New population discovered in Queensland ! : Largest-known night parrot population found in Queensland
Another article about the newly discovered population : http://www.parrotsdailynews.com/new...ght-parrot-was-found-in-queensland-australia/
that second article is terribly-written, but this is great news indeed! From possibly extinct to this in just a few years.
Drinking behaviour of the Night parrot : http://phys.org/news/2016-12-arid-zone-dwelling-night-parrot.html
the recordings of night parrot calls have finally been released a few days ago, and about time! The calls were always going to be the key to determining where and how many night parrots there are so conservation measures can be properly implemented. There's a blog article here concerning the release, as well as some other information and links. sunshinecoastbirds: Night Parrot: Longer Between Drinks Than We Thought
If you count the birds of the known populations it is critically endangered, but taking into account we know very little about the species and most of what we know has been discouvered the last couple of years, it could in theory be a very common bird. Most likely situation is though that the species is under threat but that it is more common than claimed now. This as stating that the species is very rare, does serve some other purposes making it easier to collect more information about it.
a new site has been found: sunshinecoastbirds: Night Parrot Discovered in Goneaway National Park, Queensland
Will be interesting how many sites with night parrots are going to show up the coming years. With earlier sightings in Western Australia it might be actually quite a big range.
And as predicted, these guys found and photographed (in the day!!) Night Parrots in Western Australia. Ok, I can't post a screenshot from my phone (extension unacceptable), but here is the text from the Australian Twitchers Facebook Group this morning, posted by Nigel Hackett: "NIGHT PARROTS in WA! Bruce Greatwich, George Swann, Adrian Boyle and I have returned to Broome following one of our most ambitious twitches, and in doing so confirmed that Night Parrots persist in WA (at least 2000km from the nearest known Qld populations). The parrots were heard at night while listening for their calls, some of which we’ve found to be distinct from the calls released from Qld (i.e. a drawn-out hollow whistle, often followed in response by a rapid ‘didit’ was frequently heard). This stunning individual was later photographed while birding the area one morning, with Bruce taking honours for the best flight shots. The parrots were located near a salt lake in the interior of WA, but at this stage cannot be revealed any further."
Oh, looks like there is a news article as well: Night parrot sighting in Western Australia shocks birdwatching world - RN - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
I was just coming on to post that exact story. It is funny it came out literally the day after DDCorvus made his comment above about Western Australia! And the photo is great. There's a short video in the news article in nanoboy's post above mine (for the Queensland birds, not the WA birds, but it includes a bit of the video footage if anyone hasn't seen that or wants to see it again).
with the recordings released it was something we were waiting for to happen and the more we will learn about the ecology of the night parrot the easier it will be to spot. I suspect it might not be so rare in the end at all. When reading the books of Stan Sindel he not only covers his avicultural experience but as well some of his birding adventures. In his book on Neophema he indicated that it took him 25 years to see a Bourke's Parrot in the wild and that is a quite common bird, whose ecology is well known.
I am not really surprised by this (good) news. I could never figure out why a species like this was believed extinct,or bordering on extinction, and given the vastness of suitable habitat for it in a country like Australia, why it should become extinct. Predation by introduced Foxes and/or Feral cats- were those the reasons thought responsible? - and even then I would have found it hard to believe they had decimated them so completely that none remained.
Given the behaviour of many other desert birds it would not surprise me if they were highly nomadic in search of suitable breeding territory. I suspect a major threat would be changes in fire management policy and grazing pressure - that is what has had a disastrous impact on Gouldian Finch which has a somewhat similar range.
And a night parrot call has been detected in Southern Northern Territory. Like stated before I suspect we will get more of these kind of stories the coming years. Night Parrot 'Probable' night parrot found in Central Australia thanks to audio recordings
I assume we will see more reports and a much wider distribution and dispersal pattern for night parrots in Australia's interior outback.
And like predicted another location found for the Night Parrot. A feather found near Lake Eyre in South Australia: http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/techn...e/news-story/9c2c54bde6033a3f6971c5673204d661
