The Swift Parrot Recovery Project has received Tasmanian Government funding of $250,000 per annum over four years from 2021 to 2025 to support conservation and recovery of the swift parrot. The project has been progressing priority initiatives to secure the species’ future.
The Project builds on existing recovery activities identified in the
National Recovery Plan for the Swift Parrot, and coordinates and enables new initiatives in partnership with key national and Tasmanian agencies and industry.
The following activities are current focus areas for the Project:
Illustration: NRE Tas.
Monitoring
Population and occupancy trends
The life-history characteristics and mobility of the swift parrot means population monitoring is very challenging. Consequently, estimates of the population size and the species trajectory have been largely ad hoc and associated with significant uncertainty.
Without good information on species population status and trends, it is not possible to meaningfully evaluate the need for and effectiveness of conservation actions. That is why the Tasmanian Government commissioned the Landscape Recovery Foundation (LRF) to prepare a Trend Report (Swift Parrot Population Analysis and Trends 2009 – 2022) to analyse 14 years of swift parrot monitoring data collected using a systematic and consistent approach.
The Trend Report provides the first robust, long-term estimate of the species’ population trend and habitat occupancy and enables us to recognise positive responses to conservation efforts by tracking the species population trend over time. This improves our ability to identify and prioritise landscape-scale conservation planning and action.
The Trend Report confirms the species decline (figure 1) and the ongoing need for effective recovery effort, however the results suggest a less precipitous rate of decline than predicted in the 2022 Population Viability Analysis.
Swift Parrot monitoring and trend analysis 2009-2022 (PDF 9Mb)
Breeding season monitoring
The Landscape Recovery Foundation continues to monitor swift parrots in Tasmania, funded in part by the Tasmanian Government from 2023 to 2025.
The 2023/24 breeding season
The data presented in the Annual Report for the 2023-24 breeding season is cause for cautious optimism (figure 1), with a slight uptick in total abundance at the monitoring sites. However, additional years of data are needed to provide confidence in any trend.

Figure 1: Summed abundance of the maximum count of swift parrots across all monitoring sites – 95% confidence limits shown in grey (extracted from Webb, M. (2004) Swift parrot monitoring data analysis for 2023/24 breeding season.
Report by Landscape Recovery Foundation for the Environment Strategic Business Unit, Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania).
Population monitoring during the 2023-24 breeding season suggests that the majority of the swift parrot population settled in southern Tasmania, primarily between Southport Lagoon, Huonville, and the Lonnavale region, as well as on Bruny Island. Notable aggregations of swift parrots were also recorded on Maria Island and in the Eastern Tiers.
Monitoring during December and January indicated swift parrots abandoned some areas occupied earlier in the breeding season due to a lack of flowering.
Several observations of flocks of up to 50 swift parrots comprised of adults and fledglings between Dover and Southport in the far south of the state provided encouraging signs for the overall breeding success of the population during the 2023/24 season.
Swift Parrot early regional flowering report November 2023 (PDF 693Kb)
Swift Parrot population monitoring update December 2023 (PDF 654Kb)
Swift Parrot end of breeding season report February 2024 (PDF 518Kb)
Swift Parrot population monitoring 2023-24 Annual Report (PDF 1Mb)
The 2024/25 breeding season
During the 2024/25 breeding season, flower bud surveys have shown that the most abundant flowering has occurred in Eucalyptus ovata and E. brookeriana, with flowering E. globulus remaining patchy and / or light. This represents potential foraging habitat and has been observed in the east to southeast (e.g. from the Eastern Tiers and Woodsdale, and Maria Island south to Mt Nelson) and south of the state (e.g. on Bruny Island and from Huonville to Southport Lagoon).
Population monitoring (i.e. sightings of birds) indicates that the distribution of swift parrots reflects the locations of the most abundant flowering. A large proportion of the swift parrot population has settled in the Eastern Tiers from Tooms Lake to Snow Hill, inland from the Freycinet Peninsula and north of Lake Leake. Significant breeding activity and nesting behaviour has been detected in these areas, as well as around Woodsdale, slightly further to the south.
A final report will be available at the conclusion of the breeding season.
Genetic analysis
The Project team has been part of an early national conversation about the genetics and health of wild and captive swift parrots, along with the Australian National University (ANU), The University of Sydney (USYD), NRE Tas veterinarians, the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, and Zoo and Aquarium Association institutions. This information will provide insight into whether a potential captive breeding program could protect against extinction in the wild, and inform the monitoring of wild population health.
The swift parrot genome has now been sequenced, and once assembled can be used to assess population genetic characteristics and help inform further research into disease threats and climate adaptation.
Results of analysis of genetic samples are now complete. A report due in 2024 will assess if there is enough genetic diversity represented in the captive population to explore the possibility of supplementing the wild population through a potential captive breeding program. Necropsies have been performed on dead captive and wild birds for disease and other health assessments and informs ongoing animal husbandry improvements and understanding of disease prevalence in the wild.
Swift parrot feeding on flowering blue gum. Photo: Dave James
Using new tools to identify priority habitat
The swift parrot has complex habitat requirements. Protecting and improving this habitat is a priority that NRE Tas is actively working on alongside other Tasmanian land managers.
To ensure the right locations are targeted for maximum conservation outcomes, a spatial prioritisation tool was developed to identify land parcels with priority swift parrot habitat on Bruny Island and surrounding coastal areas. By inputting available data into the tool, the team has been able to identify over 30 000 ha of suitable breeding habitat, of which 16 000 ha was unreserved private land.
Further development of this tool is occurring and will expand the assessment to include habitat within all land tenures across Tasmania. The team is looking to include features that allow for emerging management issues such as offshore and onshore renewable energy infrastructure and climate-related needs.
Swift parrot habitat on Bruny Island. Photo: NRE Tas
Bruny Island habitat protection and enhancement
Bruny Island, and adjacent areas on mainland Tasmania, represent some of the most significant breeding habitat for swift parrots and have been a focus for habitat protection and enhancement activities.
Approximately 260 ha of important swift parrot habitat has been protected in perpetuity through the establishment of conservation covenants, with support from the Tasmanian Land Conservancy and NRE Tas' Private Land Conservation Program.
Voluntary covenants on private land ensure that suitable nesting habitat remains on Bruny Island. This is particularly important given that the island is free from sugar gliders who predate on swift parrots, therefore providing a refuge for breeding birds.
Breeding
habitat on the island is also being enhanced through the strategic planting of 1,600
forage trees, comprised of varieties that flower more regularly and that have a
higher resilience to warmer and drier weather conditions. Working in
partnership with the Bruny Island Environment Network, on-ground activities
will also include nest box management to identify opportunities to enhance
nesting habitat.
Swift parrot habitat on Bruny Island. Photo: Dave James
Managing the sugar glider
Sugar gliders (sometimes commonly referred to as Krefft's glider) are an introduced species and are known to prey on swift parrot eggs, chicks, and nesting adult females on mainland Tasmania.
The project team is continuing to collate research and expert opinion on the sugar glider's ecology and control techniques. This information will be used by NRE Tas (in consultation with researchers, veterinarians, land managers, and wildlife control experts) to inform management options for sugar gliders to minimise their impact on swift parrots.
Community awareness and involvement
The more the community knows about swift parrots, their habitat, and the work going on behind the scenes to ensure the future of the species, the higher the possibility of success for the species.
To expand community knowledge, the project team are:
- providing up-to-date information online;
- conducting community talks; and
- creating reports, newsletters, brochures, and fact sheets for public access.
You can help - report a sighting
All sightings of swift parrots, alive or dead, are important and help us to understand more about the parrots' broader movements, diet, behaviour, and habitat. While there are few records of dead birds on the NVA, these reports and the contribution of birds by the public provide valuable insights into causes of death and how they may be prevented.
You can report sightings to the
Natural Values Atlas (NVA) database by contacting our team at
naturalvaluesatlas@nre.tas.gov.au or entering the data yourself on to the
NVA. Other sightings apps that are available include iNaturalist and Birdlife Australia's Birdata.
Important information to record from your sighting includes:
- your name;
- sighting date;
- location (preferably a GPS position);
- notes on behaviour; and
- images/video/audio.
It can be difficult to identify parrots and the swift parrot is easy to confuse with other parrots. Including images, videos, and audio with your record can help validate the sighting. There are plenty of resources available to help you with your identification, including bird species identification books and the
Threatened Species Link website. It also includes a new Tasmanian swift parrot identification guide produced by Birdlife Australia.
Other resources
Australian National University Difficult Bird Research Group - swift parrot projects
Birdlife Australia – swift parrot information and projects
Forest Practices Authority Tasmania – search for swift parrot publications
Landscape Recovery Foundation - swift parrot projects
National Recovery Plan for the Swift Parrot (Lathamus discolor) 2024
NRE Tas - Threatened Species Link
NRM South - swift parrot projects