Records of the Night Parrot Pezoporus occidentalis in South Australia, including its ‘rediscovery’ in the North East in 1979 and a review of its habitat use

Abstract

At a time when the Night Parrot, one of the world’s rarest birds, is being studied within well documented populations on either side of the Australian continent, we review its historical occurrence in South Australia. It was in this State, then a British colony, that the first specimen was taken and preserved for science; and it was here for a period that almost all that the world knew of the Night Parrot came through the work of a collector F. W. Andrews and a museum curator F. G. Waterhouse. Then, in the period between 1912 and 1990 during which no specimen was taken to confirm its continuing existence, another curator, S. A. Parker, became the first professional ornithologist to seek the species and find it. We here itemise reports of the Night Parrot that have accumulated since the 1880s at intervals of a few years to a decade or more. While none can be confirmed in the absence of verifiable specimen material or photographs, we accept nine as valid records and more as plausible. Most recent records are from the far north and north-eastern parts of the State, with others in the Flinders Ranges, but only one possible report from the Gawler Ranges, where Andrews had most of his field experience. We have analysed evidence of the Cooper Creek habitat in which Parker’s observation was made that complements other documented habitat data for the species. The occurrence of so few records over such a vast area remains to be explained and invites speculation. Show more