Sugar Glider
Photo © Eric Vanderduys

(Petaurus breviceps)

Sugar gliders earned their name from their love of eating nectar and flowers but they eat insects too.

Description

Body length 170mm; tail length 190mm; weight 130g. Rat-sized body with soft grey fur, black stripe on head and body. Tail thick as a human thumb, often with white tip. Gliding membrane extends from wrist to ankle.

Identification

Droppings 12mm x 4mm, black, pointed at one end, might be joined by hair. 'Yip-yip-yip' call.

Habitat

Eucalypt forests and rainforest at all altitudes

Threats

Cats, clearing, barbed-wire fences

Status

Common in most of range

Food

Eucalypt and wattle gum, nectar, pollen, invertebrates

Distribution

See map