Called by many Australia's rarest bird, there are thought to be less than 50 of
these beautiful parrots left in the wild. I was fortunate enough to see and
photograph 3 of the 4 to possibly 7 wild birds that have been recorded on the
Australian mainland this winter. The parrots breed in Tasmania and winter on
the mainland.
Interesting note, the OBP with the pink band on its left leg and the blue band
on its right was first banded 8 March 2004 at the breeding grounds in
Melaleuca, Tasmania. It has not been seen there since, but has been recorded on
the mainland a few times. At over 8 years old it is one of the oldest known in
the wild. The one with blue on both legs was banded in 2012 in Melaleuca and
the third parrot has no bands. They are all adult males.
More information on these incredible birds can be found here...
http://www.birdlife.org.au/projects/orange-bellied-parrot-recovery
http://www.birdsaustralia.com.au/our-projects/orange-bellied-parrot-mainland-recovery.html
https://www.facebook.com/savetheobp
And before I forget... the photos that I took are here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/40090747@N05/sets/72157630056811012/with/7341034932/
By the way, I did not approach these birds any further than from where we
initially saw them. They seemed oblivious to our presence and continued feeding
in the area and were still then when we left. I know that a very few
photographers, especially of rare birds, can be irresponsible in trying to get
a great shot. In my opinion, these are in the minority of those of us who bird
and take photographs.
Cheers from down under,
R. Bruce Richardson
Kyneton, VIC
AUS
