Royal spoonbill Royal spoonbills are curious looking birds that live around freshwater wetlands. They occur around much of Australia and New Zealand as well as on some islands north of Australia. Sometimes they forage in marine habitats such as tidal mudflats. They are voracious eaters, feeding both by day and night, looking for different prey. On the menu are shrimps and other crustaceans, molluscs and aquatic insects. They are estimated to eat around 1900 of these little creatures per day. Sacred lotus are water plants native to the tropical north of Australia. With huge pink flowers and large pad shaped leaves, they stretch over billabongs and wetlands where they can get their roots in to the mud. If conditions are unfavourable for germination, the seeds can remain dormant in the ground for hundreds of years, waiting for better conditions to regenerate.
