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Neophema chrysogaster
The Orange-bellied Parrot is a small 'grass parrot' of coastal south-eastern Australia. It is one of six species of the genus Neophema.
Three related 'grass parrots' (Rock, Blue-winged and Elegant) also occur in these coastal areas and may be mistaken for the species. They are olive-green in colour and may have orange on their abdomens, but none have the grass-green plumage, the distinctive alarm call, and the bright orange patch of the Orange-bellied Parrot.
The Orange-bellied Parrot was formerly more abundant and widespread than it is now. It ranged from Yorke Peninsula in South Australia, along the coasts to Bruny Island in southern Tasmania, and to Sydney, New South Wales.
The species' current breeding range is a narrow coastal strip of south-west Tasmania. Most adults depart the breeding range in February, leaving juveniles to follow in March and April. Adults first reach Victoria in late March and disperse east as far as coastal South Gippsland, and as far west as Lake Alexandrina in South Australia, by April.
Most of the population over-winters in saltmarsh habitat in central Victoria while the remainder moves west to the coast of South Australia. In September, the first adults leave the Australian mainland for Tasmania, with the last birds departed by November.
In Victoria, up to 70% of the entire population concentrates at three wintering sites around Port Phillip Bay and the Bellarine Peninsula.
According to the Action Plan for Australian Birds 2000, the Orange-bellied Parrot is critically endangered with approximately 180 mature birds remaining in the wild.
For more information please visit theOBP Mainland Habitat Recovery Project
page.
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Conservation 
