 Regent Parrot Polytelis anthopeplus
Length: male 40–42; female 37–41 cm; wingspan 50–55 cm; weight 160–190 g.
A gregarious species, the Regent Parrot is usually seen in pairs or small flocks, and occasionally in larger flocks of up to 50, especially during the non-breeding season. They roost communally. The species is generally rather noisy and conspicuous, with its distinctive penetrating flight-call typically heard long before the birds fly into view. The species feed mainly on the ground, but also occasionally among the foliage of trees and shrubs. Although generally rather wary, flocks loafing in the cover of foliage during the heat of the day will often allow a close approach by an observer. Regent Parrots’ flight is swift, direct and graceful, with effortless wing-beats; the pointed, backswept wings and long, slender, pointed tail give a characteristic streamlined flight-silhouette. Travelling groups of Parrots often fly at a considerable height, but at other times, flocks sweep and dart through the trees or just above them, and they sometimes also fly very close to the ground, especially at dusk and even just after dark.
HABITAT
Regent Parrots usually inhabit riparian or littoral River Red Gum forests or woodlands and adjacent Black Box woodlands, where they breed in hollows in large, mature, senescent or dead trees. They forage in nearby open mallee woodland or shrubland which supports various mallee eucalypts, including White, Red, Yellow and Christmas Mallee, as well as Belah, Buloke or cypress-pines, often with a grassy groundcover; they usually feed on the ground beneath the trees, and occasionally in the canopy of mallee eucalypts, or shrubs such as Acacia or Eremophila. The species often occurs in farmland (especially cereal crops, orchards and vineyards), usually with remnant patches of woodland along roadsides or in paddocks, and seldom in more extensively cleared areas. The breeding areas are usually within 20 kilometres of the feeding areas.
DISTRIBUTION
Endemic to south-eastern and south-western regions of mainland Australia.
STATUS
- Vulnerable in New South Wales
- Vulnerable in Victoria
- Vulnerable in South Australia
- Vulnerable (Eastern) in EPBC Act
THREATS
Populations of Regent Parrots in south-eastern Australia have declined due to the clearance and fragmentation of mallee shrublands for agriculture; mallee provides food year-round, but crops that have replaced mallee provide food only seasonally. With much of the remaining foraging habitat now fragmented and separated too widely from breeding areas, it has become inaccessible for breeding Regent Parrots, which must fly 2–3 times each day from breeding sites to foraging areas. Also, as they are reluctant to fly over extensive open areas, they require corridors of habitat to allow them to move between breeding and foraging sites, and many such habitats have also been cleared or degraded. In addition, remaining areas of mallee are often grazed by stock, reducing or eliminating much of the ground cover which provides the Parrots’ food. As well, the species is adversely affected by the logging of River Red Gum forests in breeding areas for railway sleepers and firewood, and the breeding habitat is also adversely affected by grazing, burning, ringbarking, collection of firewood, salination, waterlogging and flood mitigation, which degrade the habitat and stop its regeneration, limiting the number of trees that are available for nesting. Regent Parrots are blamed for damaging fruit, legume and cereal crops, and although they probably cause little or no damage, they were formerly declared vermin in many regions. Although currently protected throughout Australia, the species was formerly legally shot under permit by farmers during open seasons. They were formerly trapped for the captive-bird trade in such large numbers in Victoria that local populations became severely depleted. Large numbers are thought to have been killed by eating 1080-baits that had been intended to control populations of rabbits. Regent Parrots are often struck by vehicles while feeding on spilt wheat along roadsides, and in March 1980, about 150 were killed in a single incident at Kiamal in north-western Victoria.
MOVEMENTS
Poorly understood. The species is variously considered nomadic, resident, and at least partially sedentary.
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