Let’s not forget who found the Night Parrot

By Birding-Aus, on August 12th, 2015

With discussion of the capture, release and tracking of the Night Parrot, by Dr Steve Murphy ‘the world’s foremost expert on the night parrot’, we seem to have forgotten the person that made all this possible. I attended one of John Young’s talks last year and was captivated by his story of 17000 hours searching for the parrot. I was left with the indelible impression it was his single-minded perseverance, that he stuck with this raison d’être. The rest is history; John found the current population. I only wish Steve well with the current ecological study – a study which I understand John has been excluded. The birding community, however, should not allow John to become a footnote to this story. Since John’s exclusion, the herculean value of his effort is highlighted by the premise (again my understanding) that no new populations of the parrot have been found. I believe that John’s story of finding a parrot, thought to be extinct, is the story. The rest is necessary icing on the cake. Regards Alastair > > >

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ccgfh

August 21, 2015 at 7:38 pm

I disagree Carl. It has a better chance of survival being “rediscovered” in my view. John’s discovery is practically the same as finding a new bird species. Perhaps worthy of a rename perhaps Pezoporus Youngi? Certainly one of the greatest birding endeavours we’ll ever see in this country. Another that springs to mind (outside of Australia) is the work done on the Tooth-billed Pigeon (Little Dodo) in Samoa. Happy birding. Cheers, Charles Hunter

mcachard

August 21, 2015 at 5:10 pm

well said!!

l.knight

August 12, 2015 at 1:28 pm

I haven’t read all this discussion, can anyone claim to be an expert on Night Parrots at this stage? To be an expert on a species, you would have to studied a sizeable number of individuals in different populations throughout their lifecycle. I don’t know if anyone alive has studied them sufficiently to be an expert. Has John published his observations anywhere? Once something is published, then people can cite it. You don’t have to be an academic expert to get your observations published. I came across a population of multi-stemmed tree ferns (Cyathea australis) while bushwalking 10 years ago. A number of individuals had over six stems. This is very unusual. I knew very little about ferns, so I teamed up with Peter Bostock from (Queensland Herbarium) and we published a paper in the Pteridologist. There is now a reference point if anyone does a search on the topic. If John hasn’t already published something, I am sure he could get his observations published if he wanted to. Regards, Laurie. On 12 Aug 2015, at 11:45 am, Tony Russell < pratincole08@gmail.com> wrote:

carlsclifford

August 12, 2015 at 12:29 pm

I think that John Young’s finding of the Night Parrot, while well meaning, will probably be more responsible for the demise of the species, than for the survival. It will may be better if he kept shtum. I know I would. Now that a location for the species is known, there will be all kinds of interference with the species, mainly with the best of intentions. Like most cryptic species, the Night Parrot will suffer from those good intentions. Carl Clifford

pratincole08

August 12, 2015 at 11:45 am

Oh brilliant stuff Alistair! Yes, John deserves some official recognition for his years of work, not just by the birding community, but by the community at large and at government and academic levels. He seems to be held in higher regard on an international basis than he is here. I am sure we are all aware of the academic practice of latching on to some initial idea or discovery and then running with it long enough to get a bit more information to publish , get some acclaim, and have the initial work lost to obscurity because the initial work wasn’t published. Totally unfair, but it’s how academia works, publish or be forgotten, dog eat dog. It’s a pity that our politicians aren’t particularly interested in anything that doesn’t earn votes but surely John’s work should be officially documented at national level. How can this be put into place? Tony Russell, Adelaide. —–Original Message—– Sent: Wednesday, 12 August 2015 9:33 AM With discussion of the capture, release and tracking of the Night Parrot, by Dr Steve Murphy ‘the world’s foremost expert on the night parrot’, we seem to have forgotten the person that made all this possible. I attended one of John Young’s talks last year and was captivated by his story of 17000 hours searching for the parrot. I was left with the indelible impression it was his single-minded perseverance, that he stuck with this raison d’être. The rest is history; John found the current population. I only wish Steve well with the current ecological study – a study which I understand John has been excluded. The birding community, however, should not allow John to become a footnote to this story. Since John’s exclusion, the herculean value of his effort is highlighted by the premise (again my understanding) that no new populations of the parrot have been found. I believe that John’s story of finding a parrot, thought to be extinct, is the story. The rest is necessary icing on the cake. Regards Alastair

peter

August 12, 2015 at 11:04 am

I doubt that would ever happen. His name is in every article that’s been published about it since the discovery – perhaps with diminishing frequency, but still there – and lots of us have attended his talks in numerous locations. I’m sure his name will be mentioned in any papers that are eventually published. While Steve Murphy might have by now overtaken John as the foremost expert, or will eventually, surely that’s inevitable and expected. I doubt anyone would dispute that. While it’s generally true that original discoverers end up forgotten by many, I think it’s going to take longer than usual in this case. I was under the impression that very few people thought it was extinct. I’m really interested in the icing. Peter Shute

kbrandwood

August 12, 2015 at 11:01 am

ABSOLUTELY —–Original Message—– Sent: Wednesday, August 12, 2015 10:02 AM With discussion of the capture, release and tracking of the Night Parrot, by Dr Steve Murphy ‘the world’s foremost expert on the night parrot’, we seem to have forgotten the person that made all this possible. I attended one of John Young’s talks last year and was captivated by his story of 17000 hours searching for the parrot. I was left with the indelible impression it was his single-minded perseverance, that he stuck with this raison d’être. The rest is history; John found the current population. I only wish Steve well with the current ecological study – a study which I understand John has been excluded. The birding community, however, should not allow John to become a footnote to this story. Since John’s exclusion, the herculean value of his effort is highlighted by the premise (again my understanding) that no new populations of the parrot have been found. I believe that John’s story of finding a parrot, thought to be extinct, is the story. The rest is necessary icing on the cake. Regards Alastair

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Let’s not forget who found the Night Parrot

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