Bilby Facts

Bilby Facts

1. The Bilby is the largest member of the family of marsupials called bandicoots.

2. They have large ears, a silky light grey and white coat, and a long, black and white crested tail. Bilbies have a long pointed snout and a well-developed sense of  smell to help them find food.

3. Bilbies are omnivores and eat insects, seeds, bulbs, fruit and fungi. Most food is found by digging in the soil. Big ears quickly detect insect prey, which they catch with their long tongue. Bilbies do not need to drink water , as they get all the moisture they need from their food.

4. Bilbies have very powerful forelimbs and strong claws, which are used for digging for food and burrows. If an attempt is made to dig a Bilby out of its burrow, the Bilby frantically extends the burrow in the other direction to avoid capture.

5. The bilby is a marsupial mammal which belongs to the bandicoot family and is about the size of a rabbit.

6. The famous large ears of the bilby are hairless and help them listen for predators.

7. An adult male Bilby can weight up to 2.5kg, with body length up to 55cm plus a tail of up to 29cm.  Females are about half the size of males. 

8. The large ears of the Bilby are almost hairless.  As well as providing great hearing, they are also believed to help the Bilby regulate its temperature.  Bilby ears are extremely manoeuvrable and can be rotated, held flat against the body, stuck out perpendicular from the body, and even folded in half.

9. The long snout, which is pink and hairless at the tip, gives the Bilby an excellent sense of smell.  Many long, dark whiskers protrude from either side of the snout.  The Bilby's tongue is long and slender.  Bilbies have 48 teeth, 26 upper and 22 lower.  

10. The upper teeth consist of 5 incisors, 1 canine, 3 premolars and 4 molars on each side.  The lower teeth consist of 3 incisors, 1 canine, 3 premolars and 4 molars on each side. 

11. Bilbies have poor vision and rely on their strong senses of hearing and smell.  Their eyes are black, up to approximately 1cm in diameter, and surrounded by fine black eyelashes. 

12. Strong forelimbs with long claws make the Bilby a brilliant burrower - they have 5 front digits, the middle 3 being longer with strong curved claws.  Their hind limbs are long and slender with a large “middle toe”, similar to a kangaroo. 

13. Bilbies live in spiralling burrows which they dig up to 2 metres deep.  A Bilby may have up to a dozen burrows. 

14. The pouch of the female Bilby opens backwards so as not to be filled with dirt while digging.  It contains eight nipples arranged in two facing crescents. 

15. Bilbies are truly nocturnal. They don't emerge from their burrows until at least an hour after dusk, and retreat at least an hour before dawn. 

16. The tail of the Bilby is the same blue-grey colour as the majority of the body along the first few centimetres and is then black for about half the remaining length and finally white.  These three coloured sections of the tail are very distinct.  The tail has a naked spur-like tip which is generally hidden from view beneath the fur. 

17. The Bilby has a cantering gait, with the hind limbs moving together and the fore limbs moving alternatively when travelling slowing and together when moving more rapidly.

18. The tail is often carried upright like a banner. 

19. Bilbies are omnivorous. They eat such things as seeds, spiders, insects and their larvae, bulbs, fruit, fungi and small animals.

20. Bilbies are mostly solitary, but sometimes live in small groups of up to four. 

21. Bilbies breed throughout the year depending on rainfall and food availability. 

22. The gestation period of the Bilby, at 14 days, is one of the shortest of all mammals.  

23. When conditions are favourable female Bilbies can produce four litters of up to three Bilbies each every year. 

24. Young Bilbies are carried in the pouch for approximately 75 days and become independent within about two weeks of leaving the pouch.

25. Presently Bilbies can be found in a small area in south-west Queensland and in isolated colonies spread across parts of Western Australia and the Northern Territory. 

26. The bilby’s predators include goannas, cats, foxes, dingoes, snakes, large birds and large night birds of prey.

27. Because bilbies sift through dirt to find seeds, fruits and bulbs to eat, they digest a lot of soil. In fact, 20-90% of their waste is made up of dirt!