Orange-Bellied Parrot

The orange-bellied parrot is migratory, so strictly speaking it is not endemic to Tasmania. Scientists refer to it instead as 'breeding endemic', and Tasmania is the best place to see it in wild.

On the brink of extinction, the orange-bellied parrot has been ranked as one of the world's rarest and most endangered species.

It is about 20 centimetres (eight inches) long, or a little larger than a budgerigar. It has bright grass-green and yellow plumage, with a striking orange patch in the centre of its lower belly. It has an azure blue patch on its outer wings and a blue bar across its forehead.

Bushwalkers and people who fly into Tasmania's south-west have a good chance of seeing orange-bellied parrots at Melaleuca in the Southwest National Park, where you can observe them from a bird hide.

These birds are regular visitors to Tasmania from mid-October until the end of March. The best viewing times are early morning or late afternoon, although they come and go throughout the day.

Orange-bellied parrots breed in the coastal south-west around Bathurst Harbour over spring and summer and then winter in coastal Victoria and South Australia. They nest in hollows in eucalypt trees that grow next to their feeding plains.