They’re shy, secretive, seductive, endangered and very well camouflaged. That is the picture painted by Brenda Newby of the Western Ground Parrot. Numbers of this little, largely mottled green and yellow, ground parrot are estimated at around a mere 140 at present and being endemic to WA’s south eastern coast line (it has close relatives in the Eastern States), little wonder there is such interest in studying closely the habits and needs of these birds. With numbers fluctuating alarmingly due to the ravages of fire, cats, floods and extensions of farming etc, the Friends of the WGP was formed to get a clear picture of the habitats, food requirement and breeding habits of these birds and thus enable measures to protect them to be undertaken.

The heathland of Fitzgerald National Park is ideal country for the Ground Parrot – low scrub and grasses which provide good cover for feeding and nesting, the latter not having been recorded since Lawson Whitlock made such a discovery way back in 1913. The burnt area of Cape Arid revealed little mounds with little hollows atop which could well be old nest sites, normally well hidden under the likes of tussocky grasses and low bushes. Brenda and her team have discovered that the brooding female parrot and her mate meet away from the nest, the male regurgitating food for the hen bird and the two then going in opposite directions and not directly back to the nest! How smart is that! If disturbed, these parrots burst from cover, fly low and rapidly for 20-30 m, and then vanish into the heath. One may hear their thin, sweet notes around dawn and dusk and it was these calls whilst Brenda’s team were looking for a dropped chocolate that confirmed that the parrots do indeed over-winter in the area and are not just transients

The future for these endangered little parrots looks positive with numbers overall being maintained and a captive breeding programme of mist-netted pairs in place, somewhere along the south coast. This is happening in close cooperation with DEC although to date, no eggs have arrived. Maybe if the Friends of the WGPs could interpret their quaint “morse code calls” much more could be learnt about their secretive lives. Thank you Brenda for a fascinating talk.

Kevn Griffiths