A remarkable recovery effort for one of Australia’s most threatened birds continues to show strong numbers, with 86 orange-bellied parrots returning to their Tasmanian breeding grounds at Melaleuca this festive season.
The return marks the second highest number recorded since monitoring began, just shy of last year’s record of 91 birds.
Environment Minister Madeleine Ogilvie said the healthy numbers were encouraging for the critically endangered species.
“This year’s returns include 51 males and 35 females. There were 66 wild born, and 20 captive-bred birds were released as juveniles in previous seasons,” Ogilvie said.
“Another year of promising return numbers demonstrates the hard work of our dedicated volunteers and staff as part of the successful OBP Tasmanian Program.”
The first fledglings of the season have already started arriving at the Five Mile Beach Wildlife Facility, with plans to release some captive-born young at Melaleuca in late summer to further bolster wild numbers.
The state government has invested $2.5 million into developing the Five Mile Beach captive breeding facility, with an additional $1.3 million committed to tracking the parrots during their migration and upgrading existing facilities.
In a collaborative effort between Tasmania’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment and Zoos Victoria, 39 orange-bellied parrots were fitted with lightweight transmitters before their northern migration to mainland Australia.
The tracking project aims to better understand the movements of these rare birds, with findings expected to be published in a report due for release in the new year.
