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Superb Parrot (Polytelis Swainsonii)

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Superb Parrot (Polytelis Swainsonii) #33 This Action Statement was first published in 1992 and remains current. This Superb Parrot version has been prepared for web publication. It Polytelis swainsonii retains the original text of the action statement, although contact information, the distribution map and the illustration may have been updated. © The State of Victoria, Department of Sustainability and Environment, 2003 Published by the Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victoria. Superb Parrot (Polytelis swainsonii) Distribution in Victoria (DSE 2002) 8 Nicholson Street, East Melbourne, Superb Parrots nest in forests and Victoria 3002 Australia Description and Distribution The Superb Parrot (Polytelis swainsonii woodlands in the area of New South Wales This publication may be of Desmarest 1826) is a medium-size parrot known as the 'south-west slopes', bounded to assistance to you but the with a long tail extending to nearly twice the east by Cowra, Rye Park and Yass, and to State of Victoria and its the length of the body (400 mm total length the west by Grenfell, Young, Cootamundra employees do not guarantee including a 260 mm tail). General plumage and Coolac. that the publication is of the male is brilliant green with yellow- Host trees include various box species and without flaw of any kind or green underparts. Forehead, throat and Blakely's Red Gum (Eucalyptus blakelyi), as is wholly appropriate for well as River Red Gum (Eucalyptus your particular purposes cheek patches are yellow with a crescent of camaldulensis). Nesting also occurs in the and therefore disclaims all scarlet across the throat. The female is liability for any error, loss green with a dull bluish-green face. Both plains region further to the west and south- or other consequence which sexes have a yellow iris and coral red bill. west, where the majority of nests are may arise from you relying Immatures resemble the adult female, confined to the riverine woodland along the on any information in this except that the iris is pale brown and young Murrumbidgee, Edward and Murray rivers. publication. males are a slightly brighter green Within the Murray-Riverina, nests are (Forshaw & Cooper 1981). typically located in hollows of large, mature, ISSN 1448-9902 The Superb Parrot occurs in eastern inland healthy River Red Gums possessing a large New South Wales and north-central number of spouts, but some nests also occur Victoria (Blakers, Davies & Reilly 1984). in dead trees. Nests may be solitary, or The total population is estimated to be clustered in one or several trees close to a several thousand birds (Webster & Ahern watercourse and within about 9 km of the 1992). In Victoria, its range has contracted box woodland used for foraging (Webster from south to north, where recent records 1988). are restricted to a narrow corridor of the Nesting occurs between September and Murray Valley between Echuca and December with a general dispersal north Yarrawonga. from Victoria after the breeding season. The female remains at the nest throughout incubation and removal of old trees with hollows, must be seen as potentially until the chicks are well developed, while the male collects threatening to the species. food and brings it to her (Webster 1988). Much of the natural box woodland foraging habitat adjacent to Food items are mainly flowers, fruits and seeds, Barmah Forest has been cleared for agriculture, with mere particularly those seeds that are at the doughy stage. Forage remnants along roadsides providing tenuous yet critical links species include the canopy trees, particularly Black Box (E. with riverine nesting habitat. Despite recent clearing controls, largiflorens) and Yellow Box (E. melliodora). A common many chronic degrading processes continue to destroy this box parasite of these box species, Box Mistletoe (Amyema woodland. miquelii) and insect parasites such as lerps (Psyllidae) are eaten. Understorey species sought for foraging include Major Conservation Objectives Common Wallaby-grass (Danthonia caespitosa), numerous • To protect and maintain the Superb Parrot in the wild. wattle species (e.g. Acacia acinacea, A. dealbata), the acacia . parasite Grey Mistletoe (Amyema quandang), Pale-fruit • To increase the size of the Superb Parrot population in Ballart (Exocarpos strictus) and introduced plants including Victoria to 500 breeding pairs within 20 years. cereal grains (especially spilt grain), barley-grasses . (Critesion spp.) and Annual Veldt Grass (Ehrharta • To ensure the continued availability of suitable nest longifolia). trees. The number of Superb Parrots returning to Victoria each . year is not known, but CNR staff believe it may be as low as • To increase the existing area of potential foraging 100 breeding pairs (Davidson & Chambers 1991). Barmah habitat, i.e. Black Box and Yellow Box woodland State Park/ State Forest contains the only locations in within 6 km of and linked to the Murray riverine Victoria where the Superb Parrot is known to still breed forest between Barham and Yarrawonga. Priority will (Webster 1991), with sixteen nest trees having been be given to regeneration programs adjacent to the recorded (Davidson and Chambers 1991). These trees are Barmah Forest that: distributed in three general locations, however observed • fill in gaps in existing corridors; movements of parrots during the breeding season, as well • connect blocks of existing habitat; and as observations of adult birds feeding fledglings, strongly • create new corridors and foraging habitats. suggest that there may be additional nests within Barmah Forest. Management Issues The Superb Parrot occurs across Victoria and New South Conservation Status Wales, and therefore the conservation effort needs to be co- Current Status ordinated between the State administrations. New South Wales DCE (1991) Vulnerable has a major responsibility as the population is predominantly Garnett (1992) Vulnerable (Aust) centred in that state. The potential recovery rate of the Victorian population is closely linked to the survival prospects The Superb Parrot has been listed as a threatened taxon on of NSW-based populations, with which genetic interchange Schedule 2 of the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988. probably occurs. In Barmah Forest, nest trees used by the parrots occur in State Reasons for Conservation Status Park and State forest managed (among other things) for timber In its Final Recommendations, the Scientific Advisory products and grazing. Nest trees are typically large and old, Committee (1991) determined that the Superb Parrot is: with numerous hollows and therefore generally low • in a demonstrable decline which is likely to result commercial timber value. However, adjacent or nearby trees in extinction; may be merchantable and hence subject to logging. Also, • significantly prone to future threats which are silviculture programs for forest regeneration aim to remove likely to result in extinction; and many such old trees. With so few known nest trees in Victoria, • very rare in terms of abundance or distribution. it is essential that all are afforded a biologically conservative Garnett (1992), in attributing 'vulnerable' status to the minimum level of protection from disturbance or destruction species, considers the national population to have possibly by commercial forest operations. been declining at more than 1% per year for the last 10 In a draft management plan prepared collaboratively for the years, in a habitat 'that has been extensively cleared and National Parks and Wildlife Service of NSW and the Flora and degraded and is still deteriorating'. There has been a severe Fauna Branch of the Department of Conservation and Natural contraction of the parrot's range in Victoria and, without Resources (CNR), Victoria, Webster & Ahern (1992) sound management action, the species appears likely to recommend establishing a 100 m buffer around each nest tree lose its breeding status in Victoria. to exclude logging and silviculture all year round. The effects upon the Superb Parrot of timber harvesting It is also important to maintain the integrity of nest colonies and silviculture within riverine forests are poorly (clusters of nest trees). Most Superb Parrot nests throughout understood, however processes likely to grossly disturb or the species' range are within identifiable colonies (Webster change the forest near nest trees, or likely to lead to the 1988) and population recovery is most likely to emanate from existing nest colonies or individual nest trees (Webster & 2 Ahern 1992). To protect nest trees from logging or residents) provided mature and potentially mature forest silviculture, planning needs to focus on nest colonies as the habitats are conserved. Proposed silvicultural treatments that units of management so as to maximise habitat security and enhance seedling establishment but destroy mature trees are a social cohesion within the colony. potential threat to Superb Parrots. A forest management Another major management issue is to provide future box strategy is needed that adequately provides for the needs of woodland foraging habitat for the Superb Parrot. Webster wildlife species dependent upon large old trees. (1988) detailed the need for suitable foraging areas to be Box woodland habitats are poorly represented in conservation available within about 9 km of nest sites. In Victoria, the reserves and only small and degraded remnants survive. parrot's main foraging areas are now reduced to remnant Improved protection, management and rehabilitation of this woodlands on roadsides,
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