A grey kangaroo is larger, heavier through the shoulders and hips, and holds its head high with small ears set wide apart; a wallaby is smaller, sits hunched with its head lower than its shoulders, and usually shows a longer, narrower face. On a trail the quickest check is posture and proportion rather than colour, because both animals are grey-brown in dull light. If the animal stands tall and moves in long, level bounds across open ground, it is a kangaroo; if it slips away in short, darting hops with the body angled forward, it is a wallaby.

How can I tell a grey kangaroo from a wallaby on a trail?

Size is the first cue, but it is unreliable at distance and useless with young animals. Eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus) and the smaller swamp wallaby (Wallabia bicolor) overlap in the scrubby edges where trails often run, and a juvenile kangaroo can be smaller than a large male wallaby. Watch the shoulders instead. A kangaroo carries its weight forward and up, with forelimbs held close and elbows tucked; a wallaby carries its weight low, often with the forelimbs hanging loose and the back rounded.

Habitat separates them further. Grey kangaroos prefer open forest, grassland and the ecotone where pasture meets timber, and they graze in the open at dawn and dusk. Wallabies, including swamp wallabies and red-necked wallabies, use denser understorey, fern gullies and bracken, and they browse more than they graze. A shape feeding at the edge of a clearing in full view is more likely a kangaroo; a shape disappearing into a thicket within a few metres of the track is more likely a wallaby.

Gait is the third cue. Kangaroos accelerate into a bound that stays low and fast, and the tail acts as a counterbalance rather than a prop. Wallabies hop with a more upright, almost rocking rhythm, and they turn sharply into cover rather than running straight. If you are unsure, do not approach to settle the question. Retreat a few steps, stay quiet, and let the animal move; the way it leaves identifies it more reliably than any feature you can see while it is still.

Visitors who want the differences demonstrated at close range, with keepers explaining the anatomy and the local species, can compare notes on the kangaroo wallaby differences covered in park talks before walking the coastal tracks. The same distinctions hold in the field, but they are easier to see when an animal is stationary and a handler is pointing at the shoulder line.

How do I recognise wombat burrows, droppings and koala signs?

Wombat sign is mostly ground disturbance. A bare-nosed wombat (Vombatus ursinus) digs a burrow with an entrance that is wider than it is tall, often with a smoothed lip where the animal has pushed through, and a fan of excavated soil spreading out from the mouth. Look for worn pads on either side of the opening and scratch marks on roots or rocks at the threshold. Burrows cluster in well-drained slopes near creeks and gullies, and a single animal may use several.

Droppings are the easiest confirmation. Wombat scats are squarish, blocky and deposited in loose piles on logs, rocks and trail edges, often on raised ground rather than in the open. They are dry, fibrous and roughly the size of a small cube. Koala scats are different: short, cylindrical, dark and often clustered at the base of a preferred tree, with a scent of eucalyptus when fresh. Both animals use latrine sites, so a repeated pile in the same spot is a strong signal.

Koala sign is harder to read from the ground. Look for scratch marks on smooth-barked trunks, particularly on white gums and grey gums, and for a distinct midden of scats at the base of a tree that is being used regularly. Koalas rest high in the canopy, often in a fork, and they are easy to miss because they sit still for long periods. A fresh scat under a tree with clawed bark is better evidence than a shape in the leaves. Listen as well: a male koala produces a low, grating bellow, sometimes described as a snore mixed with a grunt, and it carries further than most people expect.

Which calls and colours identify kookaburras, rosellas and black cockatoos?

The laughing kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae) is the largest kingfisher in the region and the least ambiguous. Its call is a loud, cackling laugh that starts with a chuckle and builds into a chorus, often at dawn and dusk and often from several birds at once. The bird itself is stocky, pale below with brown barring on the wings, a heavy dark eye stripe and a large, straight bill. It hunts from a low perch and takes small reptiles, insects and even snakes, so a bird sitting still on a fence line or dead branch is worth watching.

Rosellas are smaller, brightly coloured parrots with a distinctive pale cheek patch. The eastern rosella (Platycercus eximius) shows a red head and breast, white cheeks, yellow-green underparts and a blue shoulder and tail, and it feeds on the ground as well as in the canopy. The crimson rosella (Platycercus elegans) is deep crimson with blue cheeks and wings, and it is more often heard in wet forest and along creeks. Both give a sharp, metallic two or three note whistle, often repeated, and both fly with a fast, undulating pattern that separates them from the slower, heavier flight of cockatoos.

Black cockatoos are the loudest and the most distinctive in silhouette. The yellow-tailed black cockatoo (Zanda funerea) is large and dark with a yellow cheek patch and yellow panels in the tail, and its call is a drawn-out, wailing cry that rises and falls, often given in flight. The glossy black cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus lathami) is smaller and browner in the female, with red or orange tail panels in the male, and it is tied closely to she-oak stands where it feeds on cones. Listen for the wail before you look, then check the tail colour and the wing shape: black cockatoos flap slowly and deeply, while rosellas flick and dip.

What should I carry, and what should I avoid?

Binoculars and a phone with a recording app do more for identification than any field guide used at the wrong moment. Record the call, note the time and the habitat, and check the recording later against a reference. Keep a simple log of location, weather and behaviour; patterns emerge over weeks, and a single sighting is weak evidence.

Avoid feeding wildlife, and avoid approaching an animal that is resting, feeding or carrying young. In New South Wales, injured native animals should be reported to a licensed wildlife rehabilitation organisation or to the relevant state authority rather than handled by untrained members of the public. Keep dogs on a lead on bush tracks, both for the wildlife and for the dog. If you find an animal that appears sick or injured, note the location, keep your distance and call for advice rather than attempting to move it.

Why the coastal edge is the best place to learn these signs

The South Coast of New South Wales puts several habitats within a short walk: open forest and pasture for kangaroos, dense gullies for wallabies, well-drained slopes for wombats, and tall eucalypt stands for koalas. The same strip of coast holds kookaburras on fence posts, rosellas on seed heads and black cockatoos moving between feeding trees. Learning the signs in one place, repeatedly, is more useful than collecting sightings across a wide area.

Start with the animals you can confirm. A kangaroo seen clearly at distance teaches you the shoulder line; a wombat burrow with fresh scats teaches you the entrance shape; a kookaburra call recorded once teaches you the rhythm. Build from there, and treat every uncertain sighting as an open question rather than a tick on a list.