Boorowa community flocking together

Superb Parrot. Images by Ron Knight.Many enthusiastic community members have attended information days at Boorowa about the Superb Parrot in the last few years to show their support for the conservation of this beautiful bird. 

The Superb Parrot is easy to identify and is a perfect threatened species for a community science monitoring program. The community, in partnership with the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage and the Australian National University will be collecting population and distribution information, contributing to its conservation and management in the Southwest Slopes Bioregion of New South Wales. 

The aim is to establish a community-based program to monitor the population of the Superb Parrot using a relatively simple survey method that can be used on private or public land and to encourage local people to become involved in this program, by monitoring Superb Parrots on their property, local town or favourite patch of bush. 

Increasing community interest in conserving the Superb Parrots and its habitats is also an important aim, particularly large old trees on farms and along regional roads.

Every spring, starting in 2013, local people are being asked to spend at least one morning a year between late September and late November counting Superb Parrots at sites of their choice, or sites that can be provided for them. Sites can be located on either private or public land.

Monitoring of the Superb Parrots is underway around the region. To allow results to be compared year after year and at different sites a simple method has been developed. It involves counting the number of birds seen over a one kilometre transect, over one hour, recording GPS location and other data such as weather and the time of day. Data will be collated by OEH. More information and copies of the survey sheets are available from Damon Oliver 02 6229 7112 or Heather McLeod 0459681018, who can also assist with your surveys. 

A small group of local people took advantage of a Superb Parrot monitoring training session on Saturday, September 28 run by Damon Oliver of NSW Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) in cooperation with Boorowa Community Landcare Group (BCLG). At the first site along the Boorowa River the group counted 10 parrots in one hour and saw a number of other birds including Brown Falcons, Brown Goshawks, Cuckoo Shrikes, Grass Parrots and a number of very noisy Reed Warbler in the reeds along the river.

At the second site along the Kenyu Travelling Stock Reserve, the group spotted six Superb Parrots parrots in the windy conditions and may have located a nest tree. 

There were also between 20 and 25 Superb Parrots feeding on the seeds of Elm trees along the main street of Boorowa.

If other people would like to do a trial run of the monitoring, please let Damon-  6229 7112  or Heather- 0459681018  know and they will try and organise another weekend morning, later in October, counting Superb Parrots.