Under this Greening Australia project, assistance is available for landholders who wish to direct seed or plant trees and shrubs, or erect fencing to protect or restore Yellow Box, White Pine or Grey Box woodland habitat, for the Superb Parrot. Plantings must be within 30 km of the Murrumbidgee River, with the regions of Narrandera, Coleambally, Leeton, Carrathool, Griffith and Wagga Wagga being targeted.
The project is prioritising sites that are 5-10 hectares in size and/or require 3000+ tubestock.
If you are interested in getting involved, contact Lucy Wenger at Greening Australia – 0439 030 059 or lwenger@greeningaustralia.org.au.
About the Superb Parrot
In the Riverina region, the largest population of Superb Parrots breed along the Murrumbidgee River from Wagga Wagga, west to Carrathool. The majority of known nest sites are located in the river red gums of the Murrumbidgee Valley National Park. Breeding birds forage in woodlands up to 10 km from their nesting sites, and after breeding, the parents and fledglings move further afield. This post-fledging period is thought to be a critical time for the survival of newly independent young birds who disperse over a wide area but lack experience in finding and making use of foraging locations.
The most significant threat to the Superb Parrot in the Riverina is widespread clearing and degradation of foraging habitats, particularly the loss of wattles, native hop bushes and perennial grasses. The Superb Parrot is primarily a seed eater and relies heavily on these plants at different times of the year.
Planting for Superb Parrots
The following species are great for providing habitat and feed for Superb Parrots. These birds love the green seed pods of wattles and hop bushes!
- Acacia buxifolia (Box-Leaf Wattle)
- Acacia deanei (Deane’s Wattle)
- Acacia dealbata (Silver Wattle)
- Acacia decora (Western Silver Wattle)
- Acacia decurrens (Green Wattle)
- Acacia doratoxylon (Currawong)
- Acacia falciformis (Mountain Hickory Wattle)
- Acacia hakeoides (Hakea Wattle)
- Acacia implexa (Hickory Wattle)
- Acacia lanigera (Hairy Wattle)
- Acacia montana (Mallee Wattle)
- Acacia pendula (Weeping Myall)
- Acacia salicina (Cooba)
- Dodonaea viscosa (Wedge-Leaf Hop Bush)
- Eremophila longifolia (Emu Bush)
Even if you are not involved in this project, you may like to add some of these species to your next revegetation project, to provide habitat for this beautiful species!
Greening Australia’s project
Greening Australia is working to protect the Superb Parrot by addressing the loss of foraging habitat and improving the availability of food resources. Sites are being restored which are strategically located within their breeding and immediate post-breeding season range.
Threats will be addressed at priority sites covering approximately 700 ha of land. In more detail, we will be:
- Protecting known and potential habitat, particularly box and myall woodland with native shrubs, such as wattles, hop bushes, saltbushes and native grasses, which will allow ongoing regeneration of local native trees, shrubs and groundcover plants.
- Restore habitat through direct seeding and planting in strategic locations close to known habitat and movement corridors using appropriate local tree, shrub and ground cover species.
- Encourage community participation in the Superb Parrot community monitoring program across the species’ range – the project will engage the community to improve our understanding of the size of the population along the Murrumbidgee River west of Wagga, through an annual monitoring program.
For this project, Greening Australia is working in partnership with Officeworks, the NSW Government’s Saving our Species program, and the NSW Environmental Trust.
