xerophytic—adapted to a xeric (or dry) environment.

XXXX—is beer, Queensland beer, and it's brewed by Castlemaine Perkins. The beer is commonly referred to as "fourex." The XXXX brand has been around since 1878, and in 1999 the 5 billionth XXXX stubbie rolled off the packaging line. XXXX Bitter is the flagship brand of the Castlemaine Perkins Brewery and was first released in 1924. XXXX Gold was launched in 1991 and is said to be the third biggest beer brand in Australia. The Castlemaine brewery was established in Victoria in 1859. In 1878 Castlemaine in Queensland started marketing Castlemaine XXX Sparkling Ale. In 1894 Castlemaine added another X and XXXX Sparkling Ale was introduced. The XXXX trademark was applied for that year.

yabber—talk; palaver; chatter.

yabber stick—message stick.

yabbering—1. noisy chatter. 2. talking, chatting noisily.

yabbie/yabby—1. any of several freshwater crayfish usually of the genus Cherax, especially the common C. destructor. 2. to fish for yabbies.

yachtie—yachtsman; one who owns and enjoys sailing a yacht.

yackai—a call used by an Aborigine to command attention or express emotion such as pain or surprise.

Yagara—the areas occupied by the present-day big Australian cities is where Aboriginal cultures were first wiped out. In what is nowadays Brisbane the Yagara people lived. Now, little remains of them, only a few people descending from those whose culture was savagely destroyed. The language is extinct.

yahoo—1. the grey-crowned babbler, Pomatostomus temporalis of Australia and New Guinea, having a grey crown with two broad, white stripes. 2. the name of an Aboriginal evil spirit. 3. a loud-mouthed yob.

yahooing—boisterous behaviour; behaving boisterously.

yair—yes.

yakka—hard work or toil; from a brand of workmen's clothing.

Yalata Indidgenous Protected Area—Aboriginal lands covering 458,000ha and spanning approximately 150km of the Eyre Highway. The Yalata Community has a population of approximately 400 people. The Yalata Anangu (Pitjantjatjara word for 'people') regularly commute between Yalata and the Aboriginal lands in the north and west. In 1952, the Aboriginals who had inhabited the Maralinga lands were placed in a mission at Yalata, several hundred miles south of their tribal land. They were kept at Yalata from the commencement of the British atomic tests in Australia from 1953 until 1984. When the Maralinga people returned to their land they found parts had been highly contaminated by radiation.

Yalgoo—this region is an interzone between south-western bioregions and Murchison. It is characterised by low woodlands to open woodlands of Eucalyptus, Acacia and Callitris on red sandy plains of the western Yilgarn Craton and southern Carnarvon Basin. The latter has a basement of Phanerozoic sediments. This bioregion includes the Toolonga Plateau of the southern Carnarvon Basin. Semi-arid to arid, warm, Mediterranean climate. Mulga, callitris, and bowgada open woodlands and scrubs on earth to sandy-earth plains in the western Yilgarn Craton. Rich in ephemeral lakes.

yallara—(see: lesser bilby).

Yalit—a clan of the Boonerwrung people in Victoria.

yam daisy—Microseris scapigera was once abundant Aboriginal food, called murnong. It is now only found in ungrazed woodlands. Its flowers made the plains quite yellow in spring, but it could be dug up at almost any time of the year. Women gathered murnong tubers using digging sticks. Murnong roots are radish-like, with a milky juice. They were collected into baskets, and though they could be eaten raw they were often cooked in an earth oven, whence they produced a sweet, brown juice called minne, which was much liked.

yam stick—digging stick.

yammagi -an Aborigine, especially one from the Murchison River, WA.

yammer—1. talk quickly or in an agitated manner. 2. whinge, complain vociferously.

Yammy—Yamaha motorcycle.

Yan Yean—tap-water.

Yanchep National Park—one of Western Australia's oldest national parks, set in tuart and banksia woodlands, 50km north from Perth's CBD. Spread over 2799ha, it is a combination of caves, walking trails and lakes, including Loch McNess and the Yanchep Lakes. The vegetation in the area features stands of tuart, jarrah, marri, scrub and banksia. Endangered Carnaby's black cockatoos are a daily sight, and western grey kangaroos are commonly seen grazing on the picnic lawns and golf course. The new koala board walk is now complete and was opened on the 22nd March 2004. Traditional home of the Nyoongar people.

Yandaminta—located about 200km north of Broken Hill, adjacent to the South Australian border, this area consists of alluvial plains bounded by a series of ranges in the east. The greatest part of the area is underlain by tertiary sedimentary deposits with outcrops of Cambrian and Cretaceous sediments in the ranges. A number of non-perennial watercourses flow from these ranges to the west. Mulga shrubland dominates the area. A fringing woodland of river red gum is found along the major watercourses. Floodplain country supports various chenopods and native grasses. Macropods, including red kangaroo, western grey kangaroo and euro are the most visible animals of the area. The area is used for sheep grazing on large leasehold properties.

Yandi—Yandicoogina.

Yandicoogina—a region located approximately 95km north north-west of the township of Newman in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. This is an area where most of the iron ore mining companies either have or are developing new mine sites. Yandicoogina was commissioned in late 1998 and produces a separate iron ore product known as Yandi (HIY) fines. The mine, located about 90km north-west of Newman, is a single open pit mine with dry crushing and screening. Yandicoogina has a designed production capacity of 20 million tonnes per annum of fines, but is undergoing an expansion to 36 Mtpa. Yandicoogina was commissioned in late 1998 and produces a separate iron ore product known as Yandi (HIY) fines. The mine, located about 90km north-west of Newman, is a single open pit mine with dry crushing and screening. Yandicoogina has a designed production capacity of 20 million tonnes per annum of fines, but is undergoing an expansion to 36 Mtpa.

yandie/yandy—a shallow (wooden) winnowing dish used to separate edible seeds from refuse, or particles of a mineral from alluvial material.

Yandruwandha—a dialect of the Aboriginal language formerly spoken on the Cooper and Strzelecki Creeks and the country to the north of the Cooper, in the north-east corner of South Australia and a neighbouring strip of Queensland.

Yangkuntjatjara—an Aboriginal people of Central Australia.

Yank—an American; pertaining to anything American.

Yank tank—a car of American make, and usually large and extravagant.

Yankunytjatjara—variant spelling of Yangkuntjatjara.

Yanyuwa—Aboriginal people of the Northern Territory. The earliest Europeans in the area were explorers: Flinders sailed through the Edward Pellew group of islands in 1802; Leichhardt knew he was traversing Aboriginal footpaths in 1845 and commented on the Zamia (cycad) forest at Manankurra. He had friendly trade exchange with the Yanyuwa, who assumed, probably because of their earlier peaceful trading arrangements with the Macassans from the Celebes (present-day Indonesia), that that was why Europeans had come. Later, pastoralists who settled in the area often dispossessed the Yanyuwa using violent means, and their cattle destroyed some of the food resources of the Yanyuwa and fouled the water-holes. This is the period in which they lost their land and their identity as a people. The Yanyuwa were pioneers in mounting land claims. They were the first group to make a claim under the Northern Territory Land Rights Act of 1976, and their current claim for the seagrass beds is also a first of its kind.

yapunyah—any of various trees of the genus Eucalyptus that occur along water-courses in Queensland and the Northern Territory, especially E. ochrophloia and E. thozetiana. Bark is smooth throughout, white or grey or pink. Leaves are a glossy, green or grey-green and thin, flowers white. The yapunyah tree flowers from early April till late October and is a major producer of honey through the winter months, with an average production of 150kg per hive.

Yaralde—an Aboriginal people of South Australia.

Yardwadjali—the traditional owners of the land in and around the magnificent and powerful mountain range of Gariwerd, their ancient name for the Grampians. Their principal legendary hero is Bunjil, who created the land, the people, the plants and animals, their religon and the laws by which they lived. Bunjil gave the people weapons and tools to hunt and gather food. He was closely related to Werpil, the eagle, considered to be king of birds. At the end of his time on earth, Bunjil rose into the sky where he now lives, represented by a star. Gariwerd was also central to the dreaming of the two Bram brothers, legendary figures in their Dreaming history, who were responsible for the creation and naming of many landscape figures in western Victoria. In the numerous rock shelters of Gariwerd they gathered to talk, yarn, sing and dance. On the walls of the shelters they painted their symbols and left their hand prints and stencils as evidence of their existence. They hunted and gathered the abundant food in the area by various methods such as netting, spearing and digging. In the streams and rivers they used rocks to build fish traps, allowing them to harvest the rich bounty of fish and eels with nets made of kangaroo grass. Life was thus sustained in an orderly, balanced manner according to laws of the Bunjil.

Yaringa Marine National Park—an internationally significant site for wader birds. The area comprises saltmarsh, mangroves, sheltered intertidal mudflats, subtidal soft sediments and tidal channels. The mangroves here are of state significance and the mudflats of national significance, with many water birds and wader birds roosting among the mangroves. The mangroves are vital to the life cycles of crabs, shrimps, sand hoppers, marine snails and bivalves, and adult and juvenile fish. The park covers 980ha and is adjacent to Quail Island Nature Conservation Reserve, about 9km southwest of Tooradin. Yaringa Marine National Park is part of the Ramsar Wetlands in Westernport, Victoria.

yarra—1. mad; silly; crazy; insane. 2. (see: clever man stick).

Yarra Mission School—in Wurundjeri country. In 1836, Governor Gipps appointed George Langhorne, a missionary, to establish the Yarra Mission School on 900 acres, at the site of the present Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne. Langhorne wanted to bring Koories together, house them in permanent houses and give them a British education. The school only lasted for three years; in March 1839, it was closed. The Yarra Mission finished because of the lack of financial support from the government and because of opposition from the Aboriginal community for the school, as it was seen as a threat to their own culture.

Yarra Ranges National Park—a vital catchment area for Melbourne's water supply. The park stretches from the headwaters of the Yarra River to Marysville, and from Healesville to Warburton. The park's most significant features are its tall mountain ash forests, with their understorey of tree ferns, and adjacent gullies of cool temperate rainforest. The highest elevations are characterised by sub-alpine vegetation, and receive regular snowfall over the winter months. Fourteen plant species occurring in the park have been identified as being rare or threatened, including the slender tree-fern and tree geebung. Around 40 native mammals are known to occur in the park, among the most significant of which is the endangered Leadbeater's possum. The park also provides habitats for 120 recorded species of native birds. Significant hollow-using species are the sooty owl, powerful owl and barking owl. Other important species include the pink robin, yellow-tailed black cockatoo, Australian king parrot and grey goshawk. Crimson rosellas are common. The dense forests of this area were not particularly favoured by Aboriginal people, and were a barrier to European settlement. Europeans first settled the area in the 1860s to access the goldfields at Woods Point, and soon the area was recognised as a valuable source of timber. The Yarra Ranges National Park is located in Victoria.

Yarra River—the river on whose banks the first colony was founded in Victoria. Flowing generally westerly, the river descends to river flats, which begin a short distance west of Warburton. The present river pattern has been determined by the deposition of sediment, which comprises the Yarra delta (aka river flats). It is seldom over two metres above sea level, providing a surface that is prone to river meanders. Riparian scrub occurs along much of the river, including river red gum, silver wattle, river bottlebrush, prickly currant bush and tree violet. Rushes and sedges often line the banks. Fifteen species of native fish inhabit the river, the most common being the river blackfish. It is a favourite picnic and leisure area that adjoins the Royal Botanic Gardens, the Southbank arts and shopping precincts, the new Federation Square development and Melbourne's Crown Casino. The Yarra River rises east of Warburton and flows through Melbourne's eastern suburbs to Port Phillip Bay.

Yarra Valley—an area of Victoria defined by the Yarra River and its tributaries. The river flats and varying undulations comprise the best-known aspect of the valley, beginning just west of Warburton. At Yarra Glen the river flats are particularly evident, and attracted early pastoral settlement and provided a means of rapid agricultural settlement and penetration to Gippsland's gold fields in the 1850s. Its undulating landscape and high annual rainfall (600 to 1,000 mm.) made it prime space for horticultural lands, and their later subdivision for residential expansion. Leaving aside the coastal perimeter of Port Phillip Bay, the Yarra Valley has been urban Melbourne's main growth corridor. The valley's rolling green hills also support several award-winning vineyards. The Yarra Valley lies 60km east of Melbourne.

Yarra Yarra—an Aboriginal tribe and language group that populated the area around the upper Yarra River, prior to European settlement in the 1850s. They were pushed out of their traditional lands and into less preferred areas before being herded into an Aboriginal station at Coranderrk, on the banks of Badger Creek near Healesville. By the end of 1922, most of the remaining Yarra Yarra Aborigines had been moved to the Lake Tyers Mission, and Coranderrk was subdivided for soldier settlement.

Yarra-banker—soap-box orator—one who stands on a makeshift platform by the banks of the Yarra River in Melbourne and talks about a religious, political etc subject to whomever will listen.

Yarrabah—church influence: Australian Board of Mission. The Yarrabah area, south of Cairns, Queensland, was originally inhabited by the Yindinjdji. An Anglican mission was established in 1892, with a policy of dormitories for children and a ban on all traditional activities. Gradually, many people removed from their own homelands were relocated to Yarrabah. In 1957, as a result of intolerable living and working conditions, a strike was staged. The "ringleaders" were expelled from the mission and others persuaded to leave. In 1960 the government took over the mission forcing people to live within the confines of the settlement, as all outstations were closed. In 1965 an advisory Aboriginal Council was established which reported to the Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs. Yarrabah received a Deed of Grant in Trust similar to other communities in Queensland in 1979.

Yarralumla—Government House, set in 53ha of gardens, lawns and parkland at Yarralumla, has been the official residence of the Governor-General in Canberra since 1927, when the Commonwealth Parliament moved from Melbourne to the national capital. The suburb of Yarralumla, which has grown up around Government House, is one of Canberra's most expensive and exclusive areas, and is the site of many foreign embassies. The pastoral property of Yarralumla dates back to 1828. The Commonwealth bought it in 1913, after Canberra was chosen as the national capital site. In 1925 work began to extend the house as the official residence for the Governor-General. A three-storey addition to the existing house was built facing what is now Lake Burley Griffin, and a private entrance was installed. The Vista Suite, used by the Queen when she visits Canberra, was added above the private entrance in 1934 as a sitting room for Lady Isaacs, wife of the first Australian-born Governor-General, Sir Isaac Isaacs. At Government House, the Governor-General presides over meetings of the executive council, holds ceremonies to present honours such as the Order of Australia, receives visiting heads of state and other dignitaries and the credentials of ambassadors to Australia, and entertains people from all walks of life. It was in his study at Yarralumla that Sir John Kerr dismissed Gough Whitlam as Prime Minister of Australia on November 11, 1975.

yarraman—(in Aboriginal English) a horse.

yarran—the small-to-medium tree Acacia homalophylla, having a rough bark, smooth foliage, and an unpleasant odour; the dark brown, durable wood of this tree.

Yarri—more than a century after Aboriginal hero, Yarri, pulled residents of old Gundagai from the winter waters of the flooded Murrumbidgee, NSW Premier Nick Greiner unveiled the gravestone at the site where Yarri and his offsider Jacky pulled 40 people to safety in June 1852. In unveiling the gravestone, Mr Greiner said Yarri's feat had transcended race, colour and creed. The Kooris had warned the citizens of Gundagai of the danger of flooding, but their warnings went unheeded—old Gundagai settled on the flats between the Murrumbidgee and its branch, Morley's Creek. Then, on the night of June 25, 1852 the water rose beyond all expectations. With only a bark canoe, Yarri paddled through the night, plucking the survivors from treetops and roofs one at a time, working perhaps 50 hours straight.

Yass—a rural town of some 5500 people located on the Yass River, a tributary of the Murrumbidgee. Although traditionally centred on wool, merino studs and agriculture, a number of wineries and vineyards have sprung up to the south of town. Prior to European occupation there was a large Aboriginal population in the area, mostly Ngunnawal people; the town's name derives from the Aboriginal word yhar, said to mean 'running water'. In 1821 the exploratory party of Hamilton Hume became the first known group of Europeans on the Yass Plains. Hume returned with William Hovell in 1824 during their ground-breaking expedition to Port Phillip Bay (Melbourne). Settlers followed them, bringing flocks of sheep which represented the start of the local wool industry. The settlement soon became an important stopping place on the road from Sydney to Melbourne. The Whitton gang shot and killed Hamilton's brother John at Yass.

Yass Plains—historically, superfine wool from Yass has attracted world record prices, thereby establishing the area as the fine-wool centre of the world. The Yass soil and favourable climate have also been responsible for producing some top-quality cool-climate wines with a flavour comparable to those from Bordeaux. The town lies along the Yass River, which is a tributary of the Murrumbidgee. Yass is 62km north-west of the ACT and 280km south-west of Sydney on the Hume Highway.

Yass River—the river rises north of Canberra and flows past the town of Yass to its confluence with the Murrumbidgee River. There are two competing theories as to the origin of the name Yass. A member of Hamilton Hume's exploration party supposedly climbed a tree to view the area; when asked if it looked like good grazing country he replied 'yass'. Alternatively, the name could have derived from the Aboriginal word yharr, purportedly the local tribe's name for the river—literally translated as 'running water'. Since the 1950s the area of salt-affected land has expanded significantly and 1.2 per cent of the catchment is now severely salt-scalded. Watertable levels in nearly half the valley have risen more than four metres and Murrumbateman, centre of the region's cool-climate wine industry, is badly waterlogged. The Yass River has recorded a salinity level rise of seven per cent per year, which is double the state's average.

yate—Eucalyptus megacornuta, an evergreen which grows to a height of 20m and a width of 4m. It has orange bud caps and greenish yellow flowers, and is common in the south-west of Western Australia. The name was first recorded by Surveyor-General J S Roe in 1847, when carrying out exploration of the area. It is hard to resist picking up the giant opercula that fall from this small, upright, colorful tree. They are big enough for kids to stick on their fingers and pretend to be a witch. The flower buds, packed in sevens on a long strap-shaped peduncle, are very strange in themselves, and suitable for dry arrangements. The ensemble of seven, long-stamened, greenish-yellow flowers is often likened to a shaving brush.

Yathong Nature Reserve—an arid land ecosystem that also supports a large feral goat population. The problem extends across all tenures. Goats strip everything, including the bark off trees, when food sources diminish, and the speed of desertification of western NSW is being hastened by increasing goat numbers. The issue of feral animal control is complicated by the existence of export markets for the goat meat.

yawp—talk, yell, cry loudly.

Yeagirr—an Aboriginal people of New South Wales.

Yeddonba—a sacred site once used by Dudoroa clan elders to pass on the Dreaming story of the Tasmanian tiger. The depictions in ochre, which are thought to be over 200 years old, depict a Tasmanian tiger along with a goanna and a snake. Although faded, the artwork can't be retouched, as there are no known descendants of the tribe that painted it. Like the Tasmanian tiger that was their totem spirit, the Duduroa tribe of Chiltern in Victoria have vanished.

yelka—any of several sedges of the genus Cyperus yielding a small, edible tuber; this tuber.

yellow bladderwort—Utricularia vulva, is a small, orchid-like plant that grows along sandy creek banks in Arnhem Land.

yellow box—Eucalyptus melliodora, generally a broad-crowned, medium to tall tree to 40m. Bark is dark brown, fibrous and flaky on the lower half of the trunk, creamy-yellow and smooth on the upper trunk and branches. Fruit is wineglass-shaped, 6-13mm long; disc flat but recessed below rim; valves 4-6, enclosed. Grows in sheltered sites near rivers or in open, poorly-drained, relatively flat country. Many people regard yellow box honey to be the best in terms of quality. Bees can produce yields of 30—50kg per colony. Also known as honey-scented gum.

yellow buttercup—one of the most common native plants found growing in the sandy soils between Perth and Albany. This spreading shrub, growing up to a metre high, has attractive, typically yellow flowers that may be two and a half centimetres across. The yellow buttercup is common on the coastal plain and in jarrah forest between Kalbarri and Margaret River. In some areas it forms a dominant understorey plant. In the wild, it regenerates after fire from its rootstock. The flowers are pollinated by bees and, like most hibbertias, produce no nectar.

yellow carrabeen—Sloanea woollsii, a tall, handsome tree that grows up to 50m in height, with lovely, starry flowers followed by small, spiky seed capsules. The toothed leaves, dark green when adult, have prominent hairy domatia. At the base of the trunk are found plank-buttresses. Flowers September to November. Fruit is a prickly, yellowish/brown capsule that spits into two halves. Found mostly in sub-tropical rainforest.

yellow chat—Epthianura crocea, a small bird that typically forages on the ground, in dense grass or in low shrubs. The male is a bright golden-yellow, with a pominent black chest band. The female is pale lemon yellow, and has no chest band. Yellow chats occur patchily across northern Australia, most typically in chonopod shrublands and grasslands around water sources in semi-arid areas.The diet is mostly invertebrates. Yellow chats typically occur in small groups of 2-10 individuals.

yellow gum—any of several eucalypts with a mottled, yellowish bark.

yellow hakea—Hakea nodosa will reach a height of two metres. Occurs in south-eastern South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania. There appears to be two forms. The "conventional" form has light green, cylindrical leaves with a prickly point. In early autumn this form produces pale yellow flowers along the stems. There is a Grampians form of the species. Main flowering occurs in late autumn and winter.

yellow mallee—Eucalyptus incrassata, a small tree which is virtually trunkless (mallee), to 8m tall, with broad, dark green leaves and ridged flower buds and fruit. The leaves are hairless, leathery, dull green, arranged alternately along branchlets and hanging downwards on slender petioles. The fruits are cup-shaped, to 15mm x 10mm, strongly ribbed, valves recessed below rim. Boomerangs were fashioned from the wood. Some parts of the roots were crushed for food and other sections were drained for drinking water. Sugary cases covering leaf-sucking insects were gathered from the leaves and were eaten as a sweet food. Other mallee eucalypts may have been used in this way.

yellow mangrove—three species, Ceriops tagal, Ceriops australis and Ceriops decandra are commonly found in Queensland. They are difficult to tell apart except when flowering or fruiting. They grow to 5m tall. They have buttresses at the base of the trunk and knee roots. Leave are small (up to 7cm long), yellow-green and oval- shaped, occurring in groups at the end of branches and often orientated straight up in the air to avoid strong midday sunlight.Bears small, green-brown flower buds with pale orange petals. The bark is cream coloured with dark brown spots. Often occurring as short, stunted trees (especially in very saline environments), they may grow to 5m high in areas having some fresh water influence.

yellow monday—Cyclochila australasiae is probably most commonly encountered in the Sydney area. The two common names of greengrocer and yellow monday refer to different colour forms of the same species. The origin of the names is unclear but they are known to have been in use as early as 1896. Other names for different colour forms include chocolate soldier (dark tan form) and blue moon (turquoise form). Common on a range of trees, the adults spend much of the daytime sucking sap from branches. Dusk is the usual time to hear the males calling for females, but they also sing in the morning on warm days. The harsh song may be continuous or delivered in short bursts, and can be extremely loud and penetrating (they sing at about 120db).. Adults live for around six weeks. Females deposit eggs into dead or dying branches of a food plant. The eggs hatch after about four months into spidery-looking, long-legged nymphs that burrow into the soil. There, they suck sap out of plant roots and grow for up to seven years, emerging as adults between September and November on warm nights, often following rain. Found in southern Queensland to Victoria and South Australia, in urban areas, forests and woodlands.

yellow stringybark—Eucalyptus muelleriana, a tall tree reaching 25-40m and up to 1m in diameter in its natural habitat. This species occurs on coastal plains and adjacent ranges in south-eastern Australia, from near Wollongong, New South Wales, in the north to Wilson's Promontory in Victoria. Yellow stringybark typically occurs in tall open-forest formation. The bark is less fibrous and more compact than other stringybarks. The timber is durable and straight-grained and is widely used for poles and piles. It is durable in saltwater and is used in harbour works as well as in general building. The natural range of the yellow stringybark is the Gippsland region of eastern Victoria and south-east NSW.

yellow tingle—Eucalyptus guilfoylei, a medium-to-tall eucalypt, with height up to 35m and diameter 1m, with a short trunk and wide-spreading branches. It has greyish-brown, rough and crumbly bark; the leaves are 90mm to 16mm long, dull green above and paler below; and the almost stalkless buds are in clusters of approximately seven. The flowers are white and appear in the summer. The yellow tingle is one of three tingles, and is generally smaller than red tingle (E. jacksonii) and Rate's tingle (E. brevistylis). Yellow tingle is distinguished from red tingle by the absence of a buttressed, or thickened, trunk. It has a limited natural occurrence around the Deep and Frankland Rivers west of Albany, which has the wettest and least seasonal climate in the south-west. It occurs as scattered trees associated with other eucalypts, such as karri, marri or the less common red tingle, and usually occupies the more low-lying areas. The best growth of yellow tingle is on deep red, loamy soils originating from basalts and dolerites, although the species will grow on lighter loams from granites and schists. Tingle trees are relicts from a period 65 million years ago, when Australia was part of the supercontinent Gondwana and the climate was warm and continuously wet. Small quantities of timber, which is extremely durable, are sometimes used in building. The heartwood is an oak-like yellow colour, hard and straight-grained.

yellow wattlebird—Anthochaera paradoxa, the world’s largest honeyeater (375mm-450mm), it has grey-brown plumage streaked with white, a yellow belly and distinctive yellow "wattles" hanging from behind each ear. Both sexes are similar in appearance. The yellow wattlebird occurs in eucalypt forest and woodland. It is a common species, distinguished by its harsh call—a loud, gutteral sound which has been likened to a person vomiting. It feeds on insects and nectar. In breeding season it builds an open, saucer-shaped nests of twigs and strips of bark, bound with wool and lined with grass and wool. The female lays two or three eggs, which can be salmon-red, spotted and blotched red-brown, or purplish and blue-grey. The yellow wattlebird is found only in Tasmania.

yellow-bellied glider—Petaurus australis, the largest and most vocal of three Australian gliding petaurids. A very agile climber, it will often run along the underside of a branch and hang by its hind legs. During the day, the yellow-bellied glider sleeps in a leaf-lined nest, usually a hole in a tall tree. It is a social species, moving about in groups consisting of a male, several females and their young. The single offspring is born between November and May and is carried in the pouch for about 100 days. It is left in the nest for a further 60 days, after which it joins the group. The staple diet consists of nectar, pollen and the sap of eucalypts, and insects. The species is restricted to tall, mature eucalypt forests in temperate to sub-tropical regions of eastern Australia which receive high rainfall. The isolated northern Queensland population lives only in dense forests at high altitudes, where the temperatures are lower than average. The range of the species was recently extended into South Australia where an individual was captured in the Caroline Forest Reserve in April 1981. Prior to this capture, it was not thought to occur in South Australia.

yellow-bellied sunbird—Nectarinia jugularis, a bird with a long, slender, curved black bill, a call that is a high-pitched dzit-dzit hissing whistle. It is found in rainforest edges, mangroves and gardens, frequently building nests around human habitation, such as on the outside of lodge porches in the Daintree region. The yellow-bellied sunbird feeds on native ginger. Sunbirds are, for the most part, the African and Asian equivalent of the Australian honeyeaters and American hummingbird; this is the only species that has reached Australia. Also called olive-backed sunbird.

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