Orange-bellied parrot population boost

The wild population of Orange-bellied parrots will be boosted over coming weeks with the release in to the wild of up to 13 birds from the captive-bred population.

The release of the captive-bred birds will occur after the completion of a number of steps at the wild breeding site in southern Tasmania and final health assessments of the captive bred birds.

Acting Environment Parks and Heritage Minister Jeremy Rockliff said he was pleased the release of the birds was going ahead.

“Departmental wildlife staff have been working closely with the expert group brought together by the Threatened Species Commissioner,” Mr Rockliff said.

Eight birds are available for release in early November, with a further five birds potentially available for release in a few weeks time.

Re-designed artificial nesting boxes, additional nest boxes on trees, a trial of nesting boxes on poles and preparation of supplementary feeding infrastructure have been installed at Melaleuca.

DPIPWE Section Head Rosemary Gales said the captive release birds would be taken to Melaleuca and released into an aviary on site to allow them to acclimatise to the area.

“After several days of conditioning, the aviary will then be opened to enable them to leave whenever they are ready.

“Supplementary food is provided to assist the birds adapting to the new environment and also to maximise breeding.”

Dr Gales said although release of captive birds had been undertaken previously, releasing birds into the wild did contain an element of risk.

“The release of captive bred birds will help increase the breeding number of birds in the wild and contribute to their overall survival which is why the working group has continued to identify captive bred releases as an important recovery action for the species.”

The number of wild birds returning to Melaleuca from the mainland has continued to increase with 21 birds sighted since mid-September, four more than at the same time last season.

“Last year a total of 35 wild, adult birds returned to Melaleuca at the start of the last season, including captive-bred birds that had been released the previous breeding season. That was 94 percent increase on the number of adult birds returning from the season before.”
Jeremy Rockliff, Acting Minister for Environment, Parks and Heritage,