Blue Mountains Wildlife | Discover Native Australian Species in Their Natural Habitat

These tall, muscular kangaroos are covered in soft grey fur and move in large groups called mobs. You’ll often spot them grazing in grassy clearings around Glenbrook and Megalong Valley, especially around sunrise or sunset. If you're walking the trails near Euroka Clearing, keep an eye out, kangaroos are often just off the track.

Stout and barrel-shaped, with coarse brown fur, wombats are expert diggers and spend most of the day inside their burrows. They come out in the late afternoon to feed and are commonly seen around Jenolan Caves and Kanangra-Boyd National Park.

This tree-dwelling marsupial has fluffy ears, thick fur, and glides silently between eucalyptus trees using a skin membrane stretched from wrist to ankle. You’ll need a spotlighting tour to see one—they’re strictly nocturnal and found in tall forests around the Grose and Jamison valleys.

With long, ornate tail feathers and a rich brown body, the superb lyrebird is one of Australia’s most iconic birds. It mimics chainsaws, camera shutters, and other birds. You'll likely hear them before you see them along damp, fern-filled gullies near places like Leura Falls and Govetts Leap.

Shy and solitary, these mid-sized marsupials are identified by their reddish fur around the neck and shoulders. They prefer forest edges and grassy undergrowth. Try the trails near Blackheath at dusk—you may catch one hopping quietly across a clearing or resting under the shade of acacias.

With sharp eyes, brown fur spotted with white, and a powerful jaw, the tiger quoll is Australia’s largest carnivorous marsupial on the mainland. Rare and nocturnal, it roams remote, forested areas like Newnes Plateau. Spotting one is uncommon, but some hikers on overnight treks have reported sightings.

Australia’s wild dog, with sandy or rust-colored fur and alert ears, is the region's top predator. Though very rare in the Blue Mountains, dingoes may occasionally pass through remote parts of the national park. They are more often heard than seen and tend to avoid human paths.

Small and agile, sugar gliders have grey fur with a black stripe down their back and wide eyes suited for night vision. They leap between treetops using a flap of skin from their side. 

This shiny, dark-skinned reptile with yellowish flecks is found only in swampy upland areas of the Blue Mountains. Active in daylight during the warmer months, they bask on rocks and logs near wetlands around the Blue Gum Forest and Mt Hay.

Australia’s largest owl, the powerful owl has mottled brown feathers and piercing yellow eyes. It hunts possums and gliders at night in mature forests.

Brilliant red on the head and breast with emerald green wings, these parrots are often seen in pairs or small groups. They forage in low branches and are common in picnic areas and gardens around Katoomba and Leura.

This slender honeyeater has a curved beak, red eyes, and a mix of chestnut, white, and black plumage. You’ll find it darting among native flowers like grevilleas and banksias, often hovering mid-air to feed. Look along flowering shrubs on clifftop walks near Wentworth Falls.

A small grey-brown bird with a rusty underbelly, the rock warbler is found almost nowhere else but the Blue Mountains. It hops between boulders and overhangs and builds hanging nests in rock crevices.

With bright green skin blotched with gold and bronze, this frog is both beautiful and rare. It lives near still or slow-moving water bodies and is most active on warm, humid evenings. They can sometimes be heard calling near ponds and dams around the Lower Blue Mountains.