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The 'rule' Aussies must follow if they see one of world's rarest creatures
For the next three months, a lucky few will be rewarded with an extremely rare sight in two Australian states. One of the world's most threatened birds has migrated from Tasmania to Victoria and South Australia, but just 18 have been seen.
Orange-bellied parrots are remarkably hard to spot. But if you do see one, then there's a very important rule you'll be asked to follow — don't tell anyone where you saw it.
Ryan Kilgower, the orange-bellied parrot coordinator at BirdLife Australia, explained it's 'definitely frowned upon' to reveal the specific location on social media.
'It's OK to tell a friend, but we don't want the general public knowing,' he told Yahoo News.
Listed as critically endangered, any disturbance to the species could push it to the precipice of extinction in the wild. Habitat destruction and feral animals have historically been the species' greatest threats, and because so few remain, it has lost more than 60 percent of its genetic diversity over the last 200 years.
Looking to the future, there are concerns that the birds could be impacted by a controversial plan to build a $1.6 billion wind farm on Robbins Island, at Tasmania's northeastern tip. The remote island sits in the path of their migration route. Federal environment minister Murray Watt is expected to rule on the plan in August.
In the 1980s, there were likely several thousand orange-bellied parrots in the wild, but less than a decade ago, numbers dwindled to just 17 birds. Today, thanks to a captive breeding program, the population has bounced back slightly, and 172 birds left their homeland in Tasmania during their annual migration to the mainland in April.
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The species is known to congregate in a single location in Tasmania, but very little is known about where they congregate on the mainland before they fly home in September and October. And so BirdLife Australia is calling on anyone who's confident they've spotted one to confidentially report it on their website here.
'These birds return every year to the same places, and if we can locate new sites, we'll be able to better protect them,' Kilgower said. 'If they're only utilising a very small area, we'd be able to set traps for foxes and cats… or do restoration work.'
The only location that's been made public is the Western Treatment Plant, known locally as the Werribee sewage farm, where access is strictly controlled. Details of the other six locations are kept more general to keep the birds safe — South Australia, South-West Victoria, Bellarine Peninsula, Port Phillip, Western Port Bay/Bass Coast and South Gippsland.
While BirdLife Australia needs the public's help to locate the birds on the mainland, it's also important that it isn't flooded with reports of the wrong species. They are extremely hard to identify, and so it's issued some advice.
To begin with, they're only roughly the size of a budgie, and they blend in perfectly with the shrubby landscape they like to inhabit, making them hard to spot. You'll see them eating seeds close to the ground or flying between feeding sites.
What makes them hard to spot is that they appear 'virtually identical' to the more common blue-winged parrots, of which thousands remain, and are also quite similar to red-rock parrots and elegant parrots.
'Orange-bellied parrots look more like a tennis ball because they're super bright green, whereas the blue-winged parrot is more olive in colour,' Kilgower said. 'There are a few other key differences. The blue-winged parrot has a bit of yellow in its face, but the orange-bellied parrot is very green.'
But if you want to narrow down your chances of spotting one, BirdLife Australia advises to start looking in areas within a few kilometres of the ocean. They are known to enjoy coastal salt marshes around rivers, but there is still a lot to learn about how many other types of environments they can survive in.
Time of day is also an important factor. Most sightings occur between 8 and 10am or 1pm until sunset.
While seeing a little green parrot may not excite everyone, Kilgower has witnessed the excitement that observing one of these rare creatures can spark.
'There are so few left in the wild and it can be quite spectacular for people the first time they see one,' he said. 'It can be quite enjoyable to watch other people's faces, and how much they enjoy seeing them.'
Ryan Kilgower is funded by DEECA's Icon Species Program.
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