Latest release of endangered orange-bellied parrots boosts numbers in the wild
Monday, November 18, 2013 at 23:52
The population of one of the world's rarest birds, the orange-bellied parrot, has been artificially increased with the release of more captive birds into Tasmania's south-west wilderness.
The release of 24 birds at Melaleuca was prompted by a dramatic decline in the number of wild parrots migrating from South Australia and Victoria to Tasmania for the summer breeding season.
Captive management spokeswoman Jocelyn Hockey says the release doubles the numbers in the wild.
"There wasn't the minimum number that we would have liked to have seen down here [at Melaleuca]," she said.
"For the last two years we had decided that a minimum of 20 birds, so 10 breeding pairs, was what we wanted to see down here and unfortunately this year, it didn't quite make it."
Just 17 birds returned to the annual migration area at the Melaleuca outpost, down from about 50 last year.
The decline is worrying conservationists, but Peter Copley from the South Australian environment department is hopeful the release of the captive parrots will save the species in the wild.
Mr Copley said many of the issues that led to the significant drop in the wild population are easing on the Australian mainland.
"A large part of the issues in recent years was the millennium drought years when the quality of the habitat, quality of their food plants was so poor," Mr Copley said.
It is hoped predictions for wetter conditions will boost seed supplies in South Australia and Victoria where the birds spend winter.
The wild population of orange-bellied parrots has been boosted with the release of 24 captive birds at Melaleuca.Long road ahead
The captive parrots were chosen specifically for their potential to breed with and learn from wild birds.
The birds were flown to Melaleuca from breeding facilities at Taroona in Tasmania and Healesville Sanctuary in Victoria.
Even though the release more than doubles the current wild population, those involved with the recovery program accept there is an uphill battle to save the species from extinction.
"We had a group of seven down at the bird hide this morning and we saw one captive male in there. So one is good, one out of seven," Healesville Sanctuary spokeswoman Kristy Penrose said.
"To see them out there and interacting with the wild birds and coming and going from the release aviary and really finding their feet is very exciting for us."
It takes a lot of preparation and planning to get the captive birds ready for release.
The parrots were isolated from the almost 300 birds in the breeding program and checked for disease and fitness.
Ms Penrose says the birds were then put in larger aviaries.
"Then we spend a lot of time trying to build up their fitness, chasing them around the aviary, trying to keep them moving."
A release at Birchs Inlet on Tasmania's west coast two years ago was initially successful, but because there were no wild birds to teach captive birds how to migrate, the released parrots died.
The outpost at Melaleuca has now been chosen as a release location because it is the last known place where wild birds gather in flocks.
"The wild birds know the area, know how to behave as wild birds and can teach the captive birds how to forage, how to avoid predators and then make the migration back to the mainland," senior keeper Jocelyn Hockley said.
"What we're expecting to see is the wild birds go 'oh look a couple more have turned up. We're going to hang out with them and we're going to show them what to do.'"
Whether the latest release has been successful will not be known for 12 months.