Animals

Viviparous (live young).

Breeding season: highly variable, usually August to December. Clutch size is three to four. Nest in small colonies. Within these colonies, the mated pairs stongly defend their individual territories. The nest may be anything from a simple shallow scrape on the ground to a mound of vegetation placed in or near the water. Both sexes incubate the eggs and look after the young.

Breeding season: August to December, and in response to rain. Clutch size is five to seven. Usually breeds near water and breeds rapidly when conditions are favourable. Nest is cup-shape, made from stalks, twigs and leaves and lined with grasses and feathers.

Nest is a shallow cup or platform of vegetation placed close to water on a grass tussock or in soft grass. Occasionally the nest may be floating or anchored to vegetation in water, or placed in or under low bushes.

Clutch size is two. They are monogamous and stay together during the breeding season. Eggs are laid on bare ground in a scrape, which can be on stony ground and if the ground is soft it will make a small depression. Nest is sometimes ringed with small stones or sheep droppings, small pebbles, dry plant material or rabbit droppings. Both sexes incubate the eggs and care for the young.

Breeding season: September to November. Clutch size is two to three. The female incubates the eggs while the male hunts. They nest in old or commandeered corvid (crow family) or raptor nests, rather than building their own.

Breeding season: August to December on the coast, year round in arid zones, with rainfall. Clutch size is 9-11. It breeds at any time throughout the year in arid areas, synchronised with flood waters. Nests are built on the groud in dense vegetation. Females incubate the eggs and brood the young.

Breeding season: September to January. Clutch size is four to five. Nest is a floating mound of vegetation, normally anchored to a submerged branch or reed.

Breeding season: September to February. Clutch size is five to eight. Nests in long grass, tussocks, rushes and crops. It makes an unlined cup-shaped nest of grasses or reeds. Both sexes incubate the eggs. Young leave the nest within 24 hours.

Breeding season: August to January (after rain in arid regions). Clutch size is three to four. They nest and rear their young co-operatively. Nests are flimsy constructions of twigs placed low in a small tree, stump or artifical structure. Roosts in tight clusters in trees during storms or sudden cold weather.