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Waverley’s native animals

^{Credit: Centennial Parklands}

Biodiversity surveys carried out across the Waverley LGA identified 37 native birds, 11 reptiles, 4 frogs and 4 mammals living in the area.

Birds

Waverley is lucky to have high numbers of the Superb Fairy-wren. This small bird species is in decline in many other urban areas. One reason for this bird’s persistence in Waverley could be that the dense, shrubby coastal vegetation provides protective habitat from larger predatory birds and animals.

The male Superb Fairy-wren is brightly coloured during mating season. At this time, the plumage around his head and throat is bright blue and black. Females and non-breeding males are less showy with greyish-brown plumage.

Other small birds found in Waverley include the Willie Wagtail, White-browed Scrubwren and New Holland Honeyeater. It was the need to protect these small birds which propelled the creation of the Living Connections program, which is open to all residents with a suitable yard or large balcony.

The birds below were also found in the area:

• Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo
• Rainbow Lorrikeet
• Pied Currawong
• Red Wattlebird
• Little Corella
• Welcome Swallow
• Laughing Kookaburra
• Australian Magpie
• Australian Raven
• Grey-headed butcherbird
• Nankeen Kestrel
• Koel
• Noisy Miner
• Channel billed Cuckoo

Reptiles

Waverley has a great diversity of lizards, that includes:

• Eastern Blue-tongue Skink
• Three-toed Skink
• Eastern Water Skink
• Eastern Water Dragon
• Dark-flecked Garden Sunskink
• Pale-flecked Garden Sunskink
• Cream-striped Shining-skink
• Pale-lipped Shadeskink/Gully Skink
• Broad-tailed Gecko
• Lesueur's Velvet Gecko

Frogs

Four species of frog have been found in Waverley:

• Brown-striped Frog
• Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog
• Bleating Tree Frog
• Common Eastern Froglet

Mammals

Native mammal species that have been found in Waverley include:

• Common Brushtail Possum
• Ringtail Possum
• Grey-headed Flying-fox, a threatened species in the state and nationally
• Gould’s Wattled Bat, named after the English naturalist John Gould
• Eastern Freetail Bat, a threatened species in New South Wales

Citizen Science

Any interested members of the community can help keep track of local wildlife populations by reporting sightings via iNaturalist.

Living with native animals

All native mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles found in Waverley, are protected by the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016.

Brushtail and Ringtail possums are a welcome addition to our urban ecology. If a possum sets up camp in your roof, follow the steps to take to safely relocate them.

Injured animals

If you find an injured native animal, contact WIRES or Sydney Wildlife Rescue.

Pest animals

There are two primary introduced species which have become damaging pests in the area:

• Urban foxes
• Common Myna birds (not to be confused with the native Noisy Miner)

Fox and Common Myna activity should be reported using the FeralScan Pest Mapping app (iOS or Android ).

Domestic animals also pose a threat to native wildlife, and it is a requirement to keep dogs on a leash in public places (except in designated off leash areas).

Council strongly encourages residents to keep cats indoors at all times, both for the safety of the cat and to protect native wildlife. On average, each roaming pet cat kills 186 reptiles, birds and mammals per year, most of them native to Australia. More information.