The Swift Parrot - An incredible bird
Bruny Island
The Swift Parrot is a little bright green parrot, it's about 60 grams or so - about half the size of a Rosella. It flies at very high speed - it needs to be able to do that because of its foraging. It needs to get from nest sites out to foraging areas and back again as quickly as possible and it also needs to fly around large areas to locate those foraging areas and they also need to migrate across Bass Strait each year, over-wintering on the Australian mainland and coming to Tasmania to breed. So there's a lot of flying that they do so and they need to be able to do that pretty quickly, so they fly at very high speeds - the fastest parrot in the world – up to 88 kilometres an hour. I think they probably get up to speeds greater than that when they really gun it, if they get a bit of a dive on, they can go well over a hundred kilometres an hour.
The Swift Parrot breeds exclusively in Tasmania. While breeding it mostly forages on the nectar and pollen of two species of Eucalypt, Eucalyptus globulus and Eucalyptus ovata. Both of those trees have been heavily cleared for agriculture, particularly Eucalyptus ovata.
We've lost about 97% of our Eucalyptus ovata woodlands during British occupation. So the Swift Parrot has lost a lot of foraging habitat.
It is difficult to estimate how many birds there are in total but probably a few hundred. So the Swift Parrot is listed as critically endangered.
They fly at very high speeds - the fastest parrot in the world – up to 88 kilometres an hour
The Swift Parrot is a little bright green parrot, it's about 60 grams or so - about half the size of a Rosella. It flies at very high speed - it needs to be able to do that because of its foraging. It needs to get from nest sites out to foraging areas and back again as quickly as possible and it also needs to fly around large areas to locate those foraging areas and they also need to migrate across Bass Strait each year, over-wintering on the Australian mainland and coming to Tasmania to breed. So there's a lot of flying that they do so and they need to be able to do that pretty quickly, so they fly at very high speeds - the fastest parrot in the world – up to 88 kilometres an hour. I think they probably get up to speeds greater than that when they really gun it, if they get a bit of a dive on, they can go well over a hundred kilometres an hour.
The Swift Parrot breeds exclusively in Tasmania. While breeding it mostly forages on the nectar and pollen of two species of Eucalypt, Eucalyptus globulus and Eucalyptus ovata. Both of those trees have been heavily cleared for agriculture, particularly Eucalyptus ovata.
We've lost about 97% of our Eucalyptus ovata woodlands during British occupation. So the Swift Parrot has lost a lot of foraging habitat.
It is difficult to estimate how many birds there are in total but probably a few hundred. So the Swift Parrot is listed as critically endangered.
They fly at very high speeds - the fastest parrot in the world – up to 88 kilometres an hour
You might like...
Blue Gums and Swifties
The Blue Gum – Eucalyptus Globulus – is a very important species of tree for the survival of the Swift Parrot, a critically endangered species that frequents Bruny Island.
Swift parrots and introduced bees compete for nectar
This study illustrates the competition between introduced bees and the endangered Swift Parrot for nectar availability.
Bruny Island nesting box project
The Bruny Island nesting box project provides nesting habitat for the critically endangered Forty-Spotted Pardalote and the Swift Parrot.
Threatened Species on Bruny Island
An extensive report compiled by ecologist Dr Tonia Cochran and Tasmania's Threatened Species Unit into the stunningly varied bird, plant and animal species found on Bruny Island.
Newsletter
Sign up to keep in touch with articles, updates, events or news from Kuno, your platform for nature