Native bird spotted in Australian state for 1st time in 100 years

A group of four birdwatchers have spotted an Australian night parrot, once thought extinct, for the first time in a century. (Photo by Martin Thompson [Public domain])

The sighting of the night parrot, a small nocturnal bird native to Australia, came three years after the bird was declared extinct and 2,000 kilometers from where it was first rediscovered in Western Queensland.

The group of four men, Bruce Greatwich, Adrian Boyle, Nigel Jackett and George Swann, travelled to a habitat in the outback of Western Australia (WA) that they identified as a potential spotting place for the parrot via detailed aerial maps.

The four men spent a night camping out at the spot they had identified, listening out for the distinctive calls of the parrot.

Greatwich managed to take a photo of the parrot, believed to be one of the few photos of the bird in existence.

The photo confirmed that it was the first confirmed sighting of a night parrot in WA in almost 100 years.

Allan Burbidge, chair of the Night Parrot Recovery Team, said the sighting expanded the known range of the bird by thousands of kilometers.

“Having a photograph now, being absolutely certain (about the birds’ presence), hopefully our regulators will be able to use that,” Burbidge said.