Updated Tue at 6:40am
Blue/black F, believed to be the
oldest orange-bellied parrot in the wild, has defied the odds to make it back
to Tasmania to breed.
The nine-year-old bird was
hatched and raised in southern Tasmania, and has crossed Bass Strait about 20
times.
Each summer, the species migrates
from the Victorian and South Australian coast to Melaleuca in south-west
Tasmania to breed.
Last year's migration was the
most dismal on record, with only 17 wild birds — 13 males and just four females
— returning.
In some rare good news for the
species, Blue/black F was recently spotted back at Melaleuca.
Consultant ornithologist Mark
Holdsworth said he was surprised the bird had survived.
"He is in his 10th year, and
that is getting right to the end of the oldest birds known to have lived in the
wild," he said.
"It is really quite exciting
that he has made it through for another year. Quite frankly, I was not
expecting it."
Mr Holdsworth said the bird's
average life expectancy was about three years.
Given the high casualty rate,
researchers have taken to assigning birds non-affectionate names — such as
Blue/black F — to avoid getting too attached.
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