Austrelaps superbus
Silhouette: SeismicShrimp · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
The lowland copperhead or lowlands copperhead (Austrelaps superbus) is a venomous snake species in the family Elapidae, found in southeastern Australia, including Tasmania. It is commonly referred to as the copperhead, but is not closely related to the American copperhead, Agkistrodon contortrix. If provoked, the lowland copperhead is a dangerous snake with neurotoxic venom, which can kill an adult human if correct first aid is not applied promptly.
The lowland copperhead is generally 1-1.5 m (3–5 feet) long. Their colour varies a great deal, from a coppery mid-brown to yellowish, reddish, grey or black. The copper head colouring that gave rise to the common name is not always present. Its venom has been measured at 0.5 mg/kg subcutaneous.
It is found in southeastern Australia, including Tasmania. A. superbus has a preference for areas of low vegetation near water bodies where it hunts for frogs, lizards and snakes, including smaller specimens of its own species. It has been found in sandstone ridgetop woodland in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, where it is becoming rare, due to increasing fires and the spread of urban settlements...
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wilsons Promontory National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Phillip Island Nature Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Great Otway National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 4 | Grampians National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Melbourne | 🇦🇺 Australia |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary | 🇦🇺 Australia |
No species of the same family or order lives in Phillip Island Nature Park, so these are its closest relatives here: other reptiles.
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Lowlands Copperhead sighting in Phillip Island Nature Park on a given day, based on 77 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the most-seen of the 6 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February–March and October
In those months about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Lowlands Copperhead in Phillip Island Nature Park on a given day, against under 5% in July, the lowest month.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Lowlands Copperhead sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Lowlands Copperhead sightings, Phillip Island Nature Park ranks 2nd at about 40%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Wilsons Promontory National Park (Australia, about 40%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Lowlands Copperhead is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Phillip Island Nature Park (77 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
