WANT TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE BIODIVERSITY NEAR YOU?
Check out these sites for more information!
Here are some great websites & resources that will help you understand, nurture and identify your local species.
MAKE HABITAT FOR NATIVE BEES!
Download these resources (link on instruction sheet) to learn how to make an insect hotel and a mud brick for blue-banded bees plus tips about installation, planting, ID and monitoring. More resources to support The Super Pollinators click here.
HABITAT
PLANTING GUIDE
Leech M, 2012, Bee Friendly: A Planting Guide for European Honeybees and Australian Native Pollinators, for Australian Government Rural Industries and Development Centre, Australian Government.
Downloadable copy: https://deepgreenpermaculture.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/12-014-pollen-and-nectar-supplies-lower-res-1.pdf
HOLLOWS AS HOMES
A citizen science initiative to survey and report tree hollows hosted by the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney
https://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/hollows-as-homes/hollows-as-homes
A HOLLOW IS A HOME BY Abbie Mitchell
An academic book for 7-11 yo children written by our founder about the importance of tree hollows for Australian fauna. Published October 2019 by CSIRO with teaching resources available. More information here.
Downloadable list of Australian species that need tree hollows
At least 345 Australian animal species need a hollow as a home
HABITAT STEPPING STONES
Macquarie University have created this program to engage people in creating habitat for local animals
http://www.habitatsteppingstones.org.au/
HABITAT NETWORK
Tips on creating a wildlife corridor through urban areas including beautiful posters on developing small bird habitat and tackling weed removal
http://www.habitatnetwork.org/HabitatNetwork_main.htm
BACKYARD BUDDIES
A site to promote identification and habitat creation for Aussie animals
Take nothing but photos, leave nothing but footprints…
WILDLIFE IN SYDNEY
This site introduces some of the more common species of the Sydney area
https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/get-involved/sydney-nature/wildlife
BIRDS
BIRDS IN BACKYARDS
Who are you sharing your backyard with?
BIRDLIFE AUSTRALIA
The authority on our feathered friends
Intelligent birds like magpies are fun backyard buddies
FROGS
FATS – Frog and Tadpole Study Group
A Sydney based community group of frog enthusiasts. Great posters for sale through them
FROGS OF AUSTRALIA
A regional guide to frogs near you
AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM FROG ID PROJECT
A free downloadable app to help ID frogs from their call and map their distribution
BATS
SYDNEY BATS
Did you know there are at least 19 species of microbat in Sydney? Find out more here
AUSTRALASIAN BAT SOCIETY (Ausbat)
http://ausbats.org.au/home/4551308652
REPTILES
THE AUSTRALIAN REPTILE ONLINE DATABASE
THE REPTILE DATABASE
An international site on reptiles with loads of Australian species
Did you know that you can identify a frog by its call. Listen carefully!
CITIZEN SCIENCE
QUESTAGAME
This app is a fantastic tool to engage kids (of all ages) in finding and recording their local biodiversity
CITIZEN SCIENCE ASSOCIATION
Find a citizen science project near you
CONSUMERISM
MAPPING EFFECT OF CONSUMERISM ON THREATENED SPECIES
This interactive site reveals the impacts of human consumption on animals in other countries
http://worldmrio.com/biodivmap/
THE HIDDEN COST OF HAMBURGERS
This easy to understand video highlights the environmental costs of producing a hamburger
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut3URdEzlKQ
THE STORY OF STUFF
Part of a series of videos by The Story of Stuff investigating the impacts that our consumerist choices have on the Earth.
https://storyofstuff.org/
This mighty grub will develop into a longhorn beetle. It breathes via the holes (spiracles) along its side
Fungi networks are usually hidden until the fruiting body (a mushroom or toadstool) is revealed
Connectivity across habitats is vital for biodiversity to thrive!
INVERTEBRATES
VALLEY BEES
Resources for creating bee habitat
http://mrccc.org.au/valley-bees/
THE AUSTRALIAN NATIVE BEE BOOK by Tim Heard
A must have book if you own a native bee hive
THE AUSTRALIAN NATIVE BEE RESEARCH CENTRE
The go to site for all native bee information by Dr Anne Dollin and Les Robinson
POLLINATOR 2 PLANT
Support materials from the Australian museum about pollinators
https://australianmuseum.net.au/Plant2pollinator-support-materials
BEE SCENE
Support materials from Australian museum especially about bees!
http://australianmuseum.net.au/bee-scene1
THE BEE HOTEL ID GUIDE
A guide to the residents using your bee hotel
www.beesbusiness.com.au/articles/Halcroft_and_Batley_The_Bee_Hotel_ID_Guide.pdf
Whoa! What a massive dragonfly!
AUSTRALIAN NATIVE BEE EDUCATION
Site by bee specialist Dr Halcroft that includes information on pollinator week
WILD POLLINATOR COUNT
An easy citizen science project to count and report the pollinators in your area
https://wildpollinatorcount.com/
NATIVE BEES – POSTERS
Bee-utiful bee posters by Gina Cranson to help you ID the bees in your region
https://www.etsy.com/au/listing/257440677/native–bees-of-nsw–poster-2nd-edition
MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES OF AUSTRALIA
Want to ID a flutterby or it’s caterpillar form? This is the place – the butterfly encyclopaedia via The Butterfly House
The giant fishing spider is harmless to us – but deadly to aquatic invertebrates!
SPIDERS OF AUSTRALIA
The best spider site on the web
http://www.arachne.org.au/default.asp
SPIDENTIFY
An app to help you ID spiders on the fly (pun intended)
GOOD BUG OR BAD BUG?
A guide to beneficial bugs that help control invertebrate pests
BRISBANE INSECTS
A great website to help ID invertebrates – with many common to Sydney
https://www.brisbaneinsects.com/
QUICK INVERTEBRATE GUIDE
A simple guide to assist in identifying invertebrate groups
https://australianmuseum.net.au/document/Quick-Invertebrate-Guide/
WEB 2 SPIDER by BUGWISE – The Australian Museum
The web made by a spider is an indicator as to the creator’s identity while spider diversity is an important indicator of ecological health
https://australianmuseum.net.au/document/original-web2spider-guide/
https://australianmuseum.net.au/document/web2spider-supplement
https://australianmuseum.net.au/uploads/…/web2spider%20toolkit%20for%20schools….
Flowers attract pollinators like birds, possums and insects!
THREATENED SPECIES & CONSERVATION
THREATENED SPECIES OF NSW
Search for threatened species in your region
https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedspeciesapp/
THREATENED SPECIES OF AUSTRALIA
A list of the threatened species in recognised nationally
http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicthreatenedlist.pl
THE CONVERSATION – environmental articles such as –
Profiles on 96 most endangered australian animals
https://theconversation.com/australias-critically-endangered-animal-species-11169
THREATENED SPECIES OF THE WORLD
IUCN red list
Information about the world’s most threatened species
Rock pools can be full of surprises like this attractive sea slug
CONSERVATION STATUS
An explanation of the different categories of conservation status
https://australianmuseum.net.au/learn/animals/conservation-status-what-does-it-mean/
Want to know about the assessment process? Find out here on this one sheet IUCN guide
https://www.iucnredlist.org/resources/summary-sheet
or the National guide here
https://www.environment.gov.au/…/tssc-guidelines-assessing-species-2015.pdf
EDGE SPECIES
The most threatened species based on their evolutionary distinctiveness such as the top 100 mammals
This aphid mimics a fluffy seed or feather for camouflage. How clever!
SPECIES MAPPING
ATLAS OF LIVING AUSTRALIA
Use the ‘explore your area’ links to discover the species in an area as small as 1km around your address. This is also the perfect tool to help access where creating corridors and stepping stones would be most beneficial.
NSW BIONET
This feeds into ALA but provides a different search for local species
Cicada’s spends hours emerging from their shell – amazing to watch!
CLIMATE CHANGE
This interactive map shows species distribution and how it will be affected by climate change.
INTERNATIONAL CONSERVATION NEWS
MONGA BAY
International reporting about conservation issues and biodiversity searchable by country and species
EARTH SCHOOL
This impressive range of environmental education materials has been collated by the United Nations, Ted-ED and a cast of outstanding organisations