As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Tuesday 4 November 2014

Film in fight to save rare bird

Angela Pownall
November 2, 2014, 3:04 pm

The battle to save the western ground parrot from extinction - one of WA's most endangered creatures with only 140 left - is heading to the small screen.

Conservationists, who have been working for years to try to save the bird from its seemingly unavoidable fate, launched a campaign this week to raise money to make a documentary about its plight.

Once widespread in WA coastal areas from north of Perth to east of Esperance, the western ground parrot population has shrunk dramatically and it can now be found only in Cape Arid National Park east of Esperance.

Its penchant for spending most of its life on the ground, where it also lays eggs and nests, has led to the parrot falling victim to feral predators and wildfires.

The Friends of the Western Ground Parrot group approached WA filmmaker Jennene Riggs to make the documentary, which will cost about $250,000 to produce for television.

Ms Riggs applied to the Documentary Australia Foundation for backing and the project was approved as suitable for philanthropic donations this week.

There has been a radical decline in western ground parrot numbers over the past few years.

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