October 18, 2017
Critically endangered Swift Parrots are under threat from squirrel-like "sugar gliders" in a battle for space in Australia's ancient forests, scientists say as they race to save the rare birds.
Critically endangered Swift Parrots are under threat from squirrel-like sugar gliders in a battle for space in Australia's ancient forests, scientists said Wednesday as they race to save the rare birds.
Swift Parrots are migratory and only breed in the southern island state of Tasmania.
But the nomadic nectar-eating birds' nesting grounds—gum trees—are also popular with sugar gliders, small possums believed to have been introduced to Tasmania in the early 19th century.
The marsupials, which launch themselves from tree to tree and rarely descend to the ground, eat the nesting birds as well as their eggs and chicks, the Australian National University scientists said.
This year, both species are battling for real estate on Tasmania's east coast due to abundant eucalypt flowering in the region, which contains some of the world's oldest trees.
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