Regent Parrot Habitat and Ecology

Regent Parrots are colourful birds, with yellow bodies, black-blue wings and deep red or pink beaks. The Regent Parrot’s distinctive call is often heard long before the birds appear. Regent Parrots live along the Murray and lower Darling Rivers, nesting in hollows of Red Gums. They feed on the seeds, nectar and buds found in Mallee bushland. They travel through corridors of remnant vegetation to protect themselves from birds of prey during flight. Regent Parrots breed between August and December, during which time the females incubate three to six eggs for about 21 days.

Regent Parrot

The adult male Regent Parrot is predominately old-gold or deepyellow. The tail and outer edges of the wings are blue-black and the back and inner wings are dark olive-green. The shoulders are bright yellow and a narrow red band crosses the centre of the wings. The adult females and immatures are predominately a dull
olive-green. Whilst in flight, the Regent Parrot calls in a harsh rolling carrak, carrak. When perched or feeding,
individuals make a soft warbling sound.

The eastern subspecies breeds along the Wimmera River system from Wyperfeld National Park to Lake Hindmarsh and along the Murray River between Morgan in South Australia and Boundary Bend near the mouth of Murrumbidgee River in NSW (Webster 1993). Breeding once occurred further upstream on the Murray River as far as the Avoca River near Kerang (Garnett 1992) but most breeding along the Victorian-NSW border now occurs at just a few sites.

Regent Parrot

Regent Parrot Distribution
The Regent Parrot occurs in Australia as two isolated subspecies, one through south-west Western Australia and the other, rarer eastern subspecies, which occurs along the Murray River and a small part of the Darling River in the south-western  plains of NSW. The Regent Parrot is now scarce within most of its former range (Webster 1991).
Regent Parrot Habitat
The eastern subspecies of the Regent Parrot depends on River Red Gum and Black Box communities for nesting and large diverse blocks of mallee woodland in which to feed (Burbidge 1985). The species is confined to areas where mallee occurs adjacent to riverine woodlands. Nest trees are typically mature, senescent or dead with a height of 30m, 1.66m d.b.h. and a crown diameter of 17m (Burbidge 1985; Webster 1991). Hollows used for nesting average about 21m above the ground (Webster 1991). All nesting sites are located near water and within 20km of mallee foraging habitat, particularly Red and Yellow Mallee (Webster 1991).

Regent Parrot

  
Regent Parrot Ecology
The geographic range of this species has decreased substantially and large flocks are now rare (Ayers et al. 1996). The total population within NSW is probably less than 500 individuals and unless conservation measures are taken, the population is likely to continue to decline (Webster 1991; Webster 1993). The Regent Parrot has been recorded eating the seeds, fruits or buds of over 40 plant species (Webster 1991). Foraging activities have predominately been observed in mallee, although food may also be obtained from
vineyards and orchards, cereal crops and riparian woodlands (Burbidge 1985).

The Regent Parrot breeds between August and December and the eggs are laid approximately 14 days after the initial courtship display (Burbidge 1985; Webster 1991). The female incubates 3-6 eggs for a period of 21 days whilst the male feeds her in the nesting hollow by regurgitating food (Webster 1991). The young are fed by both parents or cooperatively fed by a group of adult birds (Beardsell 1985).