Swift Parrot Lathamus discolor Scientific name definitions

25 cm; 50–74 g. Green , with forehead and front of face, chin and throat  red outlined with yellow except for deep blue patch on mid-crown  ; underwing-coverts  , undertail-coverts, shoulder and lesser wing-coverts red, outer secondary coverts tinged blue, primary coverts and primaries dark bluish; some red feathers on flanks, but individually variable; tail dark reddish above, dull grey below. Female similar. Immature duller, with less red.

Tasmania, breeding mostly along SE coast. Winters in SE & E Australian mainland from SE South Australia to SE Queensland, especially in C Victoria (2 BirdLife International (2013). IUCN Red List for birds. URL: http://www.birdlife.org (download Aug 2013). Close ).

In breeding season eucalypt forest, especially those with blue gum (Eucalyptus globulus), but also gardens and parks. In winter remnant open forest  areas within agricultural land, parklands and suburbs.

Austral migrant, moving to Australian mainland Jan–May, a few birds remaining in Tasmania year-round; on wintering grounds irregularly dispersive and nomadic, following eucalypt flowering  and psyllid lerp infestations, except at centre of distribution in S & C Victoria, unless occasional widespread flowering allows large-scale movements throughout winter range.

Pollen and nectar, especially from Eucalyptus blossoms, in particular blue gum, but also Banksia and Xanthorrhoea flowers, supplemented by insects and their larvae, notably psyllid lerps, fruit, berries and seeds. On mainland dependent on winter flowering eucalypts, notably E. sideroxylon, E. leucoxylon, E. albens and E. ovata, and on E. viminalis in autumn.

Commonest vocalization a distinctive double note "chit-chit" and longer twittering series of the same note. Whe  feeding, also musical warbling notes. Alarm call a series of sharp notes "kik-kik-kik". 

Oct–Jan. Nest in hole 7–20 m up in tree, usually a mature or senescent blue gum, often semi-colonially, sometimes with Neophema chrysostoma; once in crevice in wall. Eggs  3–5; in captivity, incubation lasting c. 20 days, and nestling period c. 10 weeks.

CRITICALLY ENDANGERED. CITES II. Restricted-range species: present in Tasmania EBA. Breeding and wintering distributions vary considerably from year to year in response to rainfall, which affects the availability of food (3 Saunders, D.L. and Heinsohn, R. (2008). Winter habitat use by the endangered, migratory Swift Parrot (Lathamus discolor) in New South Wales. Emu. 108(1): 81-89. Close ). Range appears to have contracted, with only irregular recent records of small flocks or individual birds from the south-east of the state. Population estimate of c. 2000 mature individuals, declining (4 Garnett, S. T., J. K. Szabo, and G. Dutson (2011). The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2010. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Victoria, Australia. Close ). Abundance of E. globulus greatly reduced in Tasmania: some 56% of the original grassy E. globulus forest in Tasmania has been cleared (5 Brereton, R., Mallick, S.A. and Kennedy, S.J. (2005). Foraging preferences of Swift Parrots on Tasmanian Blue-gum: tree size, flowering frequency and flowering intensity. Emu. 104(4): 377-383. Close ); the remaining 8000 ha is found on private land, only 1500 ha is protected (5 Brereton, R., Mallick, S.A. and Kennedy, S.J. (2005). Foraging preferences of Swift Parrots on Tasmanian Blue-gum: tree size, flowering frequency and flowering intensity. Emu. 104(4): 377-383. Close ). Forest clearance within Tasmanian breeding range continues to be the main threat, with a similar loss of mature, productive winter food trees; some illegal trapping has also occurred. Sand some birds are still trapped illegally for trade, though the species does poorly in captivity. Competition for nest-sites with Common Starlings Sturnus vulgaris and for food with the introduced bumblebee Bombus terrestris are undocumented potential problems. The sugar glider (Petaurus breviceps), an introduced marsupial, has been found to be a serious nest predator eating over 50% of nesting females (6 Stojanovic, D., M. H. Webb, R. Alderman, L. L. Porfirio, and R. Heinsohn (2014). Discovery of a novel predator reveals extreme but highly variable mortality for an endangered migratory bird. Diversity and Distributions 20(10):1200–1207. Close ); a recent population viability analysis projected a mean 86·9% decline over three generations (16 years) and therefore suggested listing the species as Critically Endangered (7 Heinsohn, R., Webb, M., Lacy, R., Terauds, A., Alderman, R. and Stojanovic, D. (2015). A severe predator-induced population decline predicted for endangered, migratory swift parrots (Lathamus discolor). Biological Conservation. 186: 75–82. Close ), a move which was ratified in 2015 BirdLife International (2016) Species factsheet: Lathamus discolor. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 25/01/2016. . Currently considered Endangered at the national level in Australia (4 Garnett, S. T., J. K. Szabo, and G. Dutson (2011). The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2010. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Victoria, Australia. Close ), although a proposal for uplisting to Critically Endangered was submitted in 2015. Continued planting of blue gum as shelter-belts and ornamentals is important for the survival of this species (5 Brereton, R., Mallick, S.A. and Kennedy, S.J. (2005). Foraging preferences of Swift Parrots on Tasmanian Blue-gum: tree size, flowering frequency and flowering intensity. Emu. 104(4): 377-383. Close ). Public lands harbouring the species should be managed in its favour and management agreements should be sought for private properties. Climate change may pose another threat to the Swift Parrot, since almost a quarter of nesting habitat, predominantly in NE Tasmania, is projected to become climatically unsuitable by the end of the 21st century (8 Porfirio, L.L., Harris, R.M.B., Stojanovic, D., Webb, M.H. and Mackey, B. (2016). Projected direct and indirect effects of climate change on the Swift Parrot, an endangered migratory species. Emu. 116(3): 273–283. Close ).