By XAVIER SMERDON
IT IS thought to be the world’s rarest parrot and according to the Department of Sustainability and Environment, one of the best places to spot it is Werribee.
According to the latest national survey the Orange-bellied parrot was spotted 26 separate times, with all but three of the sightings occurring between Werribee and Queenscliff.
Peter Menkhorst from the DSE’s Orange-bellied Parrot Recovery Team said Werribee was lucky to be home to such rare birds.
“With 1200 kilometres of Australia’s coast to choose from in South Australia and Victoria, all but three sightings of Orange-bellied Parrots in 2011 were in this relatively small area,” Mr Menkhorst said.
“With less than 50 birds left in the wild it is a great effort to find such a big proportion of the remaining population during winter.”
The precious bird is considered critically endangered and has been the subject of intense attempts to save it from disappearing for good.
One of the people in charge of counting the number of birds in the wild, Craig Morley, said it was a difficult task tracking them.
“A team of skilled and enthusiastic volunteers checked as many locations for the species as possible during three co-ordinated surveys in May, July and September,” Mr Morley said.
“They spent many cold and wet hours searching islands, salt marshes, sewage farms, paddocks and golf courses, including places where the species has been seen before.”
The Werribee Sewage Farm has long been considered one of the best places in Australia for bird spotters to catch a glimpse of their feathered friends.
For more information on the Orange-bellied Parrot visit www.birdsaustralia.com.au/obp.
