What is a bilby?
A bilby is a small desert marsupial with long rabbit-like ears, soft grey fur and a long pointed snout. The greater bilby lives in arid parts of the Northern Territory, Western Australia and Queensland.
Bilbies are about the size of a rabbit, with a black and white tail. Their big ears help them hear prey and release body heat in the desert. They are nocturnal, sheltering from the heat in deep burrows during the day.
They eat insects, larvae, seeds, bulbs and fungi, using strong claws to dig. Bilbies get almost all the water they need from food, so they rarely drink.
A digging engineer
A single bilby may dig many burrows in its home range. Their digging turns over large amounts of soil, helping water and seeds soak into the ground, so they are called ecosystem engineers.
The female's pouch opens backwards, so it does not fill with soil while she digs. Young bilbies stay in the pouch for about 80 days.
The greater bilby is listed as vulnerable, while the lesser bilby became extinct in the twentieth century.
Did You Know?
Bilbies are known as macrotis, meaning big ears, in their scientific name, Macrotis lagotis.