Endangered Swift Parrots (Lathamus discolor) are one of only two migratory parrots worldwide that return to Bruny Island in late August to begin their annual breeding program. The island is one of the important and few places in southeast Tasmania where they breed. Of the 700 sites in Tasmania surveyed this year, Swift Parrots were recorded in only 10% of them (71), whereas on BI, at nearly half of the surveyed sites (39 our of 86) Swift Parrots were recorded. The males forage on E. ovata, Black Gum to provide food for their mates who are sitting on between 3-5 eggs in their clutch. The incubation period takes 3 weeks, the task of raising their offspring is shared after the initial few days when the female stays with the chicks. When E. globulus, Blue Gum, comes into flower they’ll forage in these trees and gather the required nectar, lerps (sugary casing of the sap-sucking insects) and phyllids to feed the young and strengthen them so they may fledge about 6 weeks later and begin a life of their own.
The perfect nesting tree is a large senescing tree, that is at least 100 cm in diameter at chest height and is over a 100 years old. They are the perfect tree species as they drop branches creating hollows suitable for nesting. Nests may be from 6 to 20 metres off the ground and sometimes other bird species use the same tree to nest, one example is the little Tree Martin who arrives about the same time each year as the Swift Parrots.
The following documentary was produced in 2007 by the Swift Parrot Recovery Team and the Department of Environment and Climate Change, NSW.
The video runs for 5mins 50 secs