The ants carry the butterfly
babies back to the nest and will protect
them from parasites.
Butterflies
The common Frog
The common frog can be found hiding beneath rocks,
vegetation and debris on the water’s edge. They lay their
eggs in groups of 100-150 in shallow water.
The common brown butterfly ranges in
colours of brown, orange and yellow patches.
The distinctive eye-spot on each wing can be
seen on both male and female butterflies.
Although common, after mating occurs from
October to December, the males dies and
DID YOU KNOW?
then after the female lays eggs, the female
dies. The caterpillars take 12 days to hatch
Ants abduct the larvae from
from their eggs, and the lifecycle of the
other ants’ nests. These larvae
butterfly begins.
grow up to work for
The Common Brushtail Possums have silver
and grey colourings with a dark brown and their captors.
black bushy tail. The nocturnal marsupial
These ants are
are the size of a cat and live for 10-12 years
in the wild. When hearing hissing or called slave-makers!
growling like sounds, it often means the
possums are mating or protecting
themselves from predators.
 SMELL THIS! FLORA AND FAUNA CROSSWORD PUZZLE

Throughout the next 3 days, I am going to tell you a bit about the
Flora and Fauna of the Deep Creek Conservation Park! This
Brushtail possums feed
information will help you answer the crossword. Once completed
off the Mistletoe with the aim of
the cross word, a clue will be revealed to help you find the mystery
pruning the plant. The plant is a
word. A prize will be awarded to the winning group. Good luck!
native parasite, so the possums help
control this parasite.

A FUN THING TO DO

Take a morning stroll around the Cobbler Hill

Picnic Area and see if you can find the tallest
flower stalk of the Grass Trees and keep an
eye out for Common Brown Butterflies.

References:

Deep Creek Conservation Park (2019). Education

Pack. Retrieved from
https://www.naturalresources.sa.gov.au/adelaidemtlo Across Down
40 things to do in Deep Creek Conservation ftyranges/land/our-parks/schools-in-parks/deep-
Park. (2019). Retrieved from 1. Abducted ants 1. Indigenous for ‘laugh-like call’
creek-conservation-park-education-pack
https://natureplaysa.org.au/wp- 2. Coloured Butterfly 2. Male mating song
content/uploads/2017/07/NPSA-Deep-Creek- Birds SA. (2019). Birding in SA. The South Australian 3. Species that live and interact 3. Grows from a grass tree
Ornithological Association. Retrieved from closely with each other
Online-Version.pdf
https://birdssa.asn.au/go-birding/birding-sa/
Plants of a stringybark Forest. (2019). Retrieved
Climate Watch. (2019). Common Brown Butterfly.
from Retrieved from
file:///C:/Users/caitl/Downloads/stringybark- http://www.climatewatch.org.au/species/insects/com
shrub-layer-identification-fact.pdf mon-brown-butterfly
Common Brushtail Possum. (2019). Retrieved
from file:///C:/Users/caitl/Downloads/common-
brushtail-possum-bio-region-fact.pdf