Saving the Western Ground Parrot

Why we need to save the Western Ground Parrot

The Western Ground Parrot is a secretive, ground-dwelling parrot that lives in patches of long-unburnt coastal heathland habitat on the South Coast of Western Australia. Though it is seldom seen, the birds can sometimes be heard calling to one another shortly after dusk and before dawn.

The Western Ground Parrot has experienced significant contractions in both its range and population, largely due to the impacts of climate change, habitat alteration and changes in fire patterns, as well as feral predators, particularly cats and foxes. Bushfires that burnt the region in 2015, had a devastating impact on Western Ground Parrot habitats.

Hope for the Western Ground Parrot

This project is a partnership between BirdLife Australia and Western Australia’s Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA), together with Friends of the Western Ground Parrot, the South Coast NRM and the Australian Government. BirdLife Australia is proud to be a key partner on this DBCA-led project to secure a future for the Western Ground Parrot.

The project is re-establishing multiple, self-sustaining populations of Western Ground Parrot in suitable habitat across Menang, Goreng and Wudjari Noongar Country on the South Coast by conducting:

• Threat management: Protecting the remaining habitat and populations of wild birds.
• Wild-to-wild translocations: Several Western Ground Parrots have been moved from their source population aiming to establish a second insurance population.
• Regular monitoring: Necessary to gain an understanding of the impacts of our conservation and land management initiatives.

Taking action on the ground

BirdLife Australia is supporting on-ground action to conserve wild populations of the Western Ground Parrot.

Threat management

We’re helping protect suitable habitat and populations of the species through fire management actions and controlling feral predators across the species’ range.

Wild-to-wild translocation

Several birds have been moved from their source population, east of Esperance, with the aim to establish an insurance population east of Albany to boost parrot numbers and re-establish them in suitable habitat that the species once occupied. Translocations have been conducted in 2020, 2022, and 2023.

Regular monitoring

We conduct regular monitoring of both the wild remnant population and the new, translocated population, and the threats they face.