The Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority is highlighting the importance of tree hollows for wildlife in its 2025 Year of the Tree Hollow community awareness campaign.
This month, one of the Goulburn Broken catchment’s critically endangered species, the migratory Swift Parrot, (Lathamus discolor) is featured.
Goulburn Broken CMA Project Officer, Janice Mentiplay-Smith, said the Swift Parrot was one of Australia’s most beautiful parrots but was on a trajectory to extinction if not enough is done to save it.
“With just several hundred of these beautiful birds remaining in the wild, the ‘Swiftie’ is listed as Critically Endangered under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999,” Ms Mentiplay-Smith said.
“Swift Parrots choose the cooler months to make the journey ‘interstate’ from their summer breeding grounds in southern Tasmania to the forests of Victoria’s Goulburn Broken catchment and beyond.
“Swift Parrots are a wonderful example of how biodiversity and habitat health is interconnected and not restricted by boundaries.”
These parrots nest and raise their chicks in tree hollows in southern Tasmania during the summer. They require deep nesting hollows in large old trees, either in the trunk or in the end of a branch and can take up to 150 years to develop.
“When the cooler months arrive, they migrate to our region to feast on the nectar produced by autumn and winter-flowering eucalypts. This is a clear demonstration of how preserving habitat for the needs of our native species is a national effort,” Ms Mentiplay-Smith said.
“Of the 800-900 or so species and sub-species of eucalyptus in Australia, the Goulburn Broken catchment has a mix of trees favoured by the Swift Parrot including grey box, white box, red box, red stringybark and yellow box.”
BirdLife Australia coordinates Swift Parrot search events at Benalla Reef Hills, Boweya, Courtney Springs Reserve, Dookie, Euroa, Heathcote-Graytown, Heathcote-Costerfield, Mangalore Nature Conservation Reserve, Nagambie, Numurkah, Rushworth, Shepparton, Tooborac, Toolleen and Violet Town: https://birdlife.org.au/events/swift-parrot-search/
Local birding group Murray Goulburn BirdLife meets monthly to conduct bird surveys and to enjoy the local environment. Their next outing is on Saturday 21 June, meeting at the southern carpark of Kinnairds Wetland in Numurkah at 10am. For more information, contact: robertsdon680@gmail.com
The Year of the Tree Hollow is supported by the Victorian Government through the Our Catchments Our Communities stewardship program.
Swift Parrot by Chris Tzaros