Orange-bellied Parrot Tasmanian Program

Orange-bellied Parrot Tasmanian Program The official page for the Orange-bellied Parrot Tasmanian Program, run by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania.

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H5 bird flu has been confirmed in several migratory wild birds on mainland Australia. It has not been detected in Tasman...
27/06/2026

H5 bird flu has been confirmed in several migratory wild birds on mainland Australia. It has not been detected in Tasmania.

There is no evidence of large-scale wildlife deaths and no detections in poultry.

Ongoing sampling and testing shows bird flu has not been detected in Tasmania, so people and businesses can continue normal activities but should stay vigilant for signs of disease, particularly in birds.

The current risk of bird flu to people in Australia is low.

Avoid. Record. Report.

Do not touch sick or dead birds or other wildlife. Take photos or videos, record the location, type of animal and how many animals, and report to the Emergency Animal Disease hotline on 1800 675 888.

Find out more, or fill in the online reporting form, at www.nre.tas.gov.au/BirdFlu

Are you interested in spending four weeks monitoring Orange-bellied Parrots (OBP) at beautiful Melaleuca?We are currentl...
16/06/2026

Are you interested in spending four weeks monitoring Orange-bellied Parrots (OBP) at beautiful Melaleuca?

We are currently seeking Expressions of Interest (EOI) for volunteers to work with us at the Orange-bellied Parrot Tasmanian Program between September and April. Two volunteers work together at Melaleuca for four weeks, doing daily tasks that involve observing and identifying OBPs and other bird species, providing supplementary feed, and cleaning feed tables.

Does this volunteer role interest you? If so, visit https://nre.tas.gov.au/about-the-department/volunteering/get-involved for more details on the EOI and information on applying. If applying, please outline your experience, skills, and knowledge in relation to the volunteer criteria and your preferred dates.

Applications close on 27th July 2026.

Please contact us at [email protected] for additional information about this exciting opportunity.

It’s been a late breeding season for Orange-bellied Parrots (OBPs) at Melaleuca this year, with new fledglings still bei...
15/06/2026

It’s been a late breeding season for Orange-bellied Parrots (OBPs) at Melaleuca this year, with new fledglings still being recorded at feed tables well into April. Usually by mid-April only a handful of birds would be lingering at Melaleuca before heading on their northward migration – but this year, volunteers were still seeing more than 50 OBPs at feed tables!

As OBPs depart Melaleuca for their wintering grounds, our focus turns again to understanding how and where they migrate. The OBP Tasmanian Program, in conjunction with Zoos Victoria, have now tracked migrating OBPs for two seasons, using VHF technology. A report on the 2025 migration tracking will be published on the NRE Tas website in coming months.

We hope that this season’s birds will provide us with more fascinating and valuable insights into OBP migration.

Read more: https://nre.tas.gov.au/about-the-department/news/orange-bellied-parrots-depart-melaleuca-for-annual-northward-migration

We have officially undertaken our annual census of OBPs that have returned to Melaleuca from migration. This year, 86 bi...
21/12/2025

We have officially undertaken our annual census of OBPs that have returned to Melaleuca from migration. This year, 86 birds have been confirmed as having returned: 35 females and 51 males. Twenty of the returns were bred in captivity and released at Melaleuca as juveniles, and 66 were born at Melaleuca - including 32 born in the 2024-25 season.

Dedicated followers of the OBP might notice that the number of returns this season is lower than last, when 91 birds returned from migration. While we always hope for numbers to increase from one season to the next, an occasional small decrease is not unexpected given the very small increases we’ve seen over previous years. The wild OBP population remains precarious, but ongoing management by NRE Tas and our OBP Recovery Team partners has increased the population from just 17 birds in 2016, to the 86 we recorded this year.

In January, OBP Tasmanian Program staff will start monitoring nest boxes to collect data on reproductive success. We’ll report on this in March, so stay tuned until then!

Our first fledgling Orange-bellied Parrots of the season have arrived at the Five Mile Beach Wildlife Management Facilit...
16/12/2025

Our first fledgling Orange-bellied Parrots of the season have arrived at the Five Mile Beach Wildlife Management Facility!

Their bright orange beaks make them easy to spot before their iconic orange belly patch starts to develop.

Fledglings from Five Mile Beach will either stay in captivity to contribute to the OBP captive insurance population, or be released to the wild at Melaleuca to supplement the wild population.

Two more OBPs have returned to Melaleuca since our last update, bringing the current number of confirmed returns to 85. ...
09/12/2025

Two more OBPs have returned to Melaleuca since our last update, bringing the current number of confirmed returns to 85.

Next Monday is our annual OBP census day, so we won’t provide our usual weekly update until we’ve crunched all the numbers and can provide a full update. Watch this space!

Welcome to the first day of Summer! At Melaleuca, another four Orange-bellied Parrots (OBPs) have been confirmed in the ...
01/12/2025

Welcome to the first day of Summer! At Melaleuca, another four Orange-bellied Parrots (OBPs) have been confirmed in the last week bringing the total to 83 returns.

Two OBPs were born in the same nest box while the other two were born in nest boxes located on poles that were erected by Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania.

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134 Macquarie Street
Hobart, TAS
7000

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