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The laughing kookaburra is the world's largest kingfisher. It measures up to 46 centimetres from the tip of its beak to the tip of its tail.

Lord Howe woodhens are flightless brown birds about the size of a bantam. Females of the species are slightly smaller than the males, and their chicks are covered with sooty black down.

The lyrebird is one of Australia's best-known birds and is a great mimic, capable of imitating almost any sound.

Malleefowl build nest mounds to incubate their eggs, using a complicated system to keep the mound at the right temperature.

The parrot family includes cockatoos, lorikeets, rosellas, ringnecks and budgerigars. There are 56 parrot species found in Australia.

Glossy black-cockatoos are one of the more threatened species of cockatoo in Australia and are listed as a vulnerable in New South Wales.

Many people have taken to encouraging lorikeets into their gardens by giving them foods based on sugar, honey or jam. However, this act of 'kindness' can cause the death of lorikeets at an early age.

The platypus and 2 species of echidna are the world's only monotremes, or egg-laying mammals.

Shearwaters are well-known wanderers of the sea. About 10 species can usually be seen along the NSW coast, diving into the water or skimming across its surface.

Australia has around 140 species of land snake and 32 recorded species of sea snakes.