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Where do ibis actually live? | The Secret Lives Of Our Urban Birds

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Patty Garvey-Darda loves pikas. They are small mammals related to rabbits. "I think they are about the cutest animals alive," she told TIME for Kids. Garvey-Darda is a wildlife biologist. She works for the United States Forest Service. She wants to protect pikas and other creatures from a common threat: . The Federal Highway Administration says more than a million roadway accidents involving animals happen in the U.S. each year. These collisions hurt wildlife and people.

CLIFF GRASSMICK-DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA/BOULDER DAILY CAMERA/GETTY IMAGES

One solution to this problem? Wildlife crossings. In the U.S. and around the world, bridges and underpasses are being built to help animals safely cross roads.

Global Solution

Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada, has some of the most successful wildlife crossings. Completed in 2014, these include 38 underpasses and six overpasses, or bridges. They prevent the park's animals from being hit while crossing the Trans-Canada Highway, which the park. Parks Canada says the crossing system has reduced collisions with wildlife by more than 80%.

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People study the Banff crossings as a guide for new construction projects, Rob Ament says. He works for the Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University. Ament notes Banff's "high quality of design." This includes fencing to direct animals away from roads.

EDUCATION IMAGES/UNIVERSAL IMAGES GROUP/GETTY IMAGES

Ament is using his expertise on wildlife crossings for a project in Assam, India. One of the state's highways is on the border of Kaziranga National Park. "Animals leave the park to go up a dry hill during season," Ament says. "That means they have to cross the highway." Plans are in the works for a safe pathway beneath it.

Under Construction

Wildlife crossings have been built in several U.S. states, including Arizona, Utah, and Wyoming. In Washington State, Garvey-Darda is part of a major project. She's helping to design a set of about 20 wildlife crossings. "Banff has been the best model for us," she says. Washington's crossings are being built along a 15-mile stretch of Interstate 90 (I-90). That's a long highway. This section of I-90 bisects the Cascade mountain range. It has disrupted the migration of animals in the area.

CHASE GUNNELL-CONSERVATION NORTHWEST

All 20 crossings are expected to be completed by 2029. So far, six underpasses and one overpass have been built. Garvey-Darda says these crossings have made a difference. "We now have close to 5,000 deer and elk going through the undercrossings," she says. "All of these animals were potential accidents."

This spring, Washington locals can plant vegetation on the I-90 overpass. Garvey-Darda says the plants will encourage animals, including her beloved pika, to use the crossings. "It's important to be ," she says, "and not wait until a species is endangered."

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Patty Garvey-Darda loves pikas. They are small mammals related to rabbits. "I think they are about the cutest animals alive," she told TIME for Kids. Garvey-Darda is a wildlife biologist. She works for the United States Forest Service. She wants...

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Canada Wildlife - Trans Highway Crossing 

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Canada Wildlife - Trans Highway Crossing 

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Roaring traffic doesn't stop big mammals like moose and bears from crossing highways-nor does it keep myriad smaller creatures from being squished by car tires. In just two years along one stretch of highway in Utah, 98 deer, three moose, two elk, multiple raccoons, and a cougar were killed in car collisions-a total of 106 animals. In the United States, there are 21 threatened and endangered species whose very survival is threatened by road mortalities, including Key deer in Florida, bighorn sheep in California, and red-bellied turtles in Alabama.

People are also hurt-about 200 die every year in the more than one million car collisions in the U.S., according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. These crashes are expensive, too: Deer-car collisions cost an average of $8,190, an elk-vehicle collision is about $25,319, and a moose-vehicle collision is $44,546, taking into consideration human injuries and death, towing, vehicle repair, investigation of the accident by local authorities, and carcass disposal, according to a paper from the Western Transportation Institute (WTI) at Montana State University.

And the number of these deadly accidents is growing. "Over the most recently reported 15-year period, wildlife-vehicle collisions have increased by 50 percent, with an estimated one to two million large animals killed by motorists every year," says Rob Ament, the road ecology program manager at WTI.

There's one solution, however, that's been remarkably effective around the world in decreasing collisions between cars and animals crossing the road: wildlife under- and overpasses. Studies that looked at a cross-section of native species' deaths on highways in Florida, bandicoots and wallabies in Australia, and jaguars in Mexico, just to name a few, all show that wildlife crossings save money and lives, both human and animal.

"You can get reductions of 85 to 95 percent with crossings and fencing that guide animals under or over highways," Ament says.

That's why these traffic-spanning bridges and tunnels-which have been popular in Europe since the 1950s when the first was built in France-are showing up worldwide. Usually looking much like a regular overpass for cars, but decked out with native flora, they aren't particularly noticeable unless you know what you're looking for.

And undercrossings, which pass beneath highways to assist shyer and smaller animals, may be invisible to drivers. But they're helping countless species, from gold monkeys and pumas in Brazil to water voles in London. Ament is even working on wildlife crossings for highways that haven't been built yet in developing nations like Bhutan, which need safe places for Asian elephants to traverse their territories. As he points out, it's a lot easier-and cheaper-to build in these mitigations during road construction than it is to retrofit, as has been done in the U.S. and Canada. ( See pictures of the underpass in Kenya reuniting elephant herds.)

Snoqualmie Pass

Washington State is one of the latest to join in. Construction on its first wildlife bridge, east of the Snoqualmie Pass in the Cascades, began in 2015 over Interstate 90, which runs from Seattle to Boston. Though it's just a bare set of arches now, with native plants to be planted in fall of 2020, deer and coyotes are already using it.

Along with six underpasses built since 2013, these crossings are the first in a set of 20 along a 15-mile stretch of highway on I-90. These passes will allow elk, black bears, mountain lions, pika, and even trout to traverse what was once a near-impenetrable barrier of the road.

These wildlife crossings aren't just about saving individual animals-they're about species survival, too. I-90 is an economically important east-west lifeline in the state, crossing high mountain passes in the Cascades where few other roads are available. But many of the animals mostly want to move north to south. Those south of the highway got trapped in an island of sorts. Bound by the highway to the north and the Columbia River to the south, inbreeding posed a potential problem.

"Localized extinction happens when populations can't find each other, and if they don't have genetic variability, they will blink out-especially low-mobility species in old-growth [forest]," says Patty Garvey-Darda, a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Forest Service and the liaison to the state's transportation department for the I-90-project.

The Snoqualmie overpass helps reconnect these isolated populations. I-90's underpasses, which connect wetlands and streams back to the Yakima River, are also critical, especially in connecting waterways and aquatic species, says Jen Watkins, with Conservation Northwest, a nonprofit that conserves wild lands and native wildlife. "We have bull trout responding to four new tributaries they haven't used in recent history. We're not surprised that the underpasses are working, but the immediacy of the response is thrilling," says Watkins. Bull trout are a threatened species, and they, along with salamanders and reptiles that are "species of conservation concern," all benefit from underpasses.

What makes a crossing successful?

One of the most looked-to examples of successful wildlife overpasses is in Banff, over the Trans-Canada Highway. A study there shows that in just one two-mile stretch, wildlife-vehicle crashes reduced from an average of 12 a year to 2.5, reducing costs of crashes by 90 percent-over $100,000. It's statistics like these that have led to the addition of crossings there over the last two decades.

Tony Clevenger, a senior research wildlife biologist at WTI , has been monitoring wildlife at Banff's six overpasses (and 38 underpasses) for more than 17 years. He found that animals have different preferences when it comes to feeling safe on an over- or underpass. Doing that monitoring before building is critical, he says.

"Grizzly bears, elk, deer, and moose prefer big structures that are open," he says. "Cougars and black bears prefer smaller, more constricted crossings, with less light and more cover." These inclinations are based on how each animal evolved-black bears' and cougars' natural home is in the forest, not a meadow, so they won't feel comfortable on a large, open crossing structure, for example.

This informed the landscaping on the Banff crossings. "On one side we would plant trees and shrubs, and on the other side have areas that are open, planted with grass," Clevenger says.

Long-term monitoring of local wildlife to find where animals were crossing the road-or trying to cross and then turning back-was key to the success of the Snoqualmie project. It started five years before construction began and continues to this day. Washington Department of Transportation roadkill statistics were combined with on-the-ground tracking from citizen scientists and U.S. Forest Service data.

Choice of crossing can even come down to the sex of an animal. A 2014 study in Banff looking at DNA obtained from black bear hair samples and camera data showed that breeding females preferred overpasses, but males liked underpasses. "So now we know if we want to maintain connectivity we need to build overpasses so breeding females can cross," Clevenger says.

While those animals that are already accustomed to human structures, like coyotes and deer, were using the Washington I-90 crossings almost immediately-even skirting around construction equipment-there's a longer learning curve for other species. It might take elk, grizzly bears, and cougars a couple years to feel comfortable using the crossings, and wolverines, lynx, wolves, and fishers (recently reintroduced to Washington), five years or more. But once routes over or under the road are established, it becomes intergenerational knowledge: "Cougars with kittens and black bears with cubs will use the crossings," Clevenger says.

Those early adapters are important. Not only are they keeping themselves off the road and reducing car-animal collisions right off the bat, but they also create paths that more reticent animals will follow, says Clevenger. Fences also help-they guide animals away from dangerous highway crossings and toward overpasses and underpasses.

"We don't want to just connect animals-we want to create ecosystems," Garvey-Darda says. That means considering the smaller animals, such as shrews, voles, jumping mice, and pika, too. Rocks and brush piles are set up specifically to encourage these more diminutive species to use the crossings.

"We are lucky. In Washington state, we still have all of our native wildlife species-even grizzlies and lynx," she says. "That's not true of a lot of states. Wildlife crossings will help make sure that's true into the future."

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How wildlife bridges over highways make animals-and people-safer

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Bridges for bears and tunnels for tortoises have significantly reduced the number of wildlife-car collisions worldwide.

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Built on a collection of 40,000+ popular, high-quality books from 250+ of the world's best publishers, Epic safely fuels curiosity and reading confidence for kids 12 and under.

Get Started

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online access fun thousands children great kids ebooks books

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How the World Works 2024 Book Collection on Epic

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Discover new children's books on Epic. With thousands of books and audiobooks there is no limit to what children can learn and explore.

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Animals Thriving because of Farming

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NATIVE PEST?! - EASTERN GREY KANGAROO - Wildlife Wednesday #12 | Pete Ockleshaw

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Melbourne's Wild Heart: Peregrine Falcon - Remember The Wild

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Find the animals in this augmented reality nature trail and share your vision for a wilder Melbourne

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Home of the Melbourne Peregrin Falcons YouTube Channel

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The peregrine Falcons have been living in the nest boxes on the building’s ledge since the early 1990s, In 2020 high-resolution camera was installed to monitor and to share the life of the Falcons to the world. We hope you enjoy the live stream and If you would like to learn more about Peregrine Falcons please visit our Q&A page on our website: https://www.367collinsfalcons.com.au/faq Please subscribe and like the video
Website: https://www.367collinsfalcons.com.au/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/367co…

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Peregrine Falcons are birds of prey known for their capability to fly at extremely high speeds (in excess of 320km per hour) earning them the title of the fastest animal on earth. Since 1991, a pair of Peregrine Falcons has been observed in a nest on the rooftop of 367 Collins Street.

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Information about the Peregrin Falcons of Melbourne

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For animal-lovers, one silver lining of the pandemic-era cloud was all the adorable live-streams that made their way into our feeds. Watching cute critters all day, everyday, became a favourite pastime, thanks to various zoos and aquariums around Australia and beyond. After all, what better way to brighten your mood than to lose a few minutes, hours or days to some adorable creatures on screen?

Fast-forward to now and Melburnians - or anyone interested in the city's birdlife, really - again have something special to watch. This live-stream isn't actually new, but it's particularly relevant at this time of year. Thanks to a camera on 367 Collins Street in the CBD, you can train your peepers on two rare peregrine falcons nesting on a high-up ledge outside the building. You're able to give them a squizz any time you like, but from August onwards each year (aka now) is when you'll see them lay and hatch their chicks.

At the moment, the eggs are already there, so you'll spy a whole lot of sitting atop them as the feathered couple waits for their progeny to hatch into the world. Once they've arrived, you'll also see vision of the parents bringing food back to the nest for their little ones to eat. For a peek at all the action, head to the Mirvac building's website. For those visiting the high-rise itself, the CCTV footage of the falcons is also on display in the foyer.

This particular nest comes with quite the history, too, as peregrine falcons have been nesting at 367 Collins Street since way back in 1991. This is actually the only known peregrine falcon nesting site within the Melbourne CBD, which obviously makes it extra special.

Check out the live-stream below:
For more information about 367 Collins Street's peregrine falcons and their nest, head to the 367 Collins website and the 367 Collins Falcon Watchers Facebook page.

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The 24/7 Live-Stream of Collins Street's Peregrine Falcons Is Back for Another Nesting Season

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For animal-lovers, one silver lining of the pandemic-era cloud was all the adorable live-streams that made their way into our feeds. Watching cute critters all day, everyday, became a favourite pastime, thanks to various zoos and aquariums around Australia and beyond.

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Most environmental pollution on Earth comes from humans and their inventions. Take, for example, the automobile or that miraculous human-made material, plastic. Today, automobile emissions are a major source of air pollution contributing to climate change, and plastics fill our ocean, creating a significant health hazard to marine animals.

And what about the electric lightbulb, thought to be one of the greatest human inventions of all time? Electric light can be a beautiful thing, guiding us home when the sun goes down, keeping us safe and making our homes cozy and bright. However, like carbon dioxide emissions and plastic, too much of a good thing has started to negatively impact the environment. Light pollution, the excessive or inappropriate use of outdoor artificial light, is affecting human health, wildlife behavior, and our ability to observe stars and other celestial objects.
That Earthly Sky Glow
Light pollution is a global issue. This became glaringly obvious when the World Atlas of Night Sky Brightness, a computer-generated map based on thousands of satellite photos, was published in 2016. Available online for viewing, the atlas shows how and where our globe is lit up at night. Vast areas of North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia are glowing with light, while only the most remote regions on Earth (Siberia, the Sahara, and the Amazon) are in total darkness. Some of the most light-polluted countries in the world are Singapore, Qatar, and Kuwait.

Sky glow is the brightening of the night sky, mostly over urban areas, due to the electric lights of cars, streetlamps, offices, factories, outdoor advertising, and buildings, turning night into day for people who work and play long after sunset.

People living in cities with high levels of sky glow have a hard time seeing more than a handful of stars at night. Astronomers are particularly concerned with sky glow pollution as it reduces their ability to view celestial objects.

More than 80 percent of the world's population, and 99 percent of Americans and Europeans, live under sky glow. It sounds pretty, but sky glow caused by anthropogenic activities is one of the most pervasive forms of light pollution.
Is it Time to Get Up?
Artificial light can wreak havoc on natural body rhythms in both humans and animals. Nocturnal light interrupts sleep and confuses the circadian rhythm-the internal, twenty-four-hour clock that guides day and night activities and affects physiological processes in nearly all living organisms. One of these processes is the production of the hormone melatonin, which is released when it is dark and is inhibited when there is light present. An increased amount of light at night lowers melatonin production, which results in sleep deprivation, fatigue, headaches, stress, anxiety, and other health problems. Recent studies also show a connection between reduced melatonin levels and cancer. In fact, new scientific discoveries about the health effects of artificial light have convinced the American Medical Association (AMA) to support efforts to control light pollution and conduct research on the potential risks of exposure to light at night. Blue light, in particular, has been shown to reduce levels of melatonin in humans. Blue light is found in cell phones and other computer devices, as well as in light-emitting diodes (LEDs), the kinds of bulbs that have become popular at home and in industrial and city lighting due to their low cost and energy efficiency.
Animals are Lost and Confused, Too
Studies show that light pollution is also impacting animal behaviors, such as migration patterns, wake-sleep habits, and habitat formation. Because of light pollution, sea turtles and birds guided by moonlight during migration get confused, lose their way, and often die. Large numbers of insects, a primary food source for birds and other animals, are drawn to artificial lights and are instantly killed upon contact with light sources. Birds are also affected by this, and many cities have adopted a "Lights Out" program to turn off building lights during bird migration.

A study of blackbirds ( Turdus merula) in Germany found that traffic noise and artificial night lighting causes birds in the city to become active earlier than birds in natural areas-waking and singing as much as five hours sooner than their country cousins. Even animals living under the sea may be affected by underwater artificial lighting. One study looked at how marine animals responded to brightly lit panels submerged under water off the coast of Wales. Fewer filter feeding animals, such as the sea squirt and sea bristle, made their homes near the lighted panels. This could mean that the light from oil rigs, passing ships, and harbors is altering marine ecosystems.

Even in places meant to provide protected natural habitats for wildlife, light pollution is making an impact. The National Park Service (NPS) has made maintaining a dark night sky a priority. The NPS Night Skies Team has been monitoring night sky brightness in some one hundred parks, and nearly every park showed at least some light pollution.
You Shouldn't Need Sunglasses at Night
There are three other kinds of light pollution: glare, clutter, and light trespass. Glare is excessive brightness that can cause visual discomfort (for example, when driving). Clutter is bright, confusing, and excessive groupings of light sources (for example, Times Square in New York City, New York). Light trespass is when light extends into an area where it is not wanted or needed (like a streetlight illuminating a nearby bedroom window). Most outdoor lighting is poorly positioned, sending wasted electricity up into the sky.
Bring Back the Dark Sky
There are several organizations working to reduce light pollution. One of these is the U.S.-based International Dark Sky Association (IDA), formed in 1988 to preserve the natural night sky. IDA educates the public and certifies parks and other places that have worked to reduce their light emissions. In 2017, the IDA approved the first U.S. dark sky reserve. The massive Central Idaho Dark Sky Reserve, which clocks in at 3,667 square kilometers (1,416 square miles), joined eleven other dark sky reserves established around the world. As of December of 2018, IDA lists thirteen dark sky reserves on their site.
Stop Wasting Energy: Things We Can All Do
More people are taking action to reduce light pollution and bring back the natural night sky. Many states have adopted legislation to control outdoor lighting, and manufacturers have designed and produced high-efficiency light sources that save energy and reduce light pollution.

Individuals are urged to use outdoor lighting only when and where it is needed, to make sure outdoor lights are properly shielded and directing light down instead of up into the sky, and to close window blinds, shades, and curtains at night to keep light inside.

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People all over the world are living under the nighttime glow of artificial light, and it is causing big problems for humans, wildlife, and the environment. There is a global movement to reduce light pollution, and everyone can help.

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Black bears, white tail deer, Peregrin falcon, Monkey, Red Fox

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Examples of adaptations animals make when living in a city

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Introduction

Camels which have reverted to the wild state are said to be feral. The first feral camels in Western Australia were those lost or stolen from early explorers. Additional releases of domestic camels into the wild occurred when the motor vehicle became commonplace in outlying areas in the 1920s and 1930s.

Feral camels are declared pests of agriculture in WA under the provisions of the Biosecurity and Agriculture Management Act 2007.

There are probably at least 300 000 feral camels in Australia; the only substantial feral camel population in the world. The size of the population in the Northern Territory is thought to have doubled between 1990 and 2000.

Distribution

Feral camels are spread throughout central Australia. They are generally confined to the deserts, being only occasionally seen on sheep and cattle stations in Western Australia.

Camels are highly mobile, even when feed is abundant they may forage over 70km per day. Studies in the Northern Territory indicate that females (cows) live together in groups that are temporarily herded by a male (bull). Bulls usually live in bachelor groups or alone. Group size depends on rainfall; in very bad years groups are small in size, while in good years, larger groups are observed.

Camels may go for long periods without drinking, however in summer they will drink every day if water is available. They tend to spend the night on areas of bare ground away from the waterhole, watering at first light and then moving off.

They are remarkably well adapted to their desert environment. Their coat acts as an insulating layer in winter and reflects radiant heat in summer. They have a tough skin able to withstand thorns and spinifex, and a padded foot adapted for movement on sand and gibber plains as well as insulating the animals from the hot earth. They have hard pads on the brisket, knees and elbows to protect them when they kneel.

Camels conserve water by reduced sweating and they also concentrate their urine like most desert mammals. Their body temperature rises nearly 3°C before they start to sweat. It may fall by 6°C at night. They can lose much of their body water without ill effects and rapidly return to normal when they are again able to drink. Camels have exceptionally good eyesight and sense of smell.

Identification

The Arabian camel, which is the only species found feral in Australia, is a large animal weighing between 450-650kg. It is grey brown or dun coloured with a darker hump, shoulder and back of the neck. The winter coat, which is shed in early summer, is longer and darker than the summer coat.

Food habits

The single hump makes up to 20% of the body weight. It consists of connective tissue and stored fat. The shape and size of the hump is indicative of the animal's condition. The preferred diet of camels is succulent herbage, high in water and, often, salt content. Grasses make up between 20-40% of the diet (70-90% in cattle). Camels also eat the fruit, leaves and stems of many shrubs and will badly damage some native trees such as the Quandong or Native Peach ( Santalum acuminatum). Their long legs and neck enable them to browse trees much further from the ground than any other terrestrial herbivore in Australia.

Reproduction

Camels live for up to 50 years and may actively breed for 30 years. Females come on heat several times a year. Gestation lasts about 13 months; calves are born on average once every two years. Twins are rare. Males come into season from one to three times a year, each time for several weeks. They develop large patches of sticky smelly excretion on the backs of their heads when in season and are also particularly intractable at this time.

The main problem caused by feral camels is destruction of fences. Camels pass through fences by leaning on them until they collapse, and will often demolish long lines of fence for no apparent reason.

They may also foul or damage water points, especially in drought. They behave aggressively towards sheep and cattle, sometimes depriving them of feed or water. However, in WA camels are rarely present in stocked country in sufficient numbers to create a major problem.

Camels are susceptible to a number of diseases such as tuberculosis and brucellosis - serious diseases of livestock. Attempts to eradicate these diseases must take into account the possibility of a disease reservoir remaining in the feral camel population.

Although less destructive than many other introduced herbivores, camels can cause environmental damage, particularly to some arid zone plants.

Declared pest category

The Western Australian Organism List (WAOL) contains information on the area(s) in which this pest is declared and the control and keeping categories to which it has been assigned in Western Australia (WA). Use the links on this page to reach feral camel in WAOL.

Further information

For further information contact the Pest and Disease Information Service.

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Camels (Camelus dromedarius) were first imported to Australia in the 1840s as a beast of burden for exploration and development in arid areas. By the mid-1890s, more than 4500 had been introduced for use in the goldfields of Central Australia and Western Australia.

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Since their introduction into Queensland in the 1930s, cane toads have gradually made their way across northern Australia. In recent years they've even reached the Kimberley region in northern Western Australia. Cane toads have proven to be an extremely adaptive invasive species and have been able to survive and thrive in a range of environments which were previously thought inhospitable for the toad-such as harsh dry areas-by making use of any available source of moisture from man-made dams to cowpats.

The spread of the toads can also be seen as an evolutionary success story in that the toads found moving west across Australia have also evolved to be quite different to their original native variety and have much longer legs, allowing them to travel greater distances. Not only have the toads physically adapted on their move across Australia but their behaviour has also changed.

Cane toads are considered a nocturnal species and will hide away during the day and come out at night to feed and mate. Researchers had previously observed the toads in hot and dry areas being active during the day where they would move into dams and waterways to keep cool, but would still display normal nocturnal behaviours. A new paper recently published in Scientific Reports has highlighted that in the right environmental conditions some populations of cane toads have shifted to a strictly diurnal lifestyle which is a phenomenon known as 'phase shift'.

Environmental biologist, Dr Simon Clulow, was one of the researchers involved in the study and has been assessing the impacts the toads have had on native wildlife over the past 10 years. Dr Clulow discussed this significant finding with ABC News and said that while he ventured into some of the Kimberley's deep and rocky gorges, he found cane toads which were strictly active during the day. The diurnal cane toads were only found in areas which were shaded from the sun and provided cool and damp environments throughout the day, while a more exposed section of gorges contained mostly nocturnal toads.

There are only a few other known examples of nocturnal animals becoming strictly diurnal and at this stage it is unclear to Dr Clulow and his team as to why the toads have made the switch, but they hypothesise it may be due to a more abundant food source being present during the day. This adaptability is just another weapon in the toad's impressive arsenal as they continue their march across Australia.

Reference:

Doody JS, McHenry CR, Rhind D et al. Novel habitat causes a shift to diurnal activity in a nocturnal species. Sci Rep 2019; 9:230. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-01836384-2
This article appeared in the March 2019 issue of the Australian Veterinary Journal

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Cane toads demonstrate impressive adaptation

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Cane toads have proven to be an extremely adaptive invasive species by making use of any available source of moisture from man-made dams to cowpats.

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Feeding and diet

In the wild, the Common Brushtail Possum's diet consists of leaves, blossoms and fruits, but in suburbia it will eat almost anything.

Other behaviours and adaptations

The Common Brushtail Possum is nocturnal and, during the day, retreats to a hollow log, branch, tree trunk or any dark area, even inside house roofs.

Communication

The Common Brushtail Possum is a social animal and remains in contact with its group through sounds and scents. At times, particularly during the breeding season, it makes piercing screeches in the middle of the night to establish territories and warn of danger.

Economic impacts

The Common Brushtail Possum was introduced to New Zealand in the 1830s where it has now become a pest species.In Australia, it is a protected species.

Predators

The Common Brushtail Possum's main predators include Dingoes, pythons, foxes and cats.

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The Common Brushtail Possum is probably the best known of the possums in Sydney because it has adapted to urban living and often comes into contact with people.

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The Peppered Moth is widespread in Britain and Ireland and frequently found in ordinary back gardens, yet its amazing story has made it famous all over the world. It is one of the best known examples of evolution by natural selection, Darwin's great discovery, and is often referred to as 'Darwin's moth'.

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Animals are always finding ways to adapt to changes in their environment, but for most species, as humans take over their digs, it's bad news for them. But for others, it's no problem at all. In fact, some animals are doing better in urban and suburban environments than they ever did in fields and forests.

Coyotes

Coyotes, and their larger cousins, coywolves, have managed to adapt to city living in spite of traditionally being afraid of humans. These nocturnal hunters lurk in our neighbourhoods after most of us have gone to bed. They move about unnoticed by their human neighbours, eating raccoons, rats, squirrels, Canada Goose eggs, and human garbage.

And city life has been good to them. Researchers studying coyotes in Chicago found that city coyotes were larger than rural coyotes and had larger litters, both signs that the population is thriving.

Watch the full doc Meet The Coywolf.

Bald Eagles

In the 1960s, the bald eagle was on the verge of extinction due to the use of pesticides like DDT. But since DDT has been banned, their population has rebounded and they're no longer on the list of endangered species.

In fact, they're adapting to entirely new environments like Greater Vancouver. "City" eagles need only a place to nest and a clean source of fish, and they've figured out how to use city infrastructure like cellphone towers, bridges and cranes along waterways.

Traditionally, eagles don't like to get too close to their neighbours, keeping their nests about 800 metres apart. But much like humans, eagles living in cities have learned to live in closer quarters, with nests roughly 400 metres apart.

They've also learned to adapt their food sources. It turns out the majestic bald eagle is more than happy to fight it out with seagulls for garbage at city dumps.

Watch the full doc Eagles Next Door.

Pigeons

Pigeons are uniquely suited to urban life. They can recognize human faces, so they know which people have fed them before.

They have an amazing ability distribute themselves, so there are never more pigeons than food. A park with twice as much food as another park will also have twice as many pigeons. They automatically sort themselves, so each pigeon gets roughly the same amount of food.

They also have keen eyesight. A highly developed "collapsing sense" allows them to extrapolate the movement of objects, like cars and predators, and get out of the way just in time.

Watch the full doc The Secret Life of Pigeons.

Raccoons

Like coywolves and pigeons, raccoons aren't just adapting to urban life. They're thriving in it. In fact, living in cities is making raccoons smarter.

Toronto has been dubbed the Raccoon Capital of the World, and a team of researchers from York University has discovered how the city has changed raccoons. They found that urban raccoons have learned to keep their territories small, to avoid crossing major roads and getting hit by cars and that they've developed better problem-solving skills than their country cousins.

The researchers set up a series of hard-to-open garbage cans with cat food - a favourite raccoon treat - at the bottom and presented them to both city and country raccoons. The city raccoons could figure out how to get them open and get the cat food inside. The country raccoons had no such luck.

Booklice

Our houses are absolutely chock full of insect life, but few of them have adapted to our homes as well as the booklouse. Booklice have found that the starch in book bindings make an ideal food source.

The greatest threat to indoor insects, after humans and their pets, is dehydration. Insects can dry out in our climate-controlled homes, and struggle to find enough water. But booklice have adapted to suck the moisture directly out of the air and can live off that vapour for three weeks, which would be like a human drinking water just once every six or seven years.

Watch the full doc The Great Wild Indoors.

Squirrels

Urban environments have been great for squirrels. There's ample food and shelter and few natural predators. They've learned to live in much greater densities in cities than they do in other environments.

Squirrels may all look alike to us, but they've learned how to tell us apart. Like pigeons, they can tell which humans will feed them, and which humans will shoo them away.

They've also learned how to trick each other. Squirrels engage in tactical deception, something previously only seen in primates. If a squirrel buries a nut with another squirrel watching, it will only pretend to bury the nut, then take it somewhere else and bury it there while their rival scours the first site. Genius.

Watch the full doc here: Nuts About Squirrels.

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Animal adaptors: 6 species that are thriving alongside us

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These species aren't afraid of city living. They welcome it.