DPIPWE officer Jocelyn Hockley looks after some 15-day-old orange-bellied parrots at Taroona. Picture: MATT THOMPSON WILD and captive populations of Tasmania’s most critically endangered bird are growing as wildlife authorities continue to work to save the orange-bellied parrot.
Another 17 clutches of chicks have been born through a government breeding program at Taroona, and eight of the chicks have now fledged.
They will be raised and released next summer as part of a soft-release program which is bearing solid early results.
Under the program, the birds are taken to Melaleuca, in the remote South-West, where they are housed in open-door aviaries to help the birds ease their way into the wild.
There is food in the aviaries which allows the birds to come and go before they are confident to join those on the outside.
“The captive birds will talk to the wild orange-bellied parrots and the slow but steady process begins,” DPIPWE orange-bellied parrot program manager Rosemary Gales said.
In November 2013, just 18 adult birds came back to Melaleuca after their annual migration to the mainland. Authorities say 35 birds have returned to their Tasmanian breeding ground this summer.
Twenty-seven more birds, four from the mainland and 23 from Taroona, were released into the wild in November. It is hoped they will migrate north in winter and also return to Tasmania next summer.
“The early signs are very encouraging,” Ms Gales said.