Look out for endangered ‘Swifties’

Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority project officer Janice Mentiplay-Smith said over the cooler months, swift parrots made the journey from their summer breeding grounds in southern Tasmania to the forests of Victoria’s Goulburn Broken catchment and beyond.

“Their timing is perfect, as the autumn- and winter-flowering eucalyptus produce their flowers full of nectar,” Ms Mentiplay-Smith said.

“Of the 800 to 900 or so species and subspecies of eucalyptus in Australia, the Goulburn Broken catchment has a mix of trees favoured by the ‘Swiftie’, including grey box, white box, red box, red stringy bark and yellow box.”

Swift parrots nest and breed in Tasmania during the summer. They require deep nesting hollows in large old trees, either in the trunk or in the end of a branch.

This habitat can take up to 150 years to develop, which is time the swift parrot does not have. Swift parrots prefer natural nesting sites over artificial ones.

“The swift parrot is one of Australia’s most beautiful parrots, but is on a trajectory to extinction if numbers continue to plummet,” Ms Mentiplay-Smith said.

Birdlife Australia coordinates swift parrot search events at Benalla Reef Hills, Boweya, Courtney Springs Reserve, Dookie, Euroa, Heathcote-Graytown, Heathcote-Costerfield, Mangalore Nature Conservation Reserve, Nagambie, Numurkah, Rushworth, Shepparton, Tooborac, Toolleen and Violet Town.

The Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority is celebrating birds and bats in 2024 with the ‘Year of the Wing’ community awareness campaign.

The next Birdlife searches will be held between July 13 and August 25. For more information, visit https://birdlife.org.au/events/swift-parrot-search/

Local birding group Murray Goulburn BirdLife meets monthly to conduct bird surveys and to enjoy the local environment. For more information, contact: robertsdon680@gmail.com or thebrowns1@bigpond.com