Main Club June 2017
Allan Burbidge talked to us about two critically endangered, ground-dwelling parrots: the Western Ground Parrot and the Night Parrot. Allan is a Principal Research Scientist with the Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) and over the last 30 years has carried out biological surveys and studied the biology and ecology of birds and the management of threatened species. Allan’s family joined the Murray Bridge Naturalists’ Club in SA when he was a boy, and he has been a member of the WA Naturalists’ Club for 40 years.
Allan showed us a DNA-based phylogeny of parrots, showing that Western Ground Parrots and Night Parrots are closely related, and that Elegant Parrots and Rock Parrots are the next closest relatives.
The first observation of the Western Ground Parrot was made in the 1840s, and there have been sporadic observations since, some of them unconfirmed. In the 1960s, Ongerup farmers Ken and Brenda Newbey and other local naturalists observed these birds, and this helped them to recognize the value of what is now the northern part of the Fitzgerald River National Park. The species has now disappeared from most parts of the south coast (none in the Fitzgerald River NP since 2012), and is now only known from Cape Arid NP and east of that in Nuytsland Nature Reserve. Allan played us some calls, and said that some of their ‘languages’ have died out as local populations have become extinct. They call for up to an hour, starting about 15 minutes after sunset, and for a similar period before sunrise. Population estimates are determined by the number of calls recorded. Unfortunately, from 1990 to 2009 the estimated population has declined from around 375 to between 110 and 150 birds.
The Night Parrot has a much wider distribution, reaching from the Pilbara across parts of the Northern Territory and Queensland (and formerly in South Australia), either in a continuous distribution or in isolated populations. The type specimen was described from a specimen collected by the Austin Expedition in WA in the 1800s. Mike Bamford’s staff observed the species in 2005 near the Fortescue Marshes near Newman, and consequently with expansion of FMG mining, conditions were set that included mapping the distribution of the Night Parrot, and FMG provided money for research. In 2009, Neil Hamilton found Night Parrots at Lorna Glen, east of Wiluna. Then in 2013, John Young took pictures of the birds, and was able to locate the same birds later. Following the recent photograph of a Night Parrot in WA, DPaW now has guidelines for environmental consultants, and can recommend conserving habitat for the Night Parrot. Following sightings of the Night Parrot in central Queensland, reserves—some with restricted access—were created at Pullen Pullen and surrounding country. Calls were recorded month by month, showing that populations were persisting in the area, even in areas grazed by cattle.
Big, old Spinifex (or similar) clumps are necessary for Night Parrot nesting. This includes Triodia longiceps, which forms very large rings if not burnt for 60 years. This tends to occur where natural firebreaks are present, such as alluvial flats and Chenopod systems around lakes. The parrots make tunnels into the Spinifex clumps.
GPS tracking has revealed some data on Night Parrot movements. They were found to fly 20 to 40 km in a night, foraging within roughly a 10 km radius, and over a week they covered 3,000ha. One bird flew to water at least once, in the middle of the night. Recording apparatus has found that they start calling soon after sunset for an hour, and then more during the night.
At Matuwa Reserve (Lorna Glen), a strategy for research and management of Night Parrots has been set up, including fire management and baiting for cats and foxes. There is a resident caretaker and there are visits by researchers to determine the needs of the parrots. The reserve includes some very old Spinifex (Triodia sp) that has not been burnt for over 50 years.
Threats to the ground-dwelling parrots include cats and other feral animals, wildfires that cover large areas, grazing animals including rabbits, a warming and drying climate and certain mining projects. Controlling cats with Eradicat baits in Cape Arid NP resulted in a dramatic increase in small mammals, so is likely to be beneficial to the parrots also. Allan pointed out that management of threatened species raises some dilemmas. Baiting for foxes may increase the population of cats and do more harm than good. Translocation has the advantage of ‘putting your eggs in different baskets’, but if the source population is small, you are making it even smaller when you translocate some of them. Allan sees the need for a good debate on that subject. There is a current focus on developing a captive breeding program, while planning for release areas.
The audience on the night, augmented by a number of keen bird-watchers, was very appreciative of Allan’s talk. Allan pointed out that most sightings of these ground-dwelling parrots have been by amateurs rather than professional scientists.
Mike Gregson