Australian wildlife and floods

This is a wild pheasant coucal video from Australia.

From the Australian Broadcasting Corporation:

Big wet brings back native animals

By Chrissy Arthur

Updated Wed Feb 16, 2011 9:17am AEDT

An outback Queensland grazier says he has seen birds and native rats on his property that have not been recorded for decades, alongside a “scary’ cane toad explosion.

Angus Emmott from Noonbah Station, near Longreach in the state’s central-west, says he has seen a common koel cuckoo this week and it is the first time he has seen the bird so far inland.

He says the big wet season may be encouraging migratory birds that usually live close to the coast further inland and other species are also benefiting.

“There’s lots of the native long-haired rats starting to appear and the last decent population of them in this part of the world was back in 1974 and before that in the mid 1950s, so that is certainly significant as well,” he said.

“The other thing I’ve noticed – I’ve been right out in the Simpson Desert just before Christmas – and the little red flying foxes are stuck in fences right out into the Simpson Desert and they are not meant to come this far inland either.

“Lochern [National Park] next door … got a pheasant cuckoo, which is also in this same group of birds but it’s further west than we’ve recorded it as well.

“It is interesting to see with big years like this what turns up that we haven’t seen before.

“Maybe with such a big wet year, some of the birds that are more coastal have taken the advantage to push a bit inland.”

‘Scary’ toad explosion

Mr Emmott says there has also been an explosion in cane toad numbers in parts of the Queensland’s inland region.

He says the big wet season has provided ideal breeding conditions and the toads are continuing to spread further down the Thomson River system.

Mr Emmott fears they will damage the unique Channel Country environment if they continue to move south.

“There’s millions of them – they are everywhere,” he said.

“We’ve got the house dam right beside us with the back full of water and there’s a cane toad cacophony every night, particularly when it rains.

“There are just cane toads everywhere.

“It is scary – in the shorter term at least, they wipe out nearly all the goannas.

“It’s going to have a significant impact on anything that eats frogs.”

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