Night Parrot

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know I arrive six pages too late, but.... night parrot rediscovered alive!!!!!! That's absolutely fantastic!!!!! I was hoping that some year this would happen, because this species live in an enormous extension of potentially undisturbed habitat barely populated by humans. It's really fantastic and I hope that some day, night parrots can also be part of captive breeding programs outside Australia (for example in Loro Park and other parrot specialized facilities).

Edit: well, after readin the other pages of the thread, I believe that the "true" rediscovery point is in page 5 (bird captured, filmed and released), so I only arrive 2 pages late hehe.
 
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Maybe someone will now rediscover the Paradise Parrakeet. Rather like the Night Parrot I can't quite see why a species like that should become extinct in the vast habitat available to it.
 
Pertinax said:
Maybe someone will now rediscover the Paradise Parrakeet. Rather like the Night Parrot I can't quite see why a species like that should become extinct in the vast habitat available to it.
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I wish that would be true pertinax, but the former range of Psephotus pulcherrimus is a lot more accessible than that of the Night Parrot. Next to that we know how to look for Paradise parrots (you visit the right type of termite mounds in the breeding season) and no one has found them till now. There have been conspiracy theories of a secret Australian breeding programme, but till now that one is more something that fits more in the books of Karl Shuker than in ones covering conservation biology.
 
Pertinax said:
Maybe someone will now rediscover the Paradise Parrakeet. Rather like the Night Parrot I can't quite see why a species like that should become extinct in the vast habitat available to it.
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Discussed previously in this same thread. Paradise parrots are completely different biologically to night parrots. Pezoporus occidentalis is a nomadic parrot living in the less human-populated big extension of Australia. Psephotus pulcherrimus was an specialist with a very restricted area and was once common (while night parrot never has been common). So rediscovery of night parrot was very expectable, while rediscovery of paradise parrot is extremely unlikely.

nanoboy said:
On a sidenote, have there been any recent sightings of the Paradise Parrot, or is it really extinct?
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TeaLovingDave said:
It was a common bird with a very restricted range which has been extensively searched since, so the fact none have been seen since September 1927 is certainly suggestive that it is indeed extinct.
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Kakapo said:
I hope that some day, night parrots can also be part of captive breeding programs outside Australia
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I too, hope that Australian authorities allow breeding programs for night, ground and orange-bellied parrots. And not just a limited breed-and-release program but a large program open to international institutions and private keepers. Small seed-eating parrots/parakeets generally thrive in aviculture, are very easy to breed and excellent to raise awareness. Breeding program could seriously help the species directly and indirectly.

About reasons of night parrot 'rarity' - night birds are simply overlooked without night searches by sound - example are small owls, nightjars and rails worldwide.
 
Kakapo, we agree except for one thing. We are not sure how common/uncommon the Night Parrot is. If it would be very rare it would be odd it has been found in so many different locations in a very short time-period. Being probably nomadic, nocturnal, inconspicuous and living in inhospitable areas might make it seem rarer than it is. My suspicion is that the more we get to know about the species, the more population populations will be found and that it might need some conservation support, but not in the same level as Orange-bellies.
 
Pertinax said:
Can anyone explain how/why the Paradise Parakeet is believed to have become extinct? Was it collection/human pressure or some other suspected cause?
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Over-trapping for the cage bird trade, in an already restricted distribution. Unless there is an unidentified disease factor.
 
FBBird said:
Over-trapping for the cage bird trade, in an already restricted distribution. Unless there is an unidentified disease factor.
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It might actually be a bit more complicated. Overgrazing by introduced cattle, the harvesting of termite mounds for making gravel and a changed fire-regime seem to have had quite some impact as well. There is speculation that the introduction of the prickly pear had also a negative impact on the population so most likely it were multiple factors that made the population crash.
 
Pertinax said:
Can anyone explain how/why the Paradise Parakeet is believed to have become extinct? Was it collection/human pressure or some other suspected cause?
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When I get home tomorrow I shall check my copy of the excellent Extinct Birds by Errol Fuller and summarise the contents as they pertain to the species :)
 
DDcorvus said:
It might actually be a bit more complicated. Overgrazing by introduced cattle, the harvesting of termite mounds for making gravel and a changed fire-regime seem to have had quite some impact as well. There is speculation that the introduction of the prickly pear had also a negative impact on the population so most likely it were multiple factors that made the population crash.
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Interesting that Hooded and Golden-shouldered, with similar habits, both managed to hang on.
 
FBBird said:
Interesting that Hooded and Golden-shouldered, with similar habits, both managed to hang on.
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Both living way more up north in an area that was and is a lot less densely populated. Less cattle, more difficult to harvest termite mounds and the area with still the largest percentage of Aborigines population which has helped in maintaining knowledge on how to manage the land. Next to this I suspect the prickley pear never managed to reach that far up north. Psephotus pulcherrimus was unlucky in having it's range in one the areas that got affected by the European colonisation early on.

For trapping purpose it would be more fair to compare the species with then rare species like the Neophema pulchella, which although having a different ecology has a range which was affected early on by Europeans arriving in Australia and being relatively rare.

For those who want to read more I would recommend Penny Olsen's book: Glimpses of Paradise.
 
Night parrot recording a coup for club

Busselton Naturalists Club joined the ranks of the privileged few this month after capturing audio of the elusive night parrot, understood to have been recorded just a handful of times.

The night parrot is one of the world’s most mysterious birds, long thought extinct until sightings a few years ago in Queensland.

A sound recording device was given to the Naturalists Club for its trip to the Pilbara by zoologist Greg Harewood, who said he expected “nothing at all” besides insect sounds to be captured.

“I was, of course, very exci-ted as their calls have been recorded, as far as I know, at only three other locations in WA to date,” Mr Harewood told the Times.

“Any new records of the species are of great benefit in assisting future research into the species as so little is known about their current distribution and habits.”

Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions research scientist Allan Burbidge helped analyse the bird’s call and said this particular recording was very significant as it captured the parrot in an area where the species was long thought to have disappeared.

“The night parrot is exceedingly difficult to detect because it spends the day sheltering in dense clumps of spinifex and only emerges at night to go foraging,” he said.

“This will assist in improving our understanding of habitat preferences, especially in relation to feeding habitat, which currently is virtually unknown.”

Naturalists club president Bernie Masters said the recording was the result of “pure luck”.

“I set up the device for two nights out near Newman, more so to just see how the recorder operated,” he said.

“It’s almost impossible to get footage or recordings of the bird, so it was very exciting.”

Mr Masters said the findings were an example of citizen science, which was a major support for researchers given the recent lack of funding.

“The public has the ability to make very real, very meaningful contributions to science, and this recording is a true testament to that,” he said.

Source: Night parrot
 
I read an article a few weeks ago about night parrots which implied that those studding them may have caused loss of nests.They have found a few nests and most of them failed after being found. Starting a captive breeding program by collecting and incubating a few eggs would not be difficult.
 
Just seen this news article - an independent panel of conservation scientists and ornithologists hired by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy to scrutinise night parrot records by John Young have determined that there is no reliable evidence that he found the species in either Kalamurina Wildlife Sanctuary in South Australia or Diamantina National Park in Queensland.

In Kalamurina, where a night parrot call was recorded and a feather discovered, it seems the call recording only contains the archive sounds being played back to attract the bird and the feather was entirely different to the one given to the South Australian Museum for safekeeping.

The majority of the panel also deemed the eggs of the night parrot photographed in Diamantina to be artificial.

The article is included below:
Experts slam dubious night parrot research after release of damning report
 
DesertRhino150 said:
Just seen this news article - an independent panel of conservation scientists and ornithologists hired by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy to scrutinise night parrot records by John Young have determined that there is no reliable evidence that he found the species in either Kalamurina Wildlife Sanctuary in South Australia or Diamantina National Park in Queensland.

In Kalamurina, where a night parrot call was recorded and a feather discovered, it seems the call recording only contains the archive sounds being played back to attract the bird and the feather was entirely different to the one given to the South Australian Museum for safekeeping.

The majority of the panel also deemed the eggs of the night parrot photographed in Diamantina to be artificial.

The article is included below:
Experts slam dubious night parrot research after release of damning report
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That said.... there were similar allegations that it was all a hoax in the aftermath of his initial sighting :p
 
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