18-19 May 2013 – Swift Parrot Survey Weekend

Posted on 17 May, 2013 by Connecting Country

On the weekend of the May 18-19, BirdLife Australia are coordinating the first of this year’s bi-annual mainland surveys for Swift Parrots and Regent Honeyeaters. These occur across south-eastern mainland Australia. This year marks the 19th consecutive year for these range-wide volunteer surveys and they continue to provide insights into the movements and habitat requirements of these two charismatic and highly threatened bird species. Regent Honeyeaters are extremely rare visitors to the Mount Alexander Shire and surrounds, whereas at least some Swift Parrots migrate to (and through) the local area each year in the cooler months. One of the few inland areas to be visited by Swift Parrots so far in 2013 is the Muckleford-Maryborough area where birds have been seen foraging in Yellow Gum and Grey Box vegetation.

Anyone can undertake one or more surveys for these threatened birds – whether this be in your backyard, your favourite local patch of bushland or along a well-vegetated roadside.

For further information, click here to the BirdLife Australia website – the link to the powerpoint display at the bottom of the page is particularly useful. Attached is also a copy of the datasheet (click here). If you undertake a survey at a particular area and find none of the two target species, it is still important to complete the datasheet and return it to BirdLife Australia. Knowing where the bird isn’t occurring is almost as important as knowing where it is occurring. (If you see either of these species at others times, Birdlife would still be very interested to hear about these sightings).