Experts in Victoria, Australia, have been left baffled by a sudden, massive influx of swifties in the area.
That's with a lowercase S, to be clear; they aren't the diehard fans of the popular musician but a critically endangered species of parrot. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that a huge flock of the ultrarare swift parrot was seen gathering around the outskirts of Bendigo.
With only around 750 of the birds left in the wild, this megaflock might be the entire population.
When Chris Tzaros, a wildlife ecologist, received word of the odd gathering, he responded in perhaps the most Australian way possible. He said ahead of a six-hour drive, "Stuff this, I'm going to drop everything and get there and have a look." The verdict? "It was amazing."
The swift parrot's name is descriptive; it is known for exceptional speed and agility. The parrots breed in Tasmania and spend the rest of the year foraging in southeast Australia; in some years, they travel as far north as Queensland. The roughly 4,000-kilometer (2,500 miles) journey is the longest observed migration of any parrot species, per BirdLife Australia.
Unfortunately, the parrots are on the brink of extinction because of extensive habitat destruction and predation of their eggs and young by sugar gliders introduced to Tasmania. Without decisive action, the swift parrot could be gone entirely by 2031. The unexpected sighting of such a rare species in large numbers is always exciting, but it also raises some key concerns and questions.
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The footage taken of the parrots demonstrates how important cameras can be in conservation efforts. Fixed trail cameras or just images taken by photographers can reveal a great deal about the presence and needs of a species in a given area, without intruding on their habitats. The insights gained from this unusual event can help inform future strategies and measures taken locally to protect threatened species.
In this case, one useful outcome could be to revise how environmental impact reports for new developments are performed. Because they only account for wildlife present year-round, little consideration is given to the needs of migratory species that use the area for part of the year.
"We don't have to go obliterating habitat every time we want to … establish a new residential estate for people," Tzaros said, per ABC.
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