Shy, elusive, and very rare nocturnal ground-dwelling parrot of inhabit arid environments, where it nests inside large spinifex clumps.
At a glance
Sounds
Range map
Range map
Aggregated occurance data is sourced from 14 different actively-updating datasets including eBird Australia, iNaturalist Australia, BirdLife Australia, and multiple state-based bird surveys through Atlas of Living Australia.
Species notes
Overview
Primarily green with yellow-green underparts and blackish markings throughout, less extensive than in longer-tailed Ground Parrot, in which adults have pale eyes (Night Parrot has dark eyes). The “holy grail” of Australian birds and presumed extinct but recently found in widely separated locations in Queensland and Western Australia.
Behavior
It has also been known as porcupine parrot , nocturnal ground parakeet , midnight cockatoo , solitaire , spinifex parrot and night parakeet . Sightings since 1979 have been extremely rare and the bird's population size is unknown, though based on the paucity of records it is thought to number between 50 and 249 mature individuals, and it is classified by the IUCN as a critically endangered species. However, some of the evidence produced by wildlife photographer John Young has been called into question, and in March 2019 the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) retracted some of the records created by Young and published by the AWC.
Gallery