Night Parrot

The Night Parrot is one of Australia’s most enigmatic species. Following the discovery of a dead Night Parrot in western Queensland, more than a century since the species’ existence had last been proven, a small population of live Night Parrots was finally discovered in 2013. This lead to an intensive research effort that is still underway.

Research initially focused on how to find the birds, but has also included tagging and tracking of individual birds to understand habitat use, analysis of the threatening processes which dominate in the area where the birds occur, and the tagging and tracking of cats which are likely to be a key threat to the species. A key outcome of our research has been defining an effective survey protocol for the Night Parrot that uses automated recording units (ARUs) and automated signal recognition to both record and then extract the calls of Night Parrots.

This research has lead to the discovery of Night Parrots in several new locations, particularly in central northern Western Australia. Working in concert with Bush Heritage Australia who own and manage Pullen Pullen Reserve where the birds occur in western Queensland, the RARES team has also set about determining the key management activities that can improve the outlook for the Night Parrot. Our core focus now is understanding how these management activities can be applied within an adaptive management framework.

As well as work on Pullen Pullen, the RARES team is involved with numerous other stakeholders, primarily searching for Night Parrots. We have been and continue to work with Bush Heritage Australia, Australian Wildlife Conservancy, Commonwealth, Queensland and Western Australian government departments, and indigenous ranger groups.