March - the Orange-bellied Parrot Year

Migrating north

Each year, OBPs fly at least 640 kilometres across land and sea

Photo: Dean Ingwersen

After the breeding season at Melaleuca ends, Orange-bellied Parrots migrate to the southeast coast of Australia - to Victoria and South Australia. 

Their initial route is flying and landing to rest and feed via western Tasmania, then to the Fleurieu Group of islands and King Island, and across Bass Strait. 

During migration, OBPs can be found in  saltmarshes, coastal dunes, grasslands and heathland, usually within five kilometres of the west and northwest coasts of Tasmania and the offshore islands.

Juveniles leave after the adults. In March, most have now started their migrations.

Since the 1950s, enthusiastic volunteers have been recording sightings of OBPs on King Island and the west coast of Tasmania during migrations.

More recently on King Island, they have been working to improve OBP habitat and eliminate predators.

In April 2021, Friends of the Orange-bellied Parrot held their first autumn survey, focussing on the area around Strahan on Tasmania's west coast. 

These autumn surveys have expanded. In 2025, they will take place around Strahan and Arthur River as well as King Island, with birdwatchers hoping to glimpse OBPs on their northerly passage, adding to our knowledge of the species.

In April/May 2021, BirdLife Australia held the King Island OBP Blitz, which aimed to reveal more about OBP movements and habitats during their stop-over on the island.

Orange-bellied Parrots use King Island as an important stopover in their journey northwards. Although there is little data about how long OBPs stay on King Island, anecdotal information suggests they spend up to four weeks on the island during their northward migration.

The Orange-bellied Parrot Year: February - On The Move

The Orange-bellied Parrot Year: February - On The Move

It's toward the end of summer but volunteers at Melaleuca continue giving OBPs supplemental food twice a day. 

They carefully measure OBP supplemental food each day throughout the summer monitoring period

Supplementary feeding assists with monitoring, promotes female breeding participation, and helps newly released captive-bred OBPs acclimatise to their new environment.

The amount of food provided at the feed tables varies depending on consumption rates, stage of the breeding cycle, when captive-bred birds are released, and when fledging occurs.

Orange-bellied Parrots, R. Bruce Richardson

This month and in March, adults move away from the breeding area in and around Melaleuca, 

beginning their migration to Victoria and South Australia.

Juveniles form small foraging flocks. They continue to explore their habitat and forage on the seeds and flowers of low vegetation in moorland and sedgeland plains. Important plants at this time of year are Lemon-scented Boronia and Tiny Flannel Flower.

The yellow-orange bill of the juveniles changes colour to dark grey by the time they are eight weeks old.

By late March the first adult OBPs have started to arrive on King Island and juveniles have started on their migration.

Volunteer Renee measuring OBP food. Photo: Sandra Henderson

 January - hatching

Volunteers are working on the summer monitoring program

The summer monitoring program at Melaleuca conducted by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Tasmania is in full swing.

Volunteers monitor supplementary feed tables for two hours in the morning and two hours in the late afternoon. They use spotting scopes to identify individual adult OBPs by their leg bands.

They also keep an eye on the health of OBPs by observing their feathers, behaviour and movement.

OBP eggs begin to hatch 21-24 days after laying

OBPs are breeding - mostly in nestboxes - in buttongrass plains around Melaleuca in South West Tasmania.

Newly hatched young have sparse off-white down and are blind for the first week.

Female OBPs continue to incubate for up to 10 days after hatching while the male feeds the female.

After this time, both parents feed their brood. Nestlings are banded by professionals in the OBP Recovery Program before they leave the nest. These bands are unique identifiers for each bird [which stay on their legs for life].