Missed out on tickets for Tay Tay? Never mind, there is one Swiftie that returns to Australia for a mainland tour every year, the ‘Gorgeous’ and award-winning Swift Parrot. The best part is you have the chance to see one for free every time you head out into the bush this winter and we want you to record your sightings! 

Let’s see how many more Taylor Swift songs I can squeeze into this article…

After enduring a ‘Cruel Summer’ in Tasmania, these amazing birds fly to the mainland to feast on our winter-flowering gums. Tragically, these birds are now Critically Endangered due to ‘Death By A Thousand Cuts’ including logging, land clearing, collisions enroute and predation.

You can help to save Swift Parrots from extinction by taking part in BirdLife Australia’s Swift Parrot Search. This is the perfect Citizen Science opportunity for our Environmental Volunteers as you are often outdoors and can use your knowledge of plants to inform research into Swiftie habitat preferences.

Have you downloaded the Birdata app? 

There are 140 Swift Parrot Search survey sites across the Central Coast, from Pearl Beach to Munmorah, mostly in habitat containing Swamp Mahogany, Spotted Gum, Forest Red Gum and/or Grey Ironbark. Council staff will be conducting surveys and training the public in survey techniques and the use of the Birdata app. Upcoming events will be promoted on Council’s ‘what's on’ event web page.

The Swift Parrot was voted 2023 Bird of the Year in The Guardian Australia and BirdLife Australia’s biennial poll, but they are not ‘Out Of The Woods’ yet. Let’s keep them number one ‘Forever & Always’.

Don’t ask ‘Is It Over Now?’ If you’ve got a ‘Blank Space’ in your diary this Autumn and Winter, please start your own Swiftie era! Are you ‘…Ready For It?’

Here are further details from BirdLife Australia.

The migratory Swift Parrot is closer to extinction than ever before. First recognised as a declining species back in the 1980s, Swift Parrot numbers have continued to decline rapidly for the past 40 years. By participating in the Swift Parrot Search, you can make a positive difference.

• The Swift Parrot Search collects data on this species, the availability of foraging resources and other threatened woodland birds in the area, particularly including the critically endangered Regent Honeyeater
• There are nearly two thousand permanent monitoring sites on public land throughout south-eastern mainland Australia
• Birdwatchers are asked to undertake a 5-minute/50-metre radius search at each fixed site location.
• Join the Swift Parrot Search 2024: Explore Multiple Sites in Biannual 6-Week Count Periods.
• We encourage you to visit as many sites as feasible during biannual 6-week count periods: between the last week in April and the first week in June, and again between mid-July and late August.
• In 2024, the Swift Parrot Search dates are: 20 April to 2 June and 13 July to 25 August.

Why is the Swift Parrot Search important?

• About 750 Swift Parrots currently exist in the wild — a population decline of more than 50% since a previous estimate in 2011
• Impacts associated with the ongoing destruction of their habitat, such as commercial logging, continues to be the most significant threat to the survival of Swift Parrots
• In the past decade, searches undertaken across the Swift Parrot’s non-breeding range on the Australia mainland have indicated a marked change in how they’re using the landscape. Currently, we don’t precisely know what’s influencing this apparent shift
• To promote the species’ recovery, we need to better understand what determines Swift Parrot presence and habitat selection across their vast winter range, with the Swift Parrot Search specifically designed to address key knowledge gaps and enable us to better protect the species
• To improve the collective survey effort for monitoring Swift Parrot populations by complementing traditional ‘roaming’ searches with the Swift Parrot Search survey method. By using both methods, we can improve the overall effectiveness of our monitoring, as neither method alone will satisfy the monitoring needs for this species.
• Additionally, it’s an opportunity to get more information about other threatened species that also occur in the Swift Parrot’s mainland habitats, like Regent Honeyeaters.

When participating in Swift Parrot Search surveys, you will:

• Be an intermediate to advanced birdwatcher 
• Record the number of Swift Parrots, Regent Honeyeaters and other bird species you see and hear during a 5-minute search within a circular, 50-metre radius area
• Estimate the intensity of flowering, document the presence of lerp, Golden Wattle, and accessible freshwater within the same search area
• Stick to fixed survey sites, which are located on publicly accessible land. The search area may also cover private land, in which case observers must not enter without permission
• Visit a survey site as many times as you like!  There are no limits to how many times an observer can survey a particular site, and participants are encouraged to repeat surveys at established sites.

What you’ll need to participate in the Swift Parrot Search
To conduct bird surveys and habitat assessments at Swift Parrot Search sites, birdwatchers need the following materials with them in the field:

• Mobile phone with Birdata app 
• Binoculars
• Appropriate clothing, including sturdy footwear
• First aid kit
• GPS-enabled mobile phone or handheld GPS unit – or detailed maps and access to instructions from the available user guides and online instructions
• Other useful guides, documents and links that will be provided to you upon registering.

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To find out more, please visit Swift Parrot - BirdLife Australia or email nick.carson@centralcoast.nsw.gov.au, Volunteer Coordinator for Swift Parrot and Regent Honeyeater surveys on the Central Coast.  

Also, the below events will include training on Swift Parrot ID and survey techniques:
Junior ranger: Wyrrabalong coastal adventure tour | NSW National Parks
Wyrrabalong coastal walking tour | NSW National Parks
Junior ranger: Brisbane Water coastal adventure tour | NSW National Parks

This article was written by Nick Carson, Environmental Education Officer, Central Coast Council