The Broken Boosey Conservation Management Network’s (CMN) Practical Parrot Action Project celebrated the installation of its 100th Turquoise Parrot nest box recently.
Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority CMN Coordinator Janice Mentiplay-Smith said a total of 125 nest boxes were being put up as part of the ‘Practical Parrot Action’ and ‘Bed and Breakfast for the Birds’ projects, which are currently operating in the Warby Ranges and Chesney Vale Hills region of the Goulburn Broken Catchment.
“The Turquoise Parrot is a threatened species that prefers deep hollows in dead trees to nest, but they will settle for a hollow fence posts if nothing else is available,” Ms Mentiplay-Smith said.
“Because of the scarcity of natural tree hollows, we have designed and built 125 nest boxes, with notches or ‘ladders’ on one side of the box so the parrots can climb out.
“The nest boxes are placed in clusters of five at an angle on dead trees in open woodlands, with the entrance at around human-head height.” She said.
The Turquoise Parrot is a seed-only eater, so preserving habitat containing seed-bearing plants is a key element of the project, along with revegetating key habitat areas and linking and protecting patches of remnant native vegetation.
Ms Mentiplay – Smith said working with the community in the Warby Ranges and the Chesney Vale Hills along the way had been a highlight of the two projects.
“We have so many landholders approach us wanting to be part of the project, so it’s wonderful that there is so much interest about Turquoise Parrot conservation,” She said.
“We recently held two field days where 93 attendees converted bushfire salvage timber from the 2014 Wunghnu fires into hollow-log nest boxes to take home and install as nesting habitat for turquoise parrots, or other hollow-dependant species.”
The ‘Practical Parrot Action’ and ‘Bed and Breakfast for the Birds’ projects are supported by the Goulburn Broken CMA with funding from the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) through the Victorian Government's Communities for Nature program.
For more information about the ‘Practical Parrot Action’ and ‘Bed and Breakfast for the Birds’ projects contact Janice Mentiplay-Smith on 5764 7506 / 0418316169 or email janicem@gbcma.vic.gov.au
For more information on the Broken Boosey Conservation Management Network visit www.brokenbooseycmn.com