Out of the orange-bellied parrot breeding season in Tasmania, conservationists are working against time to discover where the critically endangered birds actually spend the winter months.
Volunteers are scouring coastal wetlands in Victoria and South Australia to identify areas used by the parrots so that, if necessary, these can be protected from development or degradation.
The program is being undertaken by Birdlife Australia, working with landholders and local councils to protect the sites which are vital to parrot survival, along with feeding grounds along their migration routes.
The orange-bellied parrot remains on the brink of extinction in the wild although a concerted effort in recent years to save it has met with a degree of success.
In 2016, only 17 of the parrots returned to breed in Tasmania. Last season 86 parrots came back, although this was five less than the year before.
The small parrot, a little larger than a budgie, is a striking species with an iridescent green and blue plumage and, as its name suggests, an orange patch on the stomach. Although with the blue-winged and swift parrots, it’s one of only three migratory parrots. The swift parrot, also breeding exclusively in Tasmania, is another that’s critically endangered.
The population of orange-bellied parrots has been boosted by captive-bred birds being introduced to their only known breeding site, at Melaleuca in Tasmania’s far south-west. These birds either pair with wild birds that have returned or follow migrating ones back to the mainland.
Ongoing research has revealed it is not enough to just release birds at Melaleuca in the hope they will follow their instincts to find the route over Bass Strait. It helps migrating birds if they are part of a small flock, birds that have made the crossing in the previous year leading the way.
It has also been established the parrots are exceedingly selective of their food source, foraging on saltmarsh, beach or dune plants.[3] The diet consists of seeds and berries of small coastal grasses and shrubs.
“Orange-bellied Parrots have been unable to adapt to urban environments,” says ecologist Ryan Kilgower. “While we do sometimes see them using agricultural land, they still have very specific habitat requirements.”
The first step is to identify habitat favoured by the parrots, often with parrots in place. This is often degraded but once identified the ecosystem can be restored.
For several years I joined the search for wintering parrots at one of the main sites used by them, the Werribee wetlands west of Melbourne. It was like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack, with just a few birds spread out across the coast of western Victoria and eastern South Australia. I drew a blank, of course, and finally made a decision to go to Melaleuca to see my first parrots because I feared for their survival. It was the year that only 17 birds returned.