Orange-bellied Parrot Neophema chrysogaster
Length 22–25 cm; wingspan c. 31 cm; weight c. 45 g.
A small bright-green parrot with yellow underparts, the Orange-bellied Parrot is usually seen singly, in twos or in small family groups on its breeding grounds, or in small flocks, often associated with larger flocks of Blue-winged Parrots or other Neophema parrots, on mainland Australia. The species inhabits various coastal or near-coastal habitats, especially buttongrass plains in south-western Tasmania, and saltmarsh at wintering sites on mainland Australia. It forages mostly on the ground, where it is quiet and unobtrusive. It does not usually flush until the last moment, and when it does it utters a diagnostic buzzing alarm call, which continues as the bird flies high into the air (when flushed it often flies a considerable distance before landing, plummeting from a great height to alight on the ground). Its flight is swift and direct.
HABITAT
When on their breeding grounds, Orange-bellied Parrots usually inhabit moist, near-coastal buttongrass plains, moors and sedgelands with many creeklines and clumps of paperbarks and tea-trees, with patches of eucalypts, especially Smithton Peppermint Eucalyptus nitida, in which they nest in a hole or a hollow branch. On the mainland, they usually inhabit saltmarsh (often dominated by Beaded Glasswort Sarcocornia quinqueflora or Shrubby Glasswort Sclerostegia arbuscula) or low samphire herbland in sheltered coastal habitats, and they occasionally occur on beaches, among colonising plants such as Sea Rocket Cakile maritima growing above the strand-line, or in grassy or weedy coastal areas, including pasture and the fairways of golf courses.
DISTRIBUTION
Endemic to south-eastern Australia, mainly along the coastline.
STATUS
- Critically Endangered in Victoria
- Endangered in Tasmania
- Endangered in South Australia
- Critically Endangered in EPBC Act
THREATS
The species is threatened by urban development, grazing and agriculture which have fragmented and degraded much of its over-wintering habitats on mainland Australia. An increasing number of wind turbines situated along the species’ migratory flight-path also pose a threat. Competition for food from introduced finches such as European Goldfinches Carduelis carduelis, and for breeding hollows from Common Starlings Sturnus vulgaris are considered lesser threats. Because the population is so small, deaths from random events such as storms may be significant for the population as a whole.
MOVEMENTS
Orange-bellied Parrots regularly migrate across Bass Strait, from breeding grounds in south-western Tasmania to wintering areas on mainland Australia, mainly between Corner Inlet and The Coorong, with most records from saltmarsh around the western edge of Port Phillip Bay and on the Bellarine Peninsula.
CALLS
For more information please visit the OBP Mainland Habitat Recovery Project page.
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