Hi all, Its been fantastic to hear about the adventures of all who have made the pilgrimage to Newhaven in search of Princess Parrots. As virtually the NT’s only significant piece of desert land managed solely for conservation, Newhaven is certainly proving its worth to the world right now. I have followed the speculation on Princess Parrots and ‘Upsidedown’ plants with interest. I’ve seen captive managed Princess Parrots at the Alice Springs Desert Park eat a huge range for foods including flowers (they especially enjoy mealworms!). In the wild I have observed Princess Parrots appearing to drink from or nibble Desert Bloodwood (Corymbia opaca) flowers but I didn’t put too much weight on it. I have seen every parrot species in the centre drink or nibble flowers of some description at some point over the years, and as I understand it Upsidedown Plants are not especially uncommon across the region (I am no botanist though!). The majority of desert birds (in the dry sand country particularly) become very opportunistic when it comes to sources of moisture. Something to bear in mind about desert birds is that unlike birds in mare stable environments, their behaviour and habitat-use can change dramatically with the strange climate which has shaped our deserts. Some deal with this by becoming total nomads in the hope they will find good conditions somewhere (i.e. Black Honeyeater will vanish from a site for years then reappear on mass as soon as things green up). Some species stick it out if the habitat allows, falling back on trusty refugia to survive (Dusky Grasswren would be a good example of that- they are very loyal to their patch in hard years). Princess Parrots tactics appear to me to be somewhere in the middle, retreating to obscure refugia in the western deserts when times are tough (i.e. 9/10ths of their lives!) but exploding out, travelling large distances when conditions allow but on the whole still visiting sites which they have been known to use in the past. My suspicion is that in boom years their reliance on mature Marble Gum Eucalyptus gongylocarpa for breeding hollows and an associated suite of productive desert grasses is probably the best measure of what makes good PP habitats in wet years. Neither these gums or the native grasses are thriving under the current dysfunctional fire regime in the Centre. The dominance of weed grasses at sites where Princess Parrot were known from in the past such as Alice’s Simpsons Gap probably doesn’t help either, but despite all this it seems the birds are indeed having a good couple of years. And as a result, so are birders! What I would find of enormous interest would be more information on the birds lives during the dry years when we can go almost years at a time between sightings. Where are their most important refugias? Are they secure? What are they eating?
Cheers Mark Carter ===============================
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