Amby

History

Amby takes its name from the Amby Creek; Amby is possibly a word meaning "little girl" in Kogai dialect of Mandandanji language. The Amby Downs pastoral station is believed to have been established before 1860. The Western railway line was surveyed in 1879. The railway was not originally intended to pass through this area, but flooding resulted in a change of plans to put a long trestle bridge over Amby Creek. Amby railway station was built in 1884 and a goods yard established in 1885, with passenger services commencing in 1890. A postal receiving office opened at Amby around 1883, and became a post office around 1900; it continues to operate out of the Amby Store. Amby Provisional School opened on 26 February 1894 and became Amby State School in 1901. It closed on 19 September 1997. The school was in School Street (). It was built of timber and could seat 70 people. It has now closed but the building is still extant. It is on the northern corner of School Street and Queen Street ().

Geography

The town is roughly in the centre of the locality. Amby Creek flows through the location from north to south, passing immediately to the east of the town. Amby Creek is eventually a tributary of the Maranoa River. The Warrego Highway passes through the locality from east to west, passing through the main street of the town. The Western railway line also passes through the locality from east to west, with two railway stations in the locality: * Amby railway station, serving the town () * Bongo railway station, to the north-west of the town () The land use is predominantly grazing on native vegetation with some crop growing and quarrying. Amby is situated near lava flows from ancient volcanoes and local quarries extract basalt for use in road building, railway ballast, and a range of other construction uses.

Most-observed species

• Emu

  Dromaius novaehollandiae (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  23
• Cockatiel

  Nymphicus hollandicus (Kerr, 1792) · Aves
  14
• Pied Butcherbird

  Cracticus nigrogularis (Gould, 1837) · Aves
  14
• Australian Magpie

  Gymnorhina tibicen (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  14
• Torresian Crow

  Corvus orru Bonaparte, 1850 · Aves
  11
• Black Kite

  Milvus migrans (Boddaert, 1783) · Aves
  11
• Galah

  Eolophus roseicapilla (Vieillot, 1817) · Aves
  10
• Australian Raven

  Corvus coronoides Vigors & Horsfield, 1827 · Aves
  10