Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service (PWS) Northern Fire Crew was undertaking routine field work in Narawntapu National Park when PWS Fire Fighter Robin Meyers noticed a feather which seemed out of place for the bird species typically known in this area.
PWS Acting Fire Operations Officer Aidan Munro said upon closer inspection the striking yellow banding piqued further curiosity.
Ground parrot potential habitat
“The yellow banding is a characteristic feature of the eastern ground parrot’s long tail feathers. Eastern ground parrots have not been known in the northern coastal heath complexes of Tasmania for decades,” he said.
“With a distinctive mottled grassy green plumage and a long tail this cryptic, primarily ground dwelling parrot in Tasmania, calls the buttongrass moorland of the south and southwest home.”
Mainland populations of this species are confined to fragmented populations and pockets of coastal and sub-coastal heathland. Listed as vulnerable in Queensland and New South Wales and endangered in Victoria and South Australia, their stronghold is in southwestern Tasmania.
Setting up sound recording devices
The finding was put forward to the NRE Tas Natural Values Science Services team for advice, where the curiosity and likelihood of an eastern ground parrot presence was flagged for further investigation.
Around the same time, PWS Advanced Fire Fighter Jason Moore from the Northern Fire Crew began planning a strategic prescribed burn within the Narawntapu NP. In the planning process the finding of a cryptic and then unfounded record of the ground parrot’s presence, initiated the requirement for specialist advice and subsequent monitoring.
In collaboration with the NRE Tas Environments’ Conservation Science Section, PWS Northern Region Fire Management and the Mersey Field Centre, the Northern Fire Crew installed an array of sound recording devices targeting preferred habitat within and around the prescribed burn area. NRE Tas Environment Wildlife Biologist Jarrah Dale said the sound recording devices spent two months in coastal heath and the crews’ efforts were rewarded with a positive identification of eastern ground parrot calls.
“All acoustic files were compiled and analysed with the cluster analysis function in Kaleidoscope Pro. Using known intervals and frequencies of ground parrot calls developed in previous NRE Tas work on the ground parrot at Melaleuca it was possible to quickly filter through the hours of data collected by the sound recording devices,” he said.
“Three individual calls were recorded, seemingly of birds in flight around 6 pm, probably travelling from roost to a foraging area."
Acoustic files were compiled and analysed with the cluster analysis function in Kaleidoscope Pro
“Interestingly the calls differed slightly from those of the more intensively studied Melaleuca populations, which may indicate some evolution of dialect in the species. Further studies in the north of their range are currently being planned in the hope of providing more information on this population’s habits.”
Citizen science is an important element of research in Tasmania and with summertime and tourist season fast approaching, you are asked to please enter any sightings into the Natural Values Atlas to help us add to the growing records of parrots in Narawntapu National Park. The park has 5 known species of parrot, and staff are hopeful this initiative will increase this dataset and broaden understanding of how ground parrots (and their kin!) use the park.
Further sound recording devices are also being installed to continue monitoring efforts and will underpin ongoing management. The eastern ground parrot is a cryptic species, and this finding expands the known range of the species in Tasmania. It is also an excellent example of the positive outcomes that can be achieved through collaboration between the PWS Planned Burn and our Conservation Science programs.
Sound recording device being installed on location