Displaced king parrots sick and starving

Image by Corey Leopold - Australian King Parrot (Alisterus scapularis)

The Australian wildlife rescue organisation, WIRES, says it is alarmed about increasing numbers of sick and dying king parrots being brought in for help.

The chairwoman of central northern New South Wales branch, Jae Price, says she and her staff are receiving at least one bird a day in the Tamworth area.

She says the king parrots are malnourished and very weak.

Ms Price says the cold snap has led to an increase in the felling of dead trees for firewood, eliminating the birds' nesting places.

"They're coming in extremely underweight," she said.

"If you could imagine that breastbone being sharp as a knife, this is how they're coming in.

"We're taking the wood off the side of the road ... we're taking it in the paddocks and because we're chopping these trees down we're forcing the king parrots to use the same nest site over and over and over again."

Ms Price says the re-use of a nest site predisposes the birds to disease.

"Birds usually have a number of nest sites but when the trees are removed other species of parrots are moving in as soon as the previous pair moves out," she said.

"There's not enough time for the bacteria in the nest site to dissipate and if you're got a parrot with some form of wasting disease it's only got to scratch itself and the disease is passed on to the next species."

Ms Price says if anyone finds a sick or malnourished king parrot it should be taken to the nearest vet immediately, who will assess the bird and contact WIRES.