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Learn about some well-known and not so well-known NSW native animals.

The Australian brush turkey belongs to the family of birds known as megapodes because of their large feet. They construct large mounds of rotting vegetation to incubate their eggs.

Ever been swooped by a magpie in spring? It's only defending its family during the nesting season.

Often confused with rodents, bandicoots are small, omnivorous marsupials.

Bowerbirds are very closely related to birds of paradise, and species of bowerbird are found in many parts of Australia and New Guinea.

Echidnas, together with the platypus, are the world's only monotremes, or egg-laying mammals.

The word emu comes from the Portuguese word 'ema', which means 'large bird'.

Flying-foxes are nomadic mammals that travel across large areas of Australia, feeding on native blossoms and fruits, spreading seeds and pollinating native plants.

The grey-headed flying fox is listed as a threatened species and is protected by law because numbers have rapidly declined over a relatively short period of time.

Human infections from viruses borne by flying foxes are very rare. There is no risk of infection if you do not make physical contact with a flying fox.