Superb parrot  (Polytelis swainsonii)

The superb parrot’s population has been declining for over a century, largely as a result of habitat loss and deforestation, particularly of box woodlands, for farming and grazing purposes and urban development (4) (8) (9). Regeneration is often prevented due to high levels of grazing by livestock and rabbits or inappropriate fire regimes (4). It takes a gum tree about 100 years to develop tree hollows, which the parrots need to nest in (8). When the dead trees, which often provide the hollows needed for nesting, fall or are cleared for firewood, there may be no replacements (4) (6). Furthermore, the superb parrot must compete with feral bees and native and exotic hollow-nesting birds for what few tree hollows remain (10). Additional, but less significant, threats include illegal trapping, road mortality as the birds feed on grain spills, and possibly pesticide poisoning (4) (8).

Regular surveys are conducted in much of the superb parrot’s range (4), and an Action Plan has been developed for the species (7). Forestry operations in riparian breeding habitat have also been given guidelines to help conserve the species, but these have sometimes been ignored (4).