Swift Parrots and Regent Honeyeaters
Icons of our woodlands
Chris Tzaros & Dean Ingwersen
Woodland Bird Conservation Project
Woodland Bird Conservation
Project background
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Swift Parrot/Regent Honeyeater funding crisis
Current phase based on Commonwealth Recovery Plan
implementation for swifties and regents
Initiate other projects targeting declining and
threatened species
- research
- monitoring
- on-ground restoration
- knowledge brokering
Plan is to work with project partners in Vic. (Trust for
Nature), Tas. (Tas Land Conservancy) and NSW
(Nature Conservation Trust)
Emphasis on private woodland conservation such as
strategic covenanting
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Need for this project
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One third of Australia’s woodlands are cleared
80% of temperate woodlands have been lost
Over a third of Australia’s land birds are woodland
dependant
One in five of these is listed as ‘threatened’ (over 40
species)
Birds of south-east temperate woodlands have suffered
most
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Introducing the Swift Parrot
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Distribution
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Widespread across the temperate south-eastern
woodlands, including Tasmania where it breeds
Migrates across Bass Strait for autumn-winter (longest
migrating parrot in the World)
Non-Breeding
Breeding
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Movements
October – December:
• Breeding
• Eastern Tasmania in Blue Gum forest
January:
• First year birds are mobile
• Disperse through central and northern Tasmania
Non-Breeding
Breeding
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Movements
February - April:
• Arrive on mainland
May - August:
• Nomadic throughout central, southern and
north-east Vic, NSW south, central and north
coast, south-west and central slopes,
occasionally south-east Qld
Non-Breeding
Breeding
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Movements
September:
• Southward migration
Non-Breeding
Breeding
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Abundance
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Population:
1987 - 1320 breeding pairs
1995 - 940 breeding pairs
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“Swift Parrot population estimated to be no
more than 1000 breeding pairs” Swift Parrot Recovery Plan 2001
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Conservation status: Endangered Nationally
(listed under Commonwealth EPBC Act 1999)
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Introducing the Regent Honeyeater
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Distribution
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Movements
• Highly mobile but appear to have regular patterns of
movement
• Late summer-winter - disperse widely in small groups
• Late winter-spring - concentrate back into core
breeding areas:
• Capertee Valley, central NSW
• Bundarra - Barraba, northern NSW
• Chiltern, Vic
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Changes in abundance
• Contraction in range (from SA, western Victoria and
parts of Qld)
• Reporting rates have declined and flocks observed
are smaller - until early this century the Regent
Honeyeater congregated from time to time in large
flocks, described enthusiastically as containing
“immense numbers” (1866) and “thousands” (1909).
• Very difficult to estimate current numbers:
• Reporting rate is very low for a species that
inhabits a largely agricultural landscape
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Threats
• Loss of habitat and reduction in quality (particularly
fragmentation)
• Clearing for agriculture
• Forestry and cutting for firewood
• Continuing decline of trees in agricultural landscape
• Lack of regeneration
• Competition with other
large nectar feeders for
patchy and unpredictable
resources
• Climate change and
drought
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‘Flagships’ for woodland
conservation
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Actions to reverse the declines of these
two high profile species will have flowon benefits to a host of other threatened
and declining woodland birds
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Jacky Winter
• Insectivorous
• Ground and trunk foraging
• Favours slightly open areas
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Brown Treecreeper
• Insectivorous
• Ground and trunk foraging
• Hollow breeder
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Diamond Firetail
• Granivorous
• Ground foraging
• Dependant on healthy grassy woodlands
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Speckled Warbler
• Insectivorous
• Ground foraging
• Often in mixed-species foraging flocks
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Habitat in Victoria
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Box-ironbark forests and woodlands
Lowland vegetation communities on fertile sites are
preferred
These sites have important drought refuge
characteristics
Trees at such sites flower more frequently and
abundantly
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Forage trees in Victoria
Grey Box
Eucalyptus microcarpa
Early autumn flowering
White Box
Eucalyptus albens
Mid-late winter flowering
Yellow Gum
Eucalyptus leucoxylon
Mid-late winter flowering,
abundant nectar, good lerp
loads
Red Ironbark
Eucalyptus tricarpa
Mid-late winter flowering,
abundant nectar but severely
drought affected
Red Box
Eucalyptus polyanthemos
Occasional lerp infestation
Yellow Box
Eucalyptus melliodora
Late spring-early summer
flowering, occasional lerp
loads, good for insects
River Red Gum
Eucalyptus camaldulensis Reliably harbours insects and
Golden Wattle
Acacia pycnantha
regular lerp loads
Racemes in winter
important for swifties
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Identifying the Swift Parrot
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Identifying the Swift Parrot
Purple-crowned Lorikeet
LittleLorikeet
• Plumage differences
include:
- Red under wings
and tail
Musk Lorikeet
Scaly-breasted Lorikeet
Rainbow Lorikeet
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Identifying the Swift Parrot
• Similar species and calls
Little Lorikeet
Purple-crowned Lorikeet
Musk Lorikeet
Swift Parrot
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Identifying the Regent Honeyeater
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Identifying the Regent Honeyeater
Other ‘yellow-winged’
honeyeaters:
• New Holland HE smaller and
have white on face
• Painted HE white underparts
and pink bill
• White-fronted and Crescent
very rare
• Note that field guides
incorrectly illustrate a pink or
red face
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Identifying the Regent Honeyeater
• Similar species and calls
New Holland Honeyeater
Regent Honeyeater
Painted Honeyeater
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Swiftie and Regent surveys
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The winter surveys were set up to track these
highly mobile creatures
They have been successful in telling us a great
deal
There is still much to be learned by
continuing them
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Swiftie and Regent surveys
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A good way to cover lots of ground is to drive
through suitable habitat listening for bird activity
Upon finding a good patch, stop and survey/wander
the area looking and listening for the target species
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Woodland Bird Surveys
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20 min x 2 Ha transect
500m area search - these are often the best methods for
locating threatened and cryptic species, like Swifties
and Regents
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Swiftie and Regent surveys
Traditional survey dates:
• 3rd week of May (this year, 16-17 May)
• 1st week of August (this year, 1-2 August)
However, we also seek opportunistic information
outside these periods necessary
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The survey sheet
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The survey sheet
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Other activities to assist
Swifties and Regents
• Lurg revegetation project
Ray Thomas
Phone: (03) 57 611 515
Fax: (03) 57 611 628
email: raydavidthomas@hotmail.com
Web: regent.org.au
8-9 August
22-23 August
5-6 September
19-20 September
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Contact:
Chris Tzaros & Dean Ingwersen
Woodland Bird Conservation Project
c.tzaros@birdsaustralia.com.au
d.ingwersen@birdsaustralia.com.au
(03) 9347 0757
For more information, visit:
www.birdsaustralia.com.au/wbc
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