Parakeet spotted on Mayor Island

Orange fronted kakarikiThe first orange fronted parakeet (kakariki) to fledge in the wild, north of the Cook Strait in about 130 years, was sighted on Mayor Island.

The parakeet is listed as critically threatened and has been extinct in the North Island since the late 1800s.

In late 2009, Tuhua Trust welcomed the opportunity to help their return to the North Island with the support and gifting by Ngai Tahu hapu, Ngai Tuahuriri.

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Plight of the orange-bellied parrot

With fewer than 50 individuals remaining in the wild, spotting this parrot is a rare treat, finds photographer Inger Vandyke.

An older parrot perches near a feeding table in Melaleuca, Tasmania, during light rain. Orange-bellied parrots are a critically engandered species, endemic to Australia and breed only in south-west Tasmania. Credit: Inger Vandyke  ONE A WINDSWEPT walking trail in Tasmaniaʼs south-west, I witnessed a tiny flash of sapphire, gold, green and orange flit across the path in front of me, the brief burst of colour conspicuous against a landscape of fatigue green.

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Don Merton, 1939 - 2011: internationally acclaimed conservation pioneer

Don and Fjordland Kakapo Richard Henry The Department of Conservation says New Zealand has lost an internationally acclaimed conservation pioneer with the death of Don Merton at the weekend.

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Cape Parrots falling out the skies in King William's Town

Over the last two weeks five dying Cape Parrots have been handed in to the SPCA King William's Town or directly to staff of the Cape Parrot Project.

SPCA workers say that they suspect that double the number of Cape Parrots are not being reported.

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Regret over gassed birds

Corella in Centennial Park, Sydney, AustraliaCITY of Bayswater Mayor Terry Kenyon has expressed his distaste for the recent gassing of corellas in Maylands.

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