A Review of the Conservation Status of Australian Parrots in 1987"
Leo Joseph
c/- 1 Angas Street, Kent Town, South Australia 5067, Australia
(Received 3 October 1987; revised version received 25 March 1988; accepted 5 April 1988)
A B S T R A C T
The last ten to fifteen years have seen a great increase in detailed, ecological work on Australian parrots. The challenge for their conservation now is not just to continue that work and extend the number of species studied but to conserve existing natural habitats in the face of often increasing pressures of agricultural and industrial development. Of special concern is the degradation and loss of natural vegetation in the southern, agricultural regions of Australia.
I N T R O D U C T I O N
The last reviews of the conservation status of Australian parrots were those o fG. T. Smith (1979) and Forshaw (1981). Smith (1979) devised a system that quantitatively relates a species' status (i.e. abundant and increasing, common and stable, etc.) to important ecological parameters and so identifies species in need of particular attention. Forshaw (1981) briefly focused on major issues. In addition, Low (1984) looked at some of the most threatened Australian species and discussed captive breeding and trade, especially of rare species. These points will be taken up in the discussion.
* Occasional Paper No. 1 of the Parrot Specialist Group of the International Council for Bird Preservation.
Blakers et al. (1984) provided useful summaries of distributional and ecological knowledge of all Australian birds.
In this paper, the more relevant and recent (post c. 1975) ecological and distributional studies of rarer Australian parrots are summarised, especially those not already summarised by Blakers et al. (1984), the management proposals that may have resulted from those studies and whether they appear to have been acted upon. Conservation-related subjects in need of study are also suggested. Where appropriate, references to recent taxonomic work are included. The review is concluded with a discussion of some broader issues such as habitat loss and declining nest-hollow availability, these having relevance to the majority of Australian parrots. The geographical scope of the paper is mainland Australia and its continental islands, including Tasmania. Lord Howe and Norfolk islands have not been included. Nomenclature generally follows Blakers et al. (1984) except where indicated.
SPECIES-ACCOUNTS
Table 1 is a simplified summary of threats and research needs for selected, rarer Australian parrots. The following species-accounts elaborate on the Table and discuss other species. Figures 1-3 show the distributions of a number of the species, subspecies and populations discussed.
Palm cockatoo Probosciger aterrimus
Recent protection of the palm cockatoo's rainforest habitat on Cape York Peninsula will help its conservation in the face of agricultural and mining activities (Boles & Edden, 1986). Monitoring and data on the bird's unknown population dynamics are required.
Australian birds are intermediate in size between the two subspecies P. a. a ter r imus and P. a. gol ia th (see Mees, 1982) and this is an added incentive for their conservation. The author supports the recent transfer of this species from Appendix II to Appendix I of CITES.
Loyn (1985) and P. Smith (1985), in their studies of the effects on birds of logging in eucalypt forests, have shown that this species prefers to feed and nest in areas of mature forest or older regrowth. Further knowledge of this species' ecology would aid its management in logged areas.
Conservation o f Australian parrots 263
T A B L E 1 Summary of Threats and Research Needs for Selected Australian Parrots
(See text for details and notes on other species. Current and recent research described in text.)
Species/ Loss or Live Research References subspecies degradation of trapping required
Feeding Nesting habitat habitat
1. South-western Australia Black-cockatoos Calyptorhynchus
5. Inland Australia Night parrot Pezoporus occidentalis ? ?
Ecology in relation to fire regime; Extent of trapping
Field searches and ecology
Forshaw (1981)
+, Threats being experienced; ?, possibly or probably under threat but accurate interpretation hindered by lack of data.
Fig. 1. Distribution of selected species, subspecies and populations discussed in the text and Table 1, based on Blakers et al. (1984). 1, Glossy black-cockatoo; 2, Coxen's fig-parrot; 3, Superb parrot; 4, Regent parrot; 5, Ground parrot; 6, Golden-shouldered parrot, 7, Orange- bellied parrot; & Scarlet-chested parrot; 9, Northern rosella; 10, Naretha blue bonnet. Note that the species shown here and discussed in the text occur mostly in the peripheral, more settled, parts of Australia. Omitted for simplicity, though reinforcing this pattern and discussed in the text, are: palm cockatoo, gang-gang cockatoo, red-tailed black-cockatoo (see also Fig. 2), funereal cockatoo, slender-billed corella (see also Fig. 3) rock parrot and
turquoise parrot.
Conservation of Australian parrots 265
Fig. 2. Distribution of subspecies of the red-tailed black-cockatoo Calyptorhynchus magnificus based on J. Ford (1980) and Joseph (1982a). Note that C. m. graptogyne of Adams
et al. (1984) is at present a nomen nudum; nominate rnagni/i~s may be further divisible.
The population of south-eastern Australia (Table 1, Fig. 2) is endangered through habitat loss. Joseph (1982a) recommended (a) that work be conducted to determine the extent to which the birds utilise a secondary food resource, bulloak Allocasuarina luehmannii, and whether existing rates of regeneration of that food are sufficient to maintain it; and (b) whether habitat fragmentation, particularly in South Australia, is adversely affecting the population's rate of breeding. Both recommendations remain to be acted upon.
Published ecological data on other populations of C. magnificus are scattered and not detailed. There are obvious threats only to the forest red- tailed black-cockatoo C. m. naso of lower south-western Western Australia. It is likely to suffer adversely as a consequence of current forest management practices leading to a decline in nest-hollow availability (Saunders et al.
1985). The taxonomic status of the two ecologically and morphologically
distinct populations inhabiting south-western Australia (naso and samueli, see J. Ford, 1980) and that of the equally distinct south-eastern Australian population require clarification.
The population dynamics of this ecologically specialised species require study.
266 Leo Joseph
The Kangaroo Island population was studied in 1979-80 (Joseph, 1982b) when at least 115 were counted. Recommendations were made for further census work and research into the age and sex structure and reproductive success of the population. The author conducted a brief follow-up study in July 1987. Only 15 were seen, but evidence of the birds still using the areas documented earlier and some additional minor areas was obtained. Further monitoring of the population is being planned. One of the major areas inhabited by the population has recently been declared Latham Conser- vation Park by the South Australian Government.
The isolated population of C.f. xanthanotus on Eyre Peninsula is threatened with extinction. Possingham (1986) could locate only 33 birds in this population in early 1984 and Nias (1988) indicates a further decline.
Saunders (1986) developed a method for assessing the viability of populations of Carnaby's cockatoo C.f. latirostris. The method will almost certainly prove adaptable for use with other calyptorhynchids. Saunders & Ingrain (1987; see other papers by Saunders et al. in References) have indicated that this bird is likely to become extremely rare if there is a continuation of land-use practices whereby food reserves become increasingly fragmented and nest-sites and regenerating natural vegetation become scarcer. The long.billed black-cockatoo C. baudinii, the sibling of C.f. latirostris (following taxonomy of Saunders, 1979), is likely to decline due to current forest management practices in the south-west of Western Australia leading to a shortage of nest-hollows (Saunders et aL, 1985).
The taxonomic status of eastern Australian populations warrants further study (Saunders, 1979; Courtney, 1986).
The case for recognising the species and subspecies shown in Fig. 3 has been developed by J. Ford (1985, 1987). Following indications that short-billed sanguinea and long-billed pastinator are overlapping without significant hybridisation in upper south-western Western Australia (Saunders et al., 1985) and have done so for 75 years (J. Ford, 1985), three species have been provisionally recognised (contrary to Schodde et al., 1979): long-billed pastinator and tenuirostris and short-billed sanguinea. C. pastinator thus construed consists of two populations; the smaller northern birds were described by J. Ford (1987) as C. p. butleri partly to draw attention to the effects of habitat despoliation on morphologically distinguishable bird populations in southern Australia, though Saunders el al. (1985) noted that its range has expanded. J. Ford (1987) claimed there is no evidence of 'past
Conservation of Australian parrots 267
Fig. 3. Distribution of the Australian corellas Cacatua spp. based on J. Ford (1985, 1987). Unbroken lines enclose populations of the short-billed species C. sanguinea. Broken lines enclose long-billed populations as indicated. Subspecies of C. sanguinea are not pertinent
here.
geographical connection by a clinally intermediate population' though earlier (J. Ford, 1985) thought it possible. They were perhaps once geographically continuous (Saunders et al., 1985).
The slender-billed corella Cacatua tenuirostris of south-eastern Australia is a pest in seed-growing areas of the region and studies of it have been reported by Emison & Beardsell (1985) and Temby & Emison (1986). More than 90% of the birds' diet is now composed of cereal grains, sunflower and thistle seeds, and the corms of the introduced onion grass Romulea spp. The situation is being monitored by both agricultural and wildlife management authorities.
C. p. pastinator evidently numbers c. 1000 but could become an agri- cultural nuisance should oil seeds be grown within its range (Saunders et al., 1985). Its distribution and movements are relatively well known but close monitoring seems desirable.
The long-billed corellas of both south-eastern and south-western Australia underwent major declines in the latter part of the 19th and early 20th centuries; both were placed on lists of rare and endangered species but are now agricultural pests at least in some areas (Saunders et al., 1985). The same authors note that the birds' habit of flocking can lead to significant proportions of the population being quickly eliminated. They cite a case of one thousand corellas being poisoned on one farm in the last ten years and, based on sightings of tagged birds, a flock of this size represents the population from an area of up to 6000 km 2.
268 Leo Joseph
Pink cockatoo Cacatua leadbeateri (Table 1)
The ecology of this species in Western Australia is under study by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) (preliminary summary in Smith, 1979). Saunders et al. (1985) cited declining availability of nest sites, a problem aggravated by nesting pairs' intolerance of other pairs within two kilometres of an active nest, and popularity as an aviary bird as pressures additional to habitat loss leading to a decline.
Quantitative study and survey of the distribution and ecology of the species in eastern Australia are needed to refine our understanding of its conservation needs there.
The bird has declined greatly due to clearing and logging of its favoured habitats, lowland dry and subtropical rainforest, especially those in more alluvial areas (Martindale, 1986). Martindale himself only encountered the fig-parrots on one occasion during 135 h of searching at 11 sites in June, July and December 1985. The Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union is continuing attempts to fund further field studies.
Although Frith & Calaby (1953) suggested that the species and its habitat were secure, Schrader (1980) noted that the habitat is under pressure from altered agricultural practices. Webster (1988) has shown that this species does nest colonially as do eastern Australian P. anthopeplus (Beardsell, 1985; Burbidge, 1985) and P. alexandrae (Storr, 1977; Forshaw, 1981). Studies should be made of colony size and nest-site characteristics. Almost certainly, this species is experiencing the same loss of habitat and fragmentation of its gene pool that evidently are being experienced a little farther to the west by P. anthopeplus (see below).
Beardsell (1985) and B urbidge (1985) studied aspects of the breeding biology of the eastern Australian population. The main findings of their studies are as follows:
(1) the parrots nest in old, senescent or dead river red gums Eucalyptus camaldulensis within 60 m of permanent water and the trees have greater than average height, DBH and height to first branch;
(2) the parrots nest in colonies and as isolated pairs;
Conservation of Australian parrots 269
(3) known colonies occur in four major clusters along the River Murray with only a few nests having been found away from these areas (Appendix I of Burbidge, 1985); and
(4) the presence of nearby malee scrub and Christmas or red mallee Eucalyptus socialis are the best predictors of nesting locations.
The continued existence of sufficient numbers of suitably old or dead red gums needs to be guaranteed and the numbers that constitute sufficiency need definition. More information is needed on colony size, rates of nesting success and the natural foods of the eastern Australian population. Burbidge (1986) emphasised that the most important reason for the decline of this bird as a breeding species in eastern Australia has been the loss of malice. He suggested also that oats treated with the pesticide 1080 (= 92% sodium monofluoroacetate) may have caused the death of many regent parrots, a non-target species, in the past.
Western Australian birds may nest in loose colonies (Burbidge, 1986; J. Long, pers. comm.). Burbidge (1986) noted that the population increased in the Western Australian wheatbelt following agricultural development but that by the 1950s the birds were declining with increasing rates of vegetation clearance, which led also to a decline in food and nesting sites. The loss of salmon gums Eucalyptus salmonophloia (Saunders et al., 1982) is now further limiting the number of available breeding sites. Furthermore, the western populations have been affected by an unusual factor, that of the change from handling cereal grain in bags to a bulk handling system. This means that grain is available for a much shorter period and spillage is reduced (J. Long, pers. comm., in Burbidge, 1986).
Long unburnt ( > 20 years) and very frequently burnt ( < 4 years) heathlands are relatively unsuitable for this parrot in south-eastern Australia (Meredith et al., 1984). Meredith (1984) further stressed that the ground parrot's responses to fire have only been determined for temperate heathlands such as those that occur in southern New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. Preliminary work in the subtropical heathlands of northern New South Wales and southern Queensland indicates that there the birds have very different responses to fire and Western Australian populations may differ again.
Watkins (1985), in a survey of the Western Australian populations, found only two, one in the Cape Arid National Park and the other in the Hopetoun to Bremer Bay region. Unconfirmed reports from other coastal areas west to Augusta probably warrant further investigation.
270 Leo Joseph
The species is evidently extinct in South Australia despite some recent, unsubstantiated reports.
Night parrot Pezoporus occidentalis (Table 1)
Far from being dependent on porcupine grass Triodia spp. for food, shelter and nest sites as popularly thought in recent years, this species can also be found 'among the samphire flats bordering salt lake beds, and these are frequently a long distance from fresh water' (Wilson, 1937). This is now clear from recent field records (Gibson, 1986) and re-examinations of literature and museum records (Forshaw et al., 1976; Parker, 1980; Schodde & Mason, 1981).
Except in years when Triodia is heavily in seed, it is still probably most useful to search for the night parrot in the low, succulent vegetation around inland salt lakes and also in thickets of lignum Muehlenbeckia spp. in the same areas. The four major parts of the bird's range--(1) the Gawler Ranges-Lake Torrens-Lake Gairdner-Flinders Ranges region (Powell, 1970; Forshaw et al., 1976); (2) Cooper's Creek floodplain-Simpson Desert region (Parker, 1980); (3) the salt lakes of inland western Australia and associated Triodia breakaways and saltbush flats (Storr, 1986); and (4) north- western Victoria (Menkhorst & Isles, 1981)--still warrant searching. A search of the Lake Disappointment area in Western Australia in September 1987 was unsuccessful.
Publication of further details, with respect to identification and habitat, of eight recent reports (in Blakers et al., 1984; Parker, 1980 and McKean, 1985) would aid efforts to conserve this species.
Weaver (1982, 1987) commented that much of the possible breeding range of this bird was not examined in his work and so the birds could be breeding in an area larger than the c. 800 km 2 from which breeding has been confirmed. Weaver's papers raise several points, some of which have potentially serious ramifications for the survival of this bird:
(1) a preference for nesting in conical termitaria in which the birds have to spend less time, water and energy cooling the eggs to avoid lethal incubation temperatures;
(2) seed availability in the grassy understorey having been affected to an incompletely understood extent by altered fire frequencies following European settlement; and
(3) current levels of trapping for the cage-bird trade, details of which seem unavailable.
Conservation of Australian parrots 271
Paradise parrot Psephotus puleherrimus (Table 1)
No evidence is forthcoming to suggest that this species is still extant. Rumours and reports of the birds, sometimes dating back to the 1950s and sometimes more recent (Schmidt, 1986), are usually unsubstantiated and often shrouded in secrecy. No reports of this species from the base of Cape York Peninsula have been substantiated (contrary to Chisholm, 1945).
Although the species may have been declining naturally (Forshaw, 1981), its apparently total disappearance evidently was hastened by the loss of its favoured food source of native grass seeds. This in turn has been suggested to have resulted from drought and overgrazing (Forshaw, 1981), altered fire frequencies (Chisholm, 1945), the spread of prickly pear Opuntia (Lendon, 1973), or a combination of these factors.
Rock parrot Neophema petrophila
Smith (1979) suggested that the Rock Parrot may be at risk. On examining a method used in his analysis, that of assigning numerically less significance to species inhabiting vegetation formations less than 2 m in height, however, one need not be so concerned for this species. It prefers coastal habitats, which are not subjected to the same ecological pressures, such as grazing, as other vegetation formations less than 2 m in height. The species may become locally scarce, however, as a result of human development, e.g. on Rottnest Island (D. A. Saunders, pers. comm.).
Brown & Wilson (1984) reviewed knowledge of this species, which then appeared to number possibly between 160 and 180 individuals, and proposed a detailed Recovery Plan for the bird's future conservation and management. This Plan is the most detailed of its kind ever produced in Australia but it is too early to assess whether it is having its full effect. Orange-bellied parrots continue to be the subject of the intense field study upon which the species' survival depends (Brown & Wilson, 1984). Co- operation between State Governments advocated in the Recovery Plan is vital to its success. Also, the range of threats to the bird from human activities is alarming: spread of the fungus Phytophthora cinnamomi, trampling of food plants by stock, disturbance to coastal habitats by vehicles and shack construction, mineral exploration and trapping for aviculture.
Loyn et al. (1986) and Jessop & Reid (1986) published major advances in our knowledge of this species' wintering ecology, particularly details of food
272 Leo Joseph
plants. The latter authors noted also that numbers at traditional wintering sites were low in 1984 and 1985. However, it is possible that not all wintering sites are known and some birds are being overlooked.
Turquoise parrot Neophema pulchella
Having recovered from a decline to rarity in the early part of this century, the species is now uncommon but perhaps not endangered (Morris, 1980). However, Forshaw (1981) notes that the species has not recovered in central eastern Queensland. There, the drought of 1902 may have been a major natural environmental factor involved in the bird's decline and was not only severe but co-incident with the expansion of pastoralism. The resulting impact on ground cover could well be expected to affect the turquoise parrot and other species dependent on seeds of native grasses. The species may be susceptible to severe drought elsewhere in its range and its present relatively high numbers should not be a cause for complacency.
The range and abundance of a small, isolated population in far eastern Victoria (Traill, 1986) requires clarification.
The population in the Murray mallee region of South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales, if resident there, is probably isolated (Blakers et al., 1984) and we need more data on its range, abundance and ecology. It is known principally from the northern, still uncleared parts of that region.
DISCUSSION
Habitat loss and degradation
Recher (1985) noted that most of the Australian continent had been colonised and converted to farms and grazing lands within one hundred years of settlement in 1788. Approximately 75% of Australia's rainforests (inhabited by about l0 parrot species (Forshaw, 1981)) have been cleared and the remaining 22 500 km 2, which include such well-publicised areas as the Daintree River tropical rainforests, are scattered and vulnerable (Keto et al., 1985). Coxen's fig-parrot is the most seriously affected by clearance of rainforest and is now one of Australia's most endangered birds. The extensive eucalypt forests and woodlands of south-western and south- eastern Australia, inhabited by some 35 species, have been either heavily
Conservation of Australian parrots 273
cleared for agriculture, or, in the case of the taller forests, logged. In south- western Western Australia, nearly 130 000 km 2 had been cleared by 1968 and 54% of all land developed for agriculture in that State was cleared between 1945 and 1982 (Saunders et al., 1985). The trends have been similar in south-eastern Australia. Agricultural clearing has created an open woodland environment in which many species such as the largely nectarivorous lorikeets and the seed-eating genera Platycercus and Psephotus and galahs Cacatua roseicapilla have mostly thrived (Wyndham & Cannon, 1985; G. T. Smith & Saunders, 1986); others such as pink cockatoos and Carnaby's cockatoo are faced with dubious long-term survival prospects, the latter already having experienced local extinctions because of excessive clearing (Saunders et al., 1985). P. Smith (1985) noted that in the eastern half of New South Wales only a third of the original 40 million ha of eucalypt forest and woodland remains. Much of this is subject to logging. Kavanagh et al. (1985) showed that hollow-nesting birds such as parrots are among those most adversely affected by this activity. Larger species such as the gang-gang cockatoo in south-eastern Australia and the forest red-tailed black-cockatoo and long-billed black-cockatoo in south- western Australia are important examples. The extent of logging can be appreciated from a contract cited by P. Smith (1985) and applicable to southern New South Wales which provides 530 000 tonnes of logs a year for 20 years. P. Smith (1985) noted similar logging projects in Tasmania and Western Australia.
The semi-arid zone vegetation communities of southern Australia that are dominated by various multi-stemmed eucalypts, which are usually not higher than 5-10 m and collectively termed mallee, have been devastated. Mallee is inhabited by some 23 parrot species (Schodde, 1981). In the heavily cleared County of Buccleuch in South Australia, for example, 94-83% of the original mallee, which blanketed the County and adjacent regions, had been cleared by 1978 (Harris, 1976; Barrittt & Mowling, 1979). Again, a major concern here is over long-term availability of nest hollows in a dwindling resource of relatively small mallee trees. The pink cockatoo, regent parrot and scarlet-chested parrot are the species most in need of immediate further study in the mallee.
Degradation of much of the remaining vegetation on agricultural land, including mallee, was illustrated for south-western Australia by Saunders et al. (1982) and this is similarly problematic in eastern Australia (Forshaw, 1981). It is of special relevance to long-term availability of nest hollows for parrots.
In a sample of 194 salmon gums, 23% were healthy and 19% dead in 1978 while in 1981 less than 5% were healthy and more than 40% dead. Furthermore, introduced rabbits or sheep eat most seedlings, thus inhibiting
274 Leo Joseph
regeneration. (For further information see papers by Saunders et al. cited in the References.)
In the arid zone, inhabited by at least 16 species, there has been extensive overgrazing rather than clearance (see Messer & Mosley, 1983), which has increased erosion and seriously inhibited growth patterns of understorey plants. Data on the effects of this on parrots are lacking. Possibly, the night parrot experienced a decline because of grazing and the arrival of feral predators such as foxes and cats. Parrots have benefited in the arid zone from the provision of watering points. In the northern, tropical woodlands, inhabited by approximately 10 species, pastoralism has brought increased frequencies of burning and this has surely affected the dynamics of seeding by native grasses, which are important to parrots, especially the northern rosella and golden-shouldered parrots. The CSIRO has initiated studies of the ecological effects of the altered burning regime.
Research on parrots should continue, especially in agricultural areas, on revegetation and habitat requirements, population dynamics, breeding biology particularly with respect to ensuring availability of adequate nest- hollows, measurement of food resources and the interaction of social organisation with ecology. The last point is already known to restrict the utilisation of available nest hollows in Carnaby's and pink cockatoos (Saunders et aL, 1985). Legislative control of vegetation clearance, such as initiated in South Australia, is also necessary. The rarer species cannot be expected to withstand more habitat loss while the now commoner species will inevitably become threatened if current land management practices are not altered (H. Ford, 1985; Wyndham & Cannon, 1985).
Export of native parrots, trade and trapping
Black (1985) and de la Motte & Phipps (1987) dealt with the suggestion of exporting parrots that become pests in agricultural areas. It is usually offered as a means of lessening the agricultural problems, as an aid to conservation by providing money that can be put back into research and as a way of reducing illegal traffic in rare species. They conclude that long-term management based on sound ecology is more important. Also, not only is nothing to be gained from such export but we may only be adding pressures to already endangered birds: increased legal trapping will facilitate export of non-target rare species. Increased legal trade will result in manpower resources of law enforcement agencies being taken from more urgent and important work so that the trade can be administered. A foreign country is unlikely to want species that are potential agricultural pests.
Trapping at present is almost certainly not a major threat to Australian parrots, with the possible exceptions noted in Table 1. It is very difficult, however, to obtain firm data on the amount of trapping which occurs.
Conservation of Australian parrots 275
The potential for adverse biological consequences of free interstate traffic in parrots, such as advocated in Low (1984), at the places of destination and origin, must not be overlooked. Feral populations of at least three species that are common in their natural ranges in Australia, namely rainbow lorikeets Trichoglossus haematodus, sulphur-crested cockatoos Cacatua galerita and Port Lincoln ringnecks Barnardius zonarius, are now established around several cities (Forshaw, 1981) and can be expected to cause problems by competing for food and nest-sites with local species.
Captive breeding of endangered species
The author supports in principle the captive breeding in Australia of parrots whose populations are no more than a few hundred or fewer individuals. However, no Australian species with the possible exceptions of Coxen's fig- parrot, the paradise parrot and the orange-bellied parrot, is known to have declined to the point where captive breeding should be given a higher priority than habitat retention and conservation of existing populations.
The potential threat of nematodes
Australian parrots are evidently vulnerable to infection by Ascaridia nematodes (Mawson, 1985). Some 25 native Australian parrots have died in captivity with heavy infections of these nematodes in the gut later having been diagnosed as the cause of death. Mawson also reported the occurrence of an Ascaridia infection in one individual of a feral colony of the peach- faced lovebird Agapornis roseicollis in South Australia. The bird had died of other causes but had probably spread eggs of the nematode in a habitat of native parrots. This, together with the native species' obvious susceptibility, indicates the need to prevent the further releases of native or exotic species of cage birds.
The following points express the conservation needs of Australian parrots.
(1) Re-vegetation and continued efforts to prohibit further vegetation clearance by legislative means in the agricultural regions of the south-west and south-east of the continent are needed. Public awareness of these needs must be heightened.
(2) The causes and rates of formation and destruction of nest-hollows need to be further examined and quantified throughout the country, but especially in agricultural regions.
(3) Research into the effects of grazing and altered frequencies of fire on the dynamics of grass seed production in tropical woodlands and grasslands of northern Australia is needed.
276 Leo Joseph
(4) Geographically restricted and small populations should be subjected to continuing ecological studies and monitoring. The most important seem to be (a) South-western Australia: forest red-tailed black- cockatoo, long-billed black-cockatoo, Naretha blue bonnet, ground parrot; (b) South-eastern Australia: gang-gang cockatoo, glossy black-cockatoo on Kangaroo Island, funereal cockatoo on Eyre Peninsula, red-tailed black-cockatoo, superb parrot, regent parrot, ground parrot, swift parrot, turquoise parrot, orange-bellied parrot; (c) Central Eastern Australia: Coxen's fig-parrot, ground parrot; (d) Northern Australia: northern rosella, golden-shouldered parrot.
(5) Field searches need to be continued for Coxen's fig-parrot, paradise parrot and the night parrot.
(6) Clearing and logging of forests and harvesting operations must be more rigorously controlled. This simplistic-sounding recommen- dation is sure to involve long-term biological study and political lobbying.
(7) Public awareness is the key to addressing two issues that could flare into major problems: export of pest species in agricultural areas and the intentional or accidental release of native or exotic parrots from captivity.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
For commenting on a draft of this paper and suggesting improvements I should like to thank Dr D. A. Saunders, J. M. Forshaw and an anonymous reviewer. I had the benefit of helpful discussions and correspondence with a number of people and I hope that I have used their information accurately. It is thus a pleasure to thank M. Fleming, J. Forshaw, J. Long, J. Martindale, S. A. Parker, L. and J. Pedler and R. Webster. The views here expressed are my own unless otherwise indicated. R. Buckingham, Chairman of the Australian National Section of the International Council for Bird Preservation (ICBP), suggested that I write this paper and I thank him for plunging me into what has been an enlightening, if at times tiring, exercise.
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de la Motte, K. & Phipps, G. (1987). Cockatoos--pests nor pets. Aust. Nat. Hist., 22, 254-6.
Emison, W. B. & Beardsell, C. M. (1985). Distribution of the long-billed corella in South Australia. S. Aust. Orn., 29, 197 205.
Ford, H. (1985). A synthesis of foraging ecology and behaviour of birds in eucalypt forests and woodlands. In Birds of Eucalypt Forests and Woodlands: Ecology, Conservation and Management, ed. A. Keast, H. F. Recher, H. A. Ford and D. A. Saunders, Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union and Surrey Beatty & Sons, Sydney, pp. 249-54.
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