Hi Woodland Birders,
The first reported Swift Parrot arrivals on the mainland in the past 3-4 weeks has signalled the beginning of their over-wintering season – and Round 1 of our biannual Swift Parrot / Regent Honeyeater surveys is fast approaching!
We are excited to announce that the biannual targeted searches for Swift Parrots and Regent Honeyeaters are set to continue as planned in 2022, in what we hope is a largely undisrupted year given the easing of COVID-19 restrictions.
To help get you all excited and in the mood for surveys, please see this link for a stunning glimpse of Swifties having a drink at an artificial waterhole in North-east Victoria recently.
The 6-week windows for formal surveys in 2022 are:
Round 1: Saturday 23rd April to Sunday 5th June (roughly centred on the traditional 3rd weekend in May)
Round 2: Saturday 16th July to Sunday 28th August (roughly centred on the traditional 1st weekend in August).
Image: Swift Parrot courtesy of Henry Cook
We'd love to have you participate in the collective search for these two critically endangered species. We thank you for your invaluable past support and involvement which has made a significant contribution to the knowledge and conservation management for these species. As always, we also collect all incidental sightings of these two species made at any time of the year - at any mainland location.
For the Regent Honeyeater sightings in particular, we encourage you to let us know ASAP by emailing woodlandbirds@birdlife.org.au or using the freecall number (1800-621-056) - as well as documenting any leg colour band combinations and other relevant details (e.g., number of birds, behaviour, etc.).
Please feel free to get in touch with us about biannual counts or the annual report (woodlandbirds@birdlife.org.au).
Thanks again for your support and involvement in the conservation of our threatened and declining woodland birds.
From Beau, Chris, Dean, Mick, Candice and Kristy.
Beau Meney | Woodland Birds Project Officer
B Sc. (Hons)
BirdLife Australia
Suite 2-05, 60 Leicester Street, Carlton VIC 3053
M 0411 055 563 | T 03 9347 0757 | F 03 9347 9323
beau.meney@birdlife.org.au | birdlife.org.au
ABN 75 149 124 774
