Swift Parrot

The Swift Parrot (Lathamus discolor) is one of the world's three migratory parrots, breeding in the eucalypt forests of Tasmania before crossing Bass Strait each autumn to winter on the mainland. They are small, torpedo-shaped birds with rapid, swooping flight — bright grass-green with crimson on the face and a splash of cobalt on the crown.

The species is now Critically Endangered, with an estimated population of fewer than 2,000 birds. The primary threat is predation by introduced sugar gliders in Tasmania, which kill nesting females at rates that have halved the population in a decade. Sugar gliders were introduced to Tasmania by people keeping them as pets — they did not occur naturally there — and they are wreaking havoc on hollow-nesting birds across the island.

On mainland Australia, Swift Parrots winter in flowering eucalypt woodland from Queensland to South Australia, following the irregular flowering of yellow box, grey box, and related species. They can be found in flocks feeding actively in the canopy alongside other honeyeaters, with birds often visible at close range when feeding on flowers in lower trees.

The best mainland sites are in the ACT (Black Mountain, Canberra Nature Park) and adjacent NSW ranges when yellow box is flowering, and in the Capertee Valley and Box-Ironbark woodland of central Victoria.

The species is the subject of urgent legal battles over logging in Tasmania, which reduces hollow availability for nesting.