Rare parrots found on Peninsula

THREE of one of Australia's rarest birds have been spotted on the Bellarine Peninsula during a national survey.

The stunning plumage of an orange-bellied parrot (Neophema chrysogaster) is illuminated during a brief glimpse of sun. With fewer than 50 individuals remaining, this is Australia's rarest parrot. Photo Credit: Inger VandykLess than 50 orange-bellied parrots are estimated to remain in Australia, and a survey conducted throughout the country last weekend uncovered three sightings of the birds on an island in Swan Bay, off Queenscliff.

The survey, conducted mostly by volunteers, has so far found six of the parrots in total, with three spotted in Werribee, according to the Orange-bellied Parrot National Recovery Team.

Department of Sustainability and Environment biodiversity officer Rachel Pritchard said the team was heartened to have found such a significant proportion of the population in Victoria.

"Finding more than 10 per cent of the remaining orange-bellied parrots on this survey has taken a big effort from a lot of volunteers, and has provided us with valuable information for the ongoing effort to save this beautiful bird from extinction," Ms Pritchard said.

"The birds that were spotted have been provided with special supplementary food to help them through the winter. We hope this will help them make it back to Tasmania for a good breeding season in the summer ahead."

Ms Pritchard said monitoring had so far taken place along about 1200km of coastline in South Australia and Victoria.

"Dozens of volunteers spent a cold and wet weekend searching islands, salt marshes, sewerage farms, paddocks and golf courses, all places the bird has been seen before," she said.

The orange-bellied parrot shot to fame in 2006 when the Howard Government unsuccessfully tried to block the Bald Hills wind farm proposal in Gippsland, citing the bird's protection.

There was outrage when it later emerged that few of the birds had actually been recorded at the site.