Swift parrots were zinging around the treetops of the gums surrounding the Mt Nelson Oval, a location virtually guaranteed to see them after the migratory parrots have arrived from the mainland in spring.
I had struck lucky after failing to find them a few weeks earlier. Blue gums in the area were not in flower – as happens some years – and so I thought the “swifties” had given the location a miss this season.
But an American birder I chatted to at the Waterworks Reserve said he had seen them at the Mt Nelson location just that very day. I knew I was in luck as soon as I pulled into the oval’s dusty car park. A group of more American “twitchers” had arrived in a tour bus and were scanning the trees, and whooping with delight at seeing one of the rarest bird species in the world.
A small flock of about 10 birds were flying from tree to tree high above the car park, feeding on the flowers of black gum (Eucalyptus ovata), a substitute for the swift parrots’ favoured trees when they cannot find blue gums in bloom.
Amid their noisy chatter and rapid-fire “peep-peep-peep” call in flight, I could see the birds climbing the twigs and branches to reach the pollen and nectar-laden flowers, hanging upside down like trapeze artists.
I missed out on seeing swift parrots last year – again blue gums were not in flower where I usually find them – and I had forgotten just how beautiful these birds are.
Along with red on the face, the parrots also have crimson feathers under the wings, contrasting with their shimmering green plumage, the under-wing colour showing clearly when they bank and turn in the ultra-fast flight for which they are named.
Along with the orange-bellied parrot – another bird that breeds exclusively in Tasmania – the swifties are one of only three migratory parrots. They also share the distinction of being critically endangered.
Numbers of swift parrots are in freefall, with the population down to less than 500 birds, compared with surveys that recorded about 2000 just a few years ago.
The logging of the blue gums which provides both food and nesting hollows has been blamed for their demise in the past but recent research also reveals that a possibly bigger threat comes from predation in forests by introduced sugar gliders
There’s some irony in the fact that to find the parrots this year I had to rely on an American tourist, but it does demonstrate that these delightful birds have universal appeal. They are a magnet in a niche tourist market growing in size. But it’s a sobering thought that one of the reasons the parrots are such a national and international drawcard is they might not be around in coming years to tick off on a life list of birds spotted.