A stocktake of recovery activities for the Orange-bellied Parrot 2020 Recommended citation: A stocktake of recovery activities undertaken for the Orange-bellied Parrot (Neophema chrysogaster). Unpublished report for the Department of the Environment and Energy based on the views of Stakeholders and an Independent Review Panel. Disclaimers: This report was prepared by BirdLife Australia under contract to the Department of the Environment and Energy. Every effort has been undertaken to ensure that the views/opinions presented within are a true representation of those of the contributing stakeholders. BirdLife Australia does not guarantee that the publication is without flaw of any kind or is wholly appropriate for your particular purposes and therefore disclaims all liability for any error, loss of other consequences that may arise from you relying on any information in this publication. The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of BirdLife Australia and the Commonwealth Government of Australia, or the Department of the Environment and Energy. This report is prepared without prejudice to any negotiated or litigated outcome of any native title determination applications covering land or waters within the plan's area. It is acknowledged that any future outcomes of native title determination applications may necessitate amendment of this report; and the implementation of this plan may require further notifications under the procedures in Division 3 Part 2 of the Native Title Act 1993 (Cwlth). Orange-bellied Parrot stocktake report 2 1. Contents 1. Contents ..................................................................................................................... 3 2. Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................... 9 3. Terms of Reference .................................................................................................... 10 4. Executive Summary .................................................................................................... 11 5. Methods .................................................................................................................... 15 5.1 Process ................................................................................................................ 15 5.2 Difficulties arising from the process .......................................................................... 15 6. Species Information .................................................................................................... 16 6.1 Conservation status ............................................................................................... 16 6.2 Ecology ................................................................................................................ 17 6.3 Distribution .......................................................................................................... 18 6.4 Breeding .............................................................................................................. 20 6.5 Habitat ................................................................................................................ 21 6.5.1 Breeding habitat ......................................................................................................... 21 6.5.2 Non-breeding habitat .................................................................................................. 22 7. Threats ..................................................................................................................... 24 7.1 Habitat loss and degradation ................................................................................... 24 7.2 Small population size ............................................................................................. 26 7.3 Predators and competitors ...................................................................................... 26 7.4 Stochastic factors .................................................................................................. 27 7.5 Disease ................................................................................................................ 27 7.6 Climate change ..................................................................................................... 28 7.7 Negative effects of management ............................................................................. 29 7.8 Invasive weeds ..................................................................................................... 29 7.9 Barriers to movement ............................................................................................ 29 7.10 Hybridisation ....................................................................................................... 30 7.11 Trapping ............................................................................................................. 30 8. Recovery Team .......................................................................................................... 32 8.1 Summary of recent actions and current situation in the Orange-bellied Parrot recovery program .............................................................................................................. 35 8.1.1 Recovery program management ................................................................................... 35 8.1.2 Required recovery strategy .......................................................................................... 36 8.1.3 Current recovery actions .............................................................................................. 36 9. Recovery Plans and review summaries .......................................................................... 39 9.1 Orange-bellied Parrot Recovery Plan 1984 ................................................................ 39 9.1.1 Objectives ................................................................................................................. 39 Orange-bellied Parrot stocktake report 3 9.1.2 Review ...................................................................................................................... 40 9.2 Orange-bellied Parrot Recovery Plan 1991–1996 ........................................................ 41 9.2.1 Objectives ................................................................................................................. 41 9.2.2 Review ...................................................................................................................... 41 9.3 Orange-bellied Parrot Recovery Plan 1998-2002 ........................................................ 42 9.3.1 Objectives ................................................................................................................. 42 9.3.2 Review ...................................................................................................................... 43 9.4 Orange-bellied Parrot Recovery Plan 2006-2011 ........................................................ 44 9.4.1 Objectives ................................................................................................................. 44 9.4.2 Review ...................................................................................................................... 45 9.5 Orange-bellied Parrot Action Plan 2010 .................................................................... 50 9.6 Orange-bellied Parrot Recovery Plan 2016 ................................................................ 51 9.6.1 Primary Objective 1 .................................................................................................... 53 9.6.2 Primary Objective 2 .................................................................................................... 53 9.6.3 Primary Objective 3 .................................................................................................... 54 9.6.4 Supporting Objective 4 ................................................................................................ 55 9.7 Orange-bellied Parrot Emergency Action Plan 2016 .................................................... 55 10. Public communication ................................................................................................. 57 11. Population Viability Analysis ......................................................................................... 59 12. Mainland (non-breeding) program ................................................................................ 62 12.1 Objectives .......................................................................................................... 62 12.2 Winter counts ..................................................................................................... 62 12.2.1 Regional Coordinators ............................................................................................... 63 12.2.2 Survey effort ............................................................................................................ 64 12.2.3 Survey limitations ..................................................................................................... 65 12.3 Mainland Orange-bellied Parrot database ................................................................ 66 12.4 Site use and food availability (Victoria) ................................................................... 67 12.5 Habitat maintenance and restoration .....................................................................