This large Python inhabits plains and ranges across the northern half of Australia.

It has a small glossy black head and neck. Its snout is round and its lips lack the heat sensing pits present in most other pythons. The upper surface of the body and tail is light tan to brown with many darker crossbands. The eye has a vertical pupil. The average length of a Black Headed Python is 2.7 metres long.

This is a ground living python that shelters in cracks in the soil, burrows, fallen trees, termite mounds and caves. During cool weather the black head is pushed into morning sunlight which warms it rapidly. At night, this python hunts for ground living birds, mammals and reptiles, including other snakes. It lacks venom and kills its prey by crushing it in its body coils.

A female lays 5-9 eggs, coil round them and may warm them by shivering.