They’ve been called the “Holy Grail” of Australian birders and I have to agree! I am dying to see a Night Parrot in the wild but this may be a far distant dream for now. The elusive bird has only been seen 3 times by expert researchers in the last 2 years and the exact location is top secret to protect the birds while researchers hunt for more. From the interview aired by ABC TV:
Ecologist Dr Steve Murphy is researching the night parrot population and said if more are found, the public would then have the opportunity to visit them.
“But without finding those other populations the risks are still really too great,” he said.
The newly designated Bush Reserve is somewhere west of Longreach. To put it into perspective, I have done a Google map showing the route from my home town of Brisbane to Longreach and circled the area which is “west of Longreach” so that’s a lot of area!
For now, we all have to be content with this footage (click on links below) of the diminutive Night Parrot. I can’t get over how small and fragile he looks! I am really glad they have those baits for feral cats as they could easily wipe out what’s left of the population. You can be sure that if birders are ever allowed to see the bird, I will be jumping in my car within minutes to take the drive out there!