Steph Tisdell is an emerging star of the Australian comedy scene whose stand-up routines explore Indigenous issues, body image, and mental health.
In public, Steph often talks about her love of parrots. She owns two Blue-fronted Amazons called Parky and Eddie.
Not as well known is her interest in Orange-bellied Parrots - until now.
We learnt of this when Ms Tisdell sported our Save the Orange-bellied Parrot fundraising OBP lapel pin during her November, 2025 appearance on ABC TV's panel show, Crime Night.
In an interview on WhatsApp, Tisdell told us how she first heard about Orange-bellied Parrots.
"I was a guest on the podcast Death by Birding with Professor Hugh Possingham (the forthright University of Queensland conservation biologist).
"He'd told us some of the reasons why OBPs are at risk of extinction. I thought it was fascinating and just loved the story," Tisdell said.
"It made me feel really connected with my people and my culture."
Steph identifies with the Yindji traditional owners of Cairns and Far North Queensland and said Possingham's words reminded her how "blackfellas are connected to the environment, not just living on top of it.
"We are the land, we are the environment," she said.
Caring for Country is part of this. For example, Indigenous fire regimes - which had historically helped OBP food plants thrive - had stopped with colonisation.
This technique has recently re-started in Tasmania, with good results.
The wet tropics rainforests of FNQ, Yindji land, are the home of many parrots: Coxen's and Double-Eyed Fig-Parrot, King Parrot, to name a few.
"I'm obsessed by birds. I get really excited by parrots," she laughs.
Steph's a great ambassador for the Orange-bellied Parrot. We were delighted that she chose to display her love for them on national television.
