SWIFT PARROT & REGENT HONEYEATER - Mid-year 2021 Monitoring Update - Birdlife Australia
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SWIFT PARROT & REGENT HONEYEATER
Mid-year 2021 Monitoring Update
Dean Ingwersen, Chris Timewell, Mick Roderick,
Emily Mowat, Kristy Peters & Beau Meney
From the BirdLife Australia Woodland Birds Team
Thank you to everyone that has been out searching for Swift Parrots, Regent Honeyeaters and other
woodland birds during 2021. Despite the ever-present challenges of movement restrictions and
other COVID-19 constraints, it has been amazing to see such large numbers of individuals and groups
out seeking these threatened species. We also appreciate everyone’s diligence in adhering to local
COVID-19 regulations.
This report contains a brief summary of the data collected so far in 2021 for Swift Parrot and Regent
Honeyeater sightings (as at 30 June 2021). While a comprehensive report will be prepared at the end
of the year, this ‘appetizer’ is an acknowledgement of all the incredible contributions that have been
made so far – particularly in this first trial year for the new Swift Parrot Search approach.
Accordingly, this report will be biased towards the Swift Parrot, with more detailed information
about the Regent Honeyeater to be provided in the next update.
This new survey method is not intended to entirely replace traditional methods for seeking Swift
Parrots and Regent Honeyeaters, but provides some scientific structure and rigorous to a sample of
the surveys – with the resultant analysis of the data-rich information to play a critical role in
answering urgent conservation questions for the species. It also helps to ensure that some often
overlooked locations receive regular visitation and checks.
Swift Parrot and Regent Honeyeater 2021 Mid-year Monitoring Update
As you’ll read, the roll out of Swift Parrot Search in Round 1 has exceeded our expectations. While
there are still some minor bugs to be sorted out, and much still to be done in the set-up of new sites
and developing supporting information for existing sites, the feedback so far has been positive and
there has been a high level of visitation to the monitoring sites.
You’ll also note that the number of Swift Parrot sightings – and the size of the flocks – is higher than
recent years. They’ve also returned to a number of locations where they’ve been seen rarely or not
at all for considerable time. We’ve also seen and heard that many important feed-tree eucalypts
throughout the range of the species are heavily budding – indicating that good conditions are likely
to continue through the remainder of the 2021 season, and probably into 2022 (fingers-crossed).
Combined with good rainfall, this is good news for both species.
For your diaries, Round 2 of the 2021 survey period has also been extended to six weeks,
commencing on Saturday 17th July and continuing through to Sunday 29th August 2021 (centred
around the traditional 1st weekend in August).
A huge thank you again to all of our volunteers and regional coordinators for your hard work and
dedication for both survey periods. We cannot stress strongly enough how much these efforts are
valued, and how worthwhile they are.
We also appreciate receiving sightings of both species made outside of the official survey periods,
which contribute to the annual sightings databases (including records within Birdata and eBird lists).
If you would like to participate in Round 2 biannual surveys, see the details on our monitoring web-
pages (https://birdlife.org.au/projects/woodland-birds-for-biodiversity/latest-news-wl) or contact us
at woodlandbirds@birdlife.org.au.
Cheers and thanks again from the BirdLife Woodland Birds Team
Dean, Mick, Chris, Emily, Kristy and Beau
2
Swift Parrot and Regent Honeyeater 2021 Mid-year Monitoring Update
Swift Parrot Results - 2021
Overall results for mainland Australia from all information sources – as at 30
June 2021
Commencing with 3 birds seen flying through the Murray Valley NP red-gum floodplain forests in
southern NSW on 9 February, there have been 269 discrete1 sightings of Swift Parrots documented
on mainland Australia in 2021 through until 30 June. In comparison, there were 284 discrete Swift
Parrots sightings for the whole of 2020 (albeit with COVID challenges), 301 for the whole of 2019 and
319 for the whole of 2018. It’s been a busy year for Swifty sightings so far – with many months still
to go!
A summary of the month-by-month mainland Swift Parrot sightings for the first half of 2021 are
provided below in Table 1. Approximately two-thirds of the sightings were made within the 6-week
Round 1 survey period – from 24 April to 6 June. Approximately two-thirds of the sightings have
been from Victoria, but as described later, there have been significantly more sightings within the
ACT and Queensland in 2021 compared to 2020.
Table 1. Number of ‘discrete’ Swift Parrot sightings on the mainland in 2021 – as at 30 June
Timing of Number of "discrete sightings"
Survey periods sightings in Sub-total
2021 ACT NSW QLD VIC
January - - - - -
February - 1 - - 1
Prior to Round 1
March - - - 10 11
1 to 23 April 5 5 - 31 41
24 to 30 April 6 7 - 46 59
Round 1 May 13 31 2 66 111
1 to 6 June - 1 - 10 11
Between Round
1 and 2 7 to 30 June 3 7 2 33 45
(still in progress)
Sub-total 27 52 4 186 269
As displayed in Table 2, the size of the Swift Parrot flocks detected prior to the Round 1 survey period
were heavily biased towards the smallest categories (only ~15% of flocks were of 10 or more birds).
1
A ‘discrete sighting’ is defined as a flock of one or more birds seen at a particular location for a defined period
of time. It can sometimes be impossible to determine whether two nearby sightings of a similar-sized flock
represent the same birds seen in different areas, or whether they are different flocks. Similarly, when a similar-
sized flock is seen at the same location twice, but separated by a period of weeks or months – it is also usually
impossible to determine whether these represent the same or different flocks. The best judgement of BirdLife
Australia staff is used in these situations to determine whether these are documented as a single discrete
sighting, or as two or more separate discrete sightings. As such, the figure of ‘269’ discrete sightings is a best
estimate based on professional judgement.
3
Swift Parrot and Regent Honeyeater 2021 Mid-year Monitoring Update
However, during and after the Round 1 survey period, the sightings were increasingly of larger flocks
(22% and 45% of flocks have 10 or more birds during and after the Round 1 survey period
respectively). There have also been many more discrete sightings of Swift Parrot flocks containing 50
or more birds in 2021 compared to 2020, and often at locations where birds have been present for
many weeks.
Table 2. Flock size of ‘discrete’ Swift Parrot sightings on the mainland in 2021 – as at 30 June
Survey period
Maximum size of Swift
Parrot flock at a site Between Round 1 and 2
Prior to Round 1 Round 1
(still in progress)
1 to 5 birds 34 110 16
6 to 10 birds 11 41 8
11 to 20 birds 4 24 10
21 to 40 birds 2 10 8
41 to 50 birds 1 2 1
51 or more birds 0 6 1
There have been quite a few locations in 2021 where Swift Parrots have remained present in large
numbers over multiple days and weeks (and sometimes months), allowing many birdwatchers – from
beginner and expert – to experience this special and usually elusive species up close. Some of the
highly reported sites include:
- Swift Parrots (20) were first detected at Lysterfield Park, on the eastern outskirts of greater
Melbourne, on 18th April and were still present at the end of June. For the first two weeks,
most sightings were of 25 or fewer birds. Higher groups have been regularly detected since,
peaking at 128 birds in mid-June. They have often been observed foraging in planted
Spotted Gums – which is not a tree species that naturally occur in the Melbourne area.
- Swift Parrots (7) were first detected at Callum Brae Nature Reserve in the ACT on 21 April.
Their numbers gradually rose, peaking at 65 on 2 May. Their foraging here was reported as
including leaf-gleaning (including on lerps) and nectar-feeding on Yellow Box and a gum.
They have been only sporadically sighted here after 6 May, but the birds appeared to have
moved elsewhere across the ACT.
- Swift Parrots (8) were first detected at Mount Annan Botanic gardens, on the south-western
outskirts of greater Sydney, on 24 April. Up to a maximum of 20 birds were detected
through until 12 May. They were reported as nectar-feeding, and also regularly harassed by
Bell Miners – suggesting that lerp also likely to be present.
- Swift Parrots (30) were first detected on 5 May at Fawkner Crematorium and Memorial Park
(within greater Melbourne), and continued to be detected regularly through until 3 June.
Although most sightings were of 45 or fewer birds, there were two reliable sightings of 90
and 82 birds on 7th and 10th May. They were reported foraging on flowering Yellow Gums
and ironbarks, and also lerping and leaf-gleaning on non-flowering eucalypts (including Sugar
Gums). Did not appear to be using planted flowering Red-flowering Gums neraby. From 21st
June, they began to be detected there again, with a group of up to 25 seen.
4
Swift Parrot and Regent Honeyeater 2021 Mid-year Monitoring Update
- Swift Parrots (8) were first detected on 16 May at the You Yangs Regional Park in southern
Victoria (near Geelong). Twenty or more birds have continued to be sighted here regularly,
with a maximum of 30 at one time. Foraging on flowering Yellow Gums.
- Swift Parrots (17) were first detected on 22 May in Kambah, a suburb of the ACT. There have
been regular sightings of 20 or so birds through to the 21 June, with many observers seeing a
particular peak on 23 and 24 May – reaching a maximum of 75 birds. At a small number of
nearby locations within the suburb, birds were foraging mostly on lerps and insects, with one
report of them feeding a flowering gum.
- Swift Parrots (6) were first detected at the Nature School in Port Macquarie on 27 May, with
semi-regular sightings through until 17 June. Their numbers quickly increased, with 59 birds
detected on 31 May. This appears to have been a roost site – with mostly Blackbutt and
occasionally ironbarks used for roosting. There were also scattered sightings elsewhere in
the Port Macquarie / Lake Innes Nature Reserve area of up to 50 birds – which were probably
their daytime foraging sites, and possibly splitting into smaller groups during the day.
- Queensland got in on the game on 30 May, with Swift Parrots (4) detected at Durikai State
Forest. Up to 14 birds have been detected across five locations within this forest and
immediate surrounds, through until at least 23 June. Observed feeding on nectar in Mugga
Ironbarks, and probably also Broad-leafed and/or Narrow-leafed Ironbarks.
Other localities that have received less publicity and lower levels of birdwatcher visitation, but have
still had decent numbers of Swift Parrots present for multiple days or weeks, include:
- ACT: Lake Tuggeranong, Ainslie
- NSW: Tarcutta, Chain Valley Bay, Rouse Hill, Capertee Valley
- Victoria: Carapooee, Bacchus Marsh, Raymond Island, Ocean Grove, Royal Park, Eppalock,
Sunbury, Beaumaris, Dunolly, Dunach, Bundoora, Melton, Heathcote and Plenty. Flowering
Yellow Gums and lerp from a variety of eucalypts were the main food sources being used.
There are many dozen additional locations across the mainland range of the species where small to
medium sized Swift Parrot flocks have been observed on one-off occasions or on a small number of
nearby days.
Appendix A provides visual summaries of Swift Parrot sightings from across the mainland so far, using
reliable vetted records from all information sources (e.g., Birdata, email, eBird, social media).
5
Swift Parrot and Regent Honeyeater 2021 Mid-year Monitoring Update
Round 1 – Biannual searches for Swift Parrots and Regent Honeyeaters
Background
The Round 1 surveys in 2021 for the biannual targeted surveys for Swift Parrot and Regent
Honeyeater were extended out to six weeks in length, running from Saturday 24 April to Sunday 6
June. While still centred on the traditional 3rd weekend in May, the extra time was provided for
those participants in designated areas to implement the trial of ‘Swift Parrot Search’. We almost
made it through the entirety of Round 1 without too many COVID constraints, just losing the final
couple of weeks in Victoria as the state acted to control a concerning outbreak of community spread.
As a collaboration between ANU, BirdLife Australia and the National Swift Parrot Recovery Team,
‘Swift Parrot Search’ has been developed as a rigorous and repeatable approach for monitoring Swift
Parrots, Regent Honeyeaters and other woodland birds across mainland Australia. Permanent
monitoring sites have been established on a sample of public land sites across the mainland range of
the Swift Parrot within known and potential habitat – although there are still many sites yet to be
established. There is a stand-alone Swift Parrot Search portal in the Birdata website and app,
launched just prior to the commencement of Round 1, which supports participants to collect
sightings of all birds during a 5 minute – 50 metre radius search, as well as information on flowering
patterns and water availability. Program-specific webpages are also live – but still being updated –
with further supporting information and instructions (https://birdlife.org.au/swift-parrot).
However, particularly during this trial and set-up phase where there are many localities without any
established monitoring sites yet, participants were still encouraged to keep their eyes and ears open
for Swift Parrots at all locations. This is, traditionally used methods of seeking, documenting and
reporting Swift Parrot and Regent Honeyeater sightings were still encouraged to be undertaken by
volunteers across the mainland.
Results - General
As already noted in Table 1 above, there were more than 180 ‘discrete’ sightings of Swift Parrots that
were collected and collated by BirdLife Australia during the 6-week Round 1 survey period – from all
information sources. This included multiple locations that had relatively large flock sizes in Victoria,
NSW, Act and Queensland. And, as outlined in Table 2, more than 40 of these 180+ discrete sightings
were of 10 or more birds – and six were of groups of greater than 50 birds. Appendix B displays the
Swift Parrot sightings during the Round 1 survey period. This represents many hundreds of hours of
searching by volunteer birdwatchers from across the species mainland range.
In contrast, 2021 has unfortunately been a very lean year for Regent Honeyeaters, with just a total of
13 individuals accounted for as at the end of June. Also unfortunate is the fact that several of these
have been lone birds in atypical habitat, including backyards where birds have been seen feeding on
planted bottlebrushes or at bird baths. This is despite there being ample blossom available,
particularly in regions that have Mugga Ironbark (western slopes) and Swamp Mahogany (coastal)
flowering well. Some sites where we would have expected Regent Honeyeaters to have arrived in
years gone by are unfortunately full of nectar-sipping birds, but Regent Honeyeaters conspicuous in
their absence.
6
Swift Parrot and Regent Honeyeater 2021 Mid-year Monitoring Update
The more promising reports started to arrive in early May when three birds were found in
Livingstone National Park, feeding on flowering Mugga Ironbark and a further four birds found
feeding on Broad-leaved Paperbark at Chain Valley Bay South on the southern shores of Lake
Macquarie (which is an unusual tree for them to feed on). On both occasions however, birds were
unable to be found during subsequent visits by other birders that visited the sites.
In mid-May during a Regent Honeyeater survey on land owned by the Department of Defence near
Singleton, two Regent Honeyeaters were found amongst a very large, migrating flock of White-naped
Honeyeaters. It is unclear if the birds were moving through with the White-napes, but at one point
the smaller honeyeaters actually ‘attacked’ the two Regents, which were (interestingly) an adult and
a juvenile. There was no blossom present at the site, but almost every eucalypt is carrying bud,
including the Spotted Gums, so it is possible that these birds were ‘scouting’ out areas to revisit later.
The final Regent Honeyeater report arrived in unusual circumstances in mid-June when a video was
posted on the Capertee Valley Facebook page, showing a cacophony of Red Wattlebirds feeding in
flowering gums. The ‘eagle-eared’ Vicki Powys picked up a Regent Honeyeater calling in amongst the
throng of wattlebirds. There is much bud on the Yellow Box and Mugga Ironbark trees in the
Capertee and we are all hoping for a particularly productive breeding season for our Regents this
spring in the valley.
Left: The
two Regent
Honeyeaters
that were
observed
near
Singleton in
mid-May –
note the
Spotted
Gum bud
(Mick
Roderick)
7
Swift Parrot and Regent Honeyeater 2021 Mid-year Monitoring Update
Results – ‘Swift Parrot Search’
At the commencement of Round 1, there were ~1200 established ‘Swift Parrot Search’ monitoring
sites available for volunteer birdwatchers to visit and survey. All had some generic support material
available to assist birdwatchers to find the sites, and undertake a survey. However, about 1/3 had a
more complete range of supporting information (e.g., maps, user guides, GPS coordinates).
Within the first 2 weeks of Round 1, an additional ~200 monitoring sites from the greater Sydney
area were made available to volunteer birdwatchers to visit and survey.
Table 3 summarises the number of surveys undertaken using the Swift Parrot search methodology
within each relevant state and territory. It also summarises the number of surveys during which
Swift Parrots were detected. In summary, 24 of the 859 completed Swift Parrot Searches undertaken
during Round 1 successfully detected a Swift Parrot. No Regent Honeyeaters were detected using
this method during Round 1.
Table 3. Number of surveys lodged into Birdata during 2021 using the Swift Parrot Search portal, as
at 30 June. (In brackets = number of surveys that detected Swift Parrots. Blank if zero.).
Number of Swift Parrot Search surveys conducted
Timing of surveys in 2021
ACT NSW QLD VIC
Prior to Round 1 1 0 0 161
During Round 1 10 (4) 275 ** (2) 10 564 (18)
Between Round 1 and 2
0 11 0 46 (1)
(still in progress)
TOTAL NUMBER OF ESTABLISHED
48 588 ** 8 768
MONITORING SITES
** = An additional new 266 monitoring sites were established and surveyed by BirdLife Australia
on the South Coast on NSW during the Round 1 survey period. Neither the new sites, nor the
first survey results, are yet available on the Birdata system – although it can be revealed that
no Swift Parrots or regent Honeyeaters were detected. The sites are expected to be uploaded
for general use by volunteer birdwatchers by the start of Round 2.
During Round 1, some of the survey sites were visited on more than one occasion. This is
summarised in Graph 1. Overall, 605 different Swift Parrot Search monitoring sites were visited at
least once.
Figure C1 in Appendix C displays the locations where Swift Parrot Searches were conducted and also
successfully detected ‘Swift Parrots’. Unlike recent years, this Figure is now also displaying where
searches were conducted but did not detect Swift Parrots – also highly valuable information.
Eighty-five registered Birdata users submitted at least one Swift Parrot Search survey during Round 1,
2021. This is a significant under-estimate of the number of participants, because in many cases there
were multiple people working together. Of these 85 registered Birdata contributors, thirty-nine
submitted from 1 to 5 surveys, 36 submitted between 6 to 20 surveys, seven contributed from 21 to
50 surveys and three submitted more than 50 surveys. Thank you all!
8
Swift Parrot and Regent Honeyeater 2021 Mid-year Monitoring Update
Graph 1. Swift Parrot Search monitoring sites with one or more visitations during Round 1, 2021.
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
1 visit
2 visits
3 visits
4 visits
5 visits
6 visits
7 visits
8 visits
9 visits
10 visits
Furthermore, these surveys have also collected invaluable information on flowering patterns and
water availability at all sites, irrespective of whether Swift Parrots were detected or not.
Encouragingly, of the 859 surveys completed during Round 1, birdwatchers provided us with
flowering intensity estimates for tree and mistletoe species prior to 90% of these surveys (749
surveys). This is a fantastic result when considering how new this method of data collection is to all
participants. Whilst this information has not been fully collated and analysed yet, it promises to
provide fascinating insights into the drivers of the movements of Swift Parrots – and other nectar-
feeding birds. An example of the flowering patterns for the Yellow Gum across its range during the
Round 1 surveys is provided as an example of the continental scale data being collected as part of
this project (see Figure C2 in Appendix C).
As well as collecting information on the presence and absence of our target species, the flowering
patterns and water availability, this new approach also collects sightings of all other bird species
detected during the 5 minute search at each monitoring site. This also provides a wealth of
information for analysis in relation to Swift parrots, but also potentially for a range of other analyses
relating to woodland birds and habitat health. In summary during Round 1 of Swift Parrot Search,
records lodged into Birdata included:
- 156 different bird species, including 29 species that are considered to be specialist nectar-
feeders
- Many records of species considered to be threatened or declining at the state and/or
national level
- The five most commonly detected species – Red Wattlebird (43.2% of all submitted surveys),
Noisy Miner (30.7%), Rainbow Lorikeet (28.7%), Australian Magpie (18.7%) and Yellow-faced
Honeyeater (17.8%).
9
Swift Parrot and Regent Honeyeater 2021 Mid-year Monitoring Update
Appendix A - Swift Parrot sightings over time in 2021 from all information
sources – as at 30 June
Figure A1. 2021 Swift Parrot sightings on mainland from January to 30 June
10Swift Parrot and Regent Honeyeater 2021 Mid-year Monitoring Update
Appendix B – Round 1 2021 - Swift Parrot sightings from all information
sources
Figure B1. All Swift Parrot sightings on mainland during Round 1, from 24 April to 6 June 2021
11Swift Parrot and Regent Honeyeater 2021 Mid-year Monitoring Update
Figure B2. All Swift Parrot sightings in ACT and surrounds during Round 1, from 24 April to 6 June
2021
12Swift Parrot and Regent Honeyeater 2021 Mid-year Monitoring Update
Figure B3. All Swift Parrot sightings in Sydney, Newcastle and surrounds during Round 1, from 24
April to 6 June 2021
13Swift Parrot and Regent Honeyeater 2021 Mid-year Monitoring Update
Figure B4. All Swift Parrot sightings in Melbourne and surrounds during Round 1, from 24 April to 6
June 2021
14Swift Parrot and Regent Honeyeater 2021 Mid-year Monitoring Update
Appendix C – Round 1 2021 – ‘Swift Parrot Search’ only
Figure C1. Swift Parrot Search survey locations, as undertaken during Round 1 2021, from 24 April to
6 June
15Swift Parrot and Regent Honeyeater 2021 Mid-year Monitoring Update
Figure C1. Flowering intensity of Yellow Gum as recorded during Swift Parrot Search surveys in Round
1 2021, from 24 April to 6 June
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