Mixing traditional knowledge and modern technology Indigenous rangers have found the largest population of one of the country’s rarest birds.
The night parrot is an elusive nocturnal ground dwelling bird and was feared to have gone extinct with no recorded sightings between 1912 and 1979.
It’s believed there are less than 250 night parrots.
A study this week published by the CSIRO has outlined how Ngururrpa Rangers have been able to find a population of 50 birds in the Ngururrpa Indigenous Protected Areas.
Ranger Kathryn Njamme says she first found evidence of the mysterious bird in the spinifex.
I went around to check, on the spinifex , then I found the feathers of night parrots.
“We were so excited. we said to each other, I think there’s more night parrots around here.”
Dingos are also playing their part in protecting the birds.
The study has found that there were more night parrots in areas where there was dingo scat containing feral cats nearby.
“Dingos are doing all that work, killing all the cats .. it’s really helpful for us, ranger Njamme says.
She says she’s hoping the study will lead to more support in keeping the critically endangered bird from vanishing for good.
“Support to get more stuff we need more cameras and song readers so we can put those stuff in other areas, and to see the night parrots as in other areas.
We want to know where those night parrots are, because they move around to other areas where there is water, rock holes and spinifex.”
She says the reaction to the study has been great to see.
It’s gone viral around Australia, so yeah, I think Ngururrpa is going to be more famous for the night parrot. That’s really exciting news.”
Image Credit Wikimedia Commons
