Night, night to one poor Night Parrot
No Comments »18th February, 2007; Category: Birds in the News, Nocturnal birds, Parrots and Lorikeets
There has been an exciting discovery in far western Queenland. It has been reported in The Australian newspaper that a dead Night Parrot has been discovered.
The Australian has learned that National Parks and Wildlife Service officers have found a dead night parrot in the state’s far west, confirming the survival of Australia’s rarest bird.
In a discovery of international significance, the parrot was found in November in the Diamantina Lakes region after it flew into a barbed-wire fence. The Government has kept the find secret to avoid birdwatchers searching for night parrots while it does a survey to find more.
A road-killed night parrot found in 1990 near Boulia, in northwest Queensland, by Australian Museum scientists was the first confirmed record of the species since 1912.
Now the Night Parrot, a nocturnal species, is a rather rare bird. In fact, it has only been reliably sighted a handful of times in the last century. It is arguably Australia’s rarest bird – no – make that THE rarest Australian bird.
The Night Parrot Pezoporus occidentalis is one of Australia’s most intriguing birds and possibly its least known. It lives in remote parts of the continent, comes out at night and runs along the ground like a quail. Since its discovery by Europeans, the Night Parrot has been a subject of debate, particularly in regard to its abundance and natural history. Australian Museum online.
Related articles:
- Night Parrot – Australian Museum online article.
- Not an ex-parrot – article on Snail’s Eye View with several links to relevant sites.
- Bad news for one dead parrot, good news for species – this link is to the original article in The Australian newspaper.
An Amazing Tale of Two Cockies
Someone on the Birding-Aus forum sent a link to an amazing story about two Sulphur Crested Cockatoos in Queensland, Australia. This is a truly heart warming, romantic story with a miracle ending. The site has many photos so it may be a little slow loading, but it is well worth the wait.
Link:
Related articles:
Great Birding Moments # 20 Budgerigars
One of Australia’s most beautiful birds would have to be the tiny parrot called the Budgerigar. This species is popular the world over as a cage or aviary bird because they are endearing and easily kept pets as well as beautiful. In captivity there are many colour variations, but I love the natural colours. Why mess with perfection?
Over the years I have observed Budgerigars in the wild on only a handful of occasions, and only once in our garden. The most memorable occasion was during a holiday in Victoria. We were visiting a Nature Reserve south west of Mildura in the far north west of Victoria. We were slowly driving along the dirt track through the park looking for a shady tree for our lunch break. I had to stop the car because there were several hundred Budgerigars feeding on the grass on either side of the track. To see this wonderful bird in its natural environment is a special treat. I did not get a photo at the time, but more recently I took the photo below in the walk through aviary at Cleland Wildlife Park near Adelaide, South Australia.
Budgerigars, Cleland Wildlife Park
Related articles:
- Great Birding Moments – read more of my interesting birding experiences, with photos, in this series of articles.
Update: this photo above – and many other photos featured on this site – can now be purchased on a range of merchandise such as T-shirts, aprons, wall plaques, clocks and mugs. Go to my Trevor’s Photos site here.
Great Birding Moments # 19 King Parrot
I remember the first time I ever saw a King Parrot. It was back in the late 1970s on a holiday in NSW. We’d been several days in Sydney and we drove to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains. We were planning to take the children on the Scenic Railway which happens to be the world’s steepest incline railway and then cross the valley in the scenic skyway which takes you towards the famous landmark, the amazing rock formation called The Three Sisters.
We did all of those things and it was one of the highlights of our holiday. Unfortunately, we did not have a great view of the valley, the surrounding mountains or the Three Sisters due to thick fog for most of the morning. One thing did stand out in the fog, however. For the first time I saw an Australian King Parrot. As you can see from the photo the male is bright red and green. Viewing this species for the first time, from a few metres away, when everything around you is dull, foggy and damp is an amazing memory I have.
King Parrot at Adelaide Zoo
Related articles:
- Great Birding Moments – a list of the articles I have written in this series, with links.
Great Birding Moments #17 Musk Lorikeets
Musk Lorikeet
A few days ago I wrote about a recent visit to a private native garden at Cockatoo Valley, north of Adelaide in South Australia. While visiting that garden I photographed several Musk Lorikeets feeding in a eucalypt tree.
Musk Lorikeet
Lorikeets are not easy to photograph. They tend to feed in the thick foliage and rarely show themselves clearly. When they do show themselves, it is usually as a streak of green or red as they dart overhead, heading like arrows to the next tree for another feed.
The individual shown in the above photos was unusual; it stayed out in the open, within camera zoom range, and in focus for long enough for me to take about a dozen shots.
Sometimes you get lucky.
Related articles:
- Great Birding Moments #16 Cockatoo Valley – this article also shows photos of the garden and some of the flowers.
- Rainbow Lorikeets at Wittunga Botanic Gardens – this is one of Australia’s most colourful birds.
- Musk Lorikeets – another encounter with this species, this time in my daughter’s garden in Clare, South Australia.