15 May 2015 – Help Tanya pull a swiftie!
Posted on 6 May, 2015 by Tanya Loos
It’s that time of year again – when bird enthusiasts across south-eastern Australia are seen staring intently into Yellow Gums searching for swifties and regents.
Swifties or Swift Parrots are very special visitors to the box ironbark forests from about April to September each year, flying across Bass Strait from their breeding grounds in Tasmania. The Mount Alexander Shire is one of the best-known swiftie hot-spots in Victoria. Visit Geoff Park’s blog Natural Newstead for an update on recent observations (click here). The last Regent Honeyeater stronghold is in NSW, but there is a glimmer of a chance they will visit this area again one day.
The Castlemaine Field Naturalists Club have participated in the annual Swift Parrot and Regent Honeyeater surveys for over twenty years, and will be taking part over the official survey weekend on May 16 and 17. However, surveys can be done up to a week either side of this weekend. These surveys provide critical long-term data on the movements, habitat use and population sizes of these two threatened species.
If you would like to join in a search for swifties, and visit a really special spot at the same time, why not join Connecting Country’s resident birdo Tanya on her survey outing on Friday 15 May 2015. She will be visiting Columbine Creek in the Fryers Range State Forest, south of Fryerstown. The survey will begin at 9am, and finish midday at the latest.
Please email or telephone Tanya for the details (03 5472 1594 or tanya@connectingcountry.org.au). Everyone from beginner to expert is very welcome to join in.
If you would like to do a Swiftie survey on another day, copies of the datasheet are available for downloading (WB-Swift_Parrot-Regent_Honeyeater_survey_sheet-May_2014 ). Even if you don’t see the target species during your searches, it is still worthwhile to send the information about your unsuccessful search into Birdlife Australia. It helps them to know where birds are not being found, as well as where they are present.
In 2014, Doug Ralph showed us the beauty and richness of the Columbine Creek bushland.
For more information on the Swift Parrot and Regent Honeyeater BirdLife survey results from 2014: Swift Parrot & Regent Honeyeater August update for 2015_FINAL
Hi Tanya, would you be happy for me to put this in the Steiner School Newsletter? As we are close to the nesting sites and I always do some work with the kids on the Swifties, it would be most pertinent!
Hi Lisa,
Of course! That would be great. I can imagine the story of the swiftie migration across the ocean from Tassie is a great story for the kids. I will send you an email with a bit more info as well!< warm regards, Tanya
What is Connecting Country’s intended actions & policy on Tasmania’s proposal to open up the Swift Parrots breeding areas to logging in the near future, as it is, without this great danger, it is anticipated that the swift parrot will be extinct within 20 years. An article can be viewed on our facebook page Parrot Conservation Australia Ltd.
Regards
Roger Sellwood
Hi Roger, Thanks for raising this important issue.
In our locality, Connecting Country acts to assist the Swift Parrot and other threatened woodland species by protecting and enhancing the fragmented areas of habitat that remain, creating new areas of woodland habitat, providing education opportunities for the local community to learn about these species, and to monitor their occurrence.
However, you’ve raised a good point that no matter how much work we do within our area, there are threats to the Swift Parrot elsewhere that are out of our control. Its habitat is still declining elsewhere, and there are particular threats to its survival within its Tasmanian breeding habitat.
As well as the loss of nesting trees, the introduced Sugar Glider is now also recognised as a threat through attacking Swift Parrot nestlings (http://theconversation.com/sugar-gliders-are-eating-swift-parrots-but-whats-to-blame-19555).
A campaign is also being run by the Wilderness Society to help the species from logging, particularly in its breeding habitat (https://www.wilderness.org.au/articles/flying-extinction?gclid=COL6xefrycUCFQZvvAodVQUAZw). There is a crowd-funding campaign to help protect its breeding habitat and also for other threatened Tasmanian birds, including the Orange-bellied Parrot (http://www.pozible.com/project/193891# and also see http://www.anu.edu.au/news/all-news/lets-stop-tasmanias-swift-parrots-going-the-way-of-the-dodo)
BirdLife Australia has a campaign called Woodland Birds for Biodiversity, and it is through this that the twice yearly Swift Parrot and Regent Honeyeaters surveys are carried out both by the Castlemaine Field Naturalists Club and staff at Connecting Country. http://www.birdlife.org.au/projects/woodland-birds-for-biodiversity
Connecting Country is primarily focused upon on-ground works; habitat conservation, education and restoration, and it is beyond our area of expertise to comment on issues so far from our local area. Connecting Country has recently become an affiliate group with BirdLife Australia, and we feel that they are better placed to carry out the advocacy that is required to change improve practices in Tasmania for the Swift Parrot.
However, for our members and supporters that are passionate about the Swift Parrot and other species that have threatening processes occurring far from the Mount Alexander Region, we encourage them to get involved in the campaigns listed above.
Chris